To the editor,
It was recently suggested that there’s zero accountability in the Perrysburg School District. It was also suggested that the schools are greedy. I respectfully disagree.
This is not an insignificant levy on the next ballot. It’s one thing to stay within a budget, but to make a large cut and then try to figure it out is another situation. 2023 state reporting shows that our district is already efficient. Operating expenditure per pupil for our district is less than similar districts by about 5% and is less than the average district by about 6%. Administrative expenditure and staff support are nearly 16% lower than the state average. Instructional expenditure and pupil support are the two operating expenditure measures exceeding the state average. What better place to exceed averages?
Where the author was spot on — ignoring corporate bankruptcies of national brands from a discussion about the local economy — is that every household in our district is being impacted by rising costs. When you are presented with rising costs, making cuts and finding efficiencies is incredibly important. But households can only cut so much before they begin to fall apart, figuratively and physically. The other side of the equation must also be addressed.
The author was simply wrong when stating that cuts wouldn’t affect students or educational success. Numerous studies have shown that funding directly impacts the success of our children at school. Less funding means fewer teachers and that leads to increased class sizes. When teachers have more students, each child gets less attention. The ability to read especially suffers in this situation. This is proven fact.
If this growth pattern in the schools is to continue, without adequate changes in state funding and local planning, turning down this type of levy is going to drive our schools into the ground. Then again, for many who like to complain about school levies, maybe that’s their goal. After all, subpar schools don’t attract growth. When the Perrysburg School District is funded, it’s outstanding.
Chris Gorringe
Perrysburg
