this is an email from Chad – he sent this out to different district leadership folks – like union leaders, PTA leadership – etc…he gave me permission to share this – I echo his sentiment.

“All,

I am emailing all of you, our school system’s supporting organizations, booster clubs, unions and parents groups, to directly ask you to please endorse the next levy that is put on the ballot and to please encourage your membership to volunteer and participate in the levy campaign. 

By now, I am sure you are all well aware that the levy attempt on November 5 failed by a margin of about 44% to 56%.  While this is a significant step in the right direction as compared to the March levy failure, it is still a failure all the same.  Our school district will now clearly be facing difficulties as we move into the 2025-26 school year. As of now, the Board of Education has not yet met to discuss the levy failure and any plans moving forward.  However, I am sure this is a discussion we will be having over the next few months and it will only be a matter of time before a levy is placed on the ballot again. Changes will be coming. I just cannot say what they will be or how deep they will be.  The Board and the Administration will be looking into this.

The way I see it, we are facing two every large hurdles-

• * Communication and marketing – There is no longer a local newspaper.  That has made it very hard to reach people without a direct connection to the schools system. Also with the termination of Friends of Nordonia Schools and the transition to Nordonia Together, we lost a very large online presence going from a reach of over 3000 followers to under 500.  We need to build that following up again and fast.  Please ask everyone to start following Nordonia Together on social media so we can start to fight against the disinformation and the negativity in the community.
• * Getting volunteers– Please remind your membership(s) that there’s strength in numbers.  We have had opposition to our levies for the last 10 plus years and sometimes it can get very personal and nasty.  People seem to be afraid to volunteer because they will be bashed online and in public.Believe me, I know how this feels. However, if we can get 100s of people, it’s going to help. Please recruit your members, friends, neighbors, grandparents, etc.

Most of your organization probably have bylaws that say you are “nonpartisan” organizations.  I completely agree with that and understand.  But, schools and school levies are a nonpartisan issue, no different than levies for the library or the county developmental disabilities board: we are all neutral entities. It is a very different concept to be nonpartisan versus apolitical.  I am not asking you to support a candidate or a political party. I am asking you to support our schools, our community and our children. People move into this area and stay here because of our schools. I don’t want to see that fall apart.

The school district is constantly striving to find efficiencies and cost savings.  However, I think all-in-all, we do very good with the community’s money, are transparent with what’s going on, and stretch our levy dollars as far as possible.  Our 5-year forecast from May of 2022, projected the District to deficit spend by $5,306,020 for this past 2023/24 school year.  Over the last 2 years, we have made significant cost reductions by not replacing retiring/resigning staff and budget cuts.  Through these measures, what was projected at $5m in deficit spending actually came in at a deficit of $431,856.  Unfortunately, we still project to deficit spend in 24/25 and beyond.  As Casey Wright has said numerous times, we are not going to cut our way out of this. The only way to get back on track is to get additional funding from the community (we cannot wait for the State to do the right thing).  It’s never fun to ask for money, but this is where we stand.  The Schools have been hit by the same inflation as every person and every business around.

In short, I’m going to direct you back to the first sentence.  Please endorse the next school levy request.  Please ask your memberships to volunteer.

We all need to come together and get the next levy passed. With all of us together, We are Nordonia!”