PLEASE THINK TWICE BEFORE VOTING NO

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:  The November 2019 election is over and the community obviously didn’t support the Loveland City School District’s long term master plan of new buildings, new property, etc. That’s history now.

Based on the community feedback, the Loveland City School District is now asking for just the opposite end of the spectrum – a bare bones request to maintain current operations less $2.7 million in current spending reductions that are already being implemented.  This is the 6.95 mill request on the March 17th ballot.

Failure of a bare bones request in March will have monumental implications for our schools and our community.  

 Before casting a NO vote, please think twice about the following:

• It has been six years since the last tax increase for the schools.  We can’t expect strong schools if we don’t support a reasonable increase after six years. We can’t penalize the schools because the state of Ohio school funding is flawed and has been ruled unconstitutional. 
• The failure of a bare bones request will most certainly negatively impact our community and our property values.  We can look to neighboring communities like Little Miami to learn how failed levies impact property values and how long it takes for them to recover.
• The District has been transparent about what happens if the March levy fails.  The firing of 25 staff, increased class size, elimination of high school busing just to name a few.  None of these are positives for our community, our schools, or our students. We can’t let that happen.
• The firing of 25 staff will have a tremendous negative impact on the programming and education that our students receive.  We can’t let that happen.
• Continued levy failures will encourage our amazing teachers to go elsewhere just making matters worse.  We can’t let that happen.  How many years would it take to redevelop that dedication and expertise?
• Please don’t rationalize that “well, they will just come back in November with less”.  March is less and November is ugly with negative changes between now and then that will take years to reverse.

Before voting no, please think twice that this is a very different request than the previous request and seriously consider the major negative impact that continued levy failures will have on our community, our students, and our property values. As a community, are we really ready to go down the path of continued levy failures? For $243 per year per $100,000 of appraised home value, after no increases for six years, I certainly hope not. Please vote YES on March 17th to protect our community, our schools, our students and our property values. It will be well worth the investment.

Al Osgood, Jr. is a resident of Loveland living in Miami Township, Clermont County. He is father to three children: 2 Loveland School graduates and 1 current Loveland School student.