$1.75M budget gap feared for schools Officials urge voters to OK levy

Oregon City Schools Superintendent Mike Zalar. THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Oregon City Schools will have to make up over $1.75 million if voters do not approve a proposed 5.9-mill levy in November.

That is the conclusion of a finance committee report presented at the Board of Education meeting last Wednesday by Treasurer Jane Fruth.

Ms. Fruth said that if the levy does not pass this November and is postponed until the next possible vote in May, 2011, the district probably would have to reduce staff and increase class sizes to as high as 33 to 35 students per teacher - "and that's assuming the May levy passes," he added.

Mike Zalar, Oregon City Schools superintendent, said, "If this levy does not pass, it will undoubtedly have an effect on our ability to maintain an effective school system. "Essentially, we would be whittling down to a bare-bones, state-minimum school district."

The proposal on the Nov. 2 general-election ballot is for a 5.9-mill, five-year emergency operating levy.

It would generate nearly $3.4 million annually and would cost the owner of a $100,000 house an additional $180 a year.

Voters rejected a 5.95-mill levy in August, 2009.

Mr. Zalar said that the school board has recently approved new agreements with Oregon City Schools staff, including no increase in the base salary and salaries for all employees.

He said "we are not overstaffed in any area" and "we are as tight and lean as we can possibly operate," and that a levy could no longer be avoided.

"The federal government's not going to come in and save the day, the state government's not going to come in and save the day, businesses and industries in the area are not going to come in and save the day," he said.

"I'm confident, I'm hopeful the community's going to understand what's at stake."

But board member Richard Gabel said, "I'm not real confident in the community as a whole because of the job situation."

Last Monday, the Rossford Board of Education voted to put a 5.99-mill bond issue on the Nov. 2 ballot. Brian Hughes, Ken Sutter, and Diane McKinney voted yes, and Jackie Brown and Dawn Burks were opposed.

The Rossford proposal is for a new high school and junior high school near the site of the Glenwood Athletic Complex.

Contact Dennis Howe at:

dhowe@theblade.com

or 419-724-6050.