The Board of Education for the Marysville Exempted Village School District addressed the consequences of a failed levy, modified “pay-to-participate” fees, and processed the news of Superintendent Diane Allen’s retirement in a meeting that reverberated with unforeseen changes and financial concerns. According to Union County Daily Digital, Allen will leave the district on May 31, 2025, after more than ten years of service.
The Board first suggested pay-to-participate fees of $770 per student per activity after the 5.5-mill levy failed this month. But this sparked a lively debate, and the costs were later revised to $845 for athletics and $235 for band and show choir, without a family cap. Even though some board members felt challenged by the levy’s resurgence in the May election, Jermaine Ferguson, a board member, presented the fee differentiation in an effort to better align fees with program spending. Ferguson argued that the discrepancy between the expenses of extracurricular creative and physical pursuits needed to be addressed, as WBNS highlighted.
Without a fresh source of funding, the district’s financial future is bleak. Due to stagnant revenue and rising costs, the school district’s about $25 million cash reserves are predicted to be exhausted by 2027. If no new funding is obtained, the district may soon be placed on the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce’s “fiscal watch” list and may even be in a “fiscal emergency,” according to the Union County Daily Digital.
The families concerned are affected by this financial instability. Superintendent Allen tried to mitigate the impact of the price adjustment, which went into effect immediately, by keeping the originally suggested $770 cost and asking the Board to reevaluate any unforeseen increases “for a variety of reasons,” according to an email addressed to Marysville families. Allen is still involved with the district’s financial issues, as evidenced by her proactive communication with families, even though she will soon be retiring, as she disclosed during the meeting and as reported by NBC4i.
On December 12, the Marysville School Board will meet once more to discuss essential changes and maybe difficult choices including program and staff reductions. The community’s reaction to impending levies could influence the stability and educational environment of Marysville’s schools as the district negotiates these challenging times.
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