After 15 years, Revere to ponder new levy

Aug. 18 board of education meeting

by Sheldon Ocker

The last time Revere Schools asked voters to approve an operating levy was 2011. When it was approved, most observers said it would be seven years, 10 at the outside, until a new levy would be needed.

Fifteen years have passed and the school district still lives on that money. However, Treasurer Rick Berdine said that ride is about to end.

“Will it be in 2026? No,” he said, referring to the year a levy will appear on the ballot. “Will it be 2027? Maybe. In 2028? Probably. I don’t know if we can push it much farther.”

Asking for more operating money comes in the wake of the state legislature passing a series of bills designed to give tax relief to property owners.

“We likely would have sustained this even longer in the absence of property tax reform,” Berdine said.

The state is requiring district treasurers to prepare five-year forecasts in August and February rather than in May and November. Berdine’s projections indicate Revere will be four years into deficit spending by the 2031 fiscal year.

His forecast includes a $980,000 deficit for fiscal 2028 but a $6.6 million deficit for fiscal 2031.

Currently, Revere has a $22 million cash balance, which Berdine said makes it a little more difficult to ask for new money, even though that surplus will be needed to make up for deficits in the coming years.

The legislature also is trimming its contribution to Revere by $1.4 million this year and by $5.5 million over the length of the forecast.

Berdine tried to ease the concerns of property owners who recently went through another reappraisal by the county that raised values between 20% and 30%.

“People look at that and say, ‘Oh my gosh, my taxes are going up 30%,'” Berdine said. “No, they’re not. The sky is not falling. They will not go up by 30%, the way taxes are calculated.”

Berdine said property taxes might increase 8-9%.

“At some point [a levy is necessary] if we’re going to sustain public education at the level we want it to be,” he said.

Third grade readers

Marcia Roach, director of curriculum and instruction, made a presentation concerning changes in the way the state calculates success and failure for the early literacy part of the annual State Report Card.

She also outlined how and why third grade reading scores will impact who is promoted to fourth grade.

Public speaks

A parent with two children at Revere High questioned the wisdom of appointing a student as an unofficial member of the board of education, an idea the board has been exploring.

“I absolutely believe that students should have a voice,” she said. “But I also believe that students already have meaningful opportunities to use their voice at Revere.”

She pointed out that as members of student council, captains of sports teams and leaders of clubs, students can exercise that role. She also questioned the wisdom of giving a student more access to board members than other residents of the district and whether a 16- or 17-year-old should engage in sometimes emotional discussions with board members.

In other action

The board approved a memorandum of understanding to partner with Ohio University for the College Credit Plus program.

The Revere Youth Football Association donated $5,000 to the varsity cheerleading program for uniforms.

The board renewed the three-year agreement with Richfield Village and Bath Township to pay one-third of the salary of School Resource Officer Scott Dressler.

In response to a question by a board member, Berdine said the district was in the process of setting up an app that allows parents to track school buses on their routes.

Berdine said the cost of the app is $1,500. It will be tested on a few routes in early November and instituted district-wide by about Thanksgiving. Parents will be able to use the tracking app or Parents Square.