02/17/2025
Alright folks, we need your help - we're going to need you to reach out to the state house ASAP and make sure and communicate that is NOT OKAY to reduce our funding! Chardon Schools is on a guarantee and the governor's proposed budget is aiming to reduce the money given to schools on guarantees. Please keep in mind, we are also staring down the need for a PI and/or operating levy in the upcoming years, so less money from the state is bound to create TERRIBLE budget consequences at this moment. {More information, including letter writing instructions, from Dr. Hanlon below.}
Here's who to send a letter to:
Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur
77 south High Street 12th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Senator Sandra O'Brien
Senate Building 1 Capitol Square
First Floor 125
Columbus, OH 43215
Here's some more info from Dr. Hanlon, in an email sent to staff:
With the Governor's introduction of the biennial budget, Chardon Local Schools is projected to see a reduction of approximately $750,000 in state aid over the next two years. We need to contact our legislators now more than ever to provide information on our school district and why this funding is important to supporting programs and services for our students. Our goal is to have 1,000 letters from staff, parents and community members. Letters should be personal in nature and not a standard form letter, we have below a suggested format:
Paragraph 1: Personal story from parent, staff, community member about why their school or district is important to them.
Paragraph 2: Request to prioritize public school funding so that the district can continue offering this level of education, programs, services, etc. This would include a full phase-in of years 5 & 6 of the Fair School Funding Plan including base cost inputs being updated to FY 2024.
Paragraph 3: Thank them for their support.
.. [photo on this post is information] from OASBO (Ohio Association of School Board Officials) with other recommendations of subjects to write about. To fill in the blanks on this document, our District is funded 14% from the state, 6% from the state in Homestead and Rollback, 64% from Local Property Taxes, and the rest from other revenue. We spend roughly $90/student per day with 62% of that on classroom instruction.
**I'll post more on our budget later this week, but please write and mail a letter TODAY.