Euclid residents will once again vote on a proposed levy to increase funding for its school district.
The Euclid City School District has had a proposed levy on the ballot in the past two elections, but the proposal failed both times. This November’s 8.7-mill proposal would bring $5.6 million to the school district annually for 10 years.
The last proposed levy increase came up short by just under 190 votes in the primaries, said Superintendent Chris Papouras. But he thinks the school district has enough support to get the current proposal approved.
“This is going to protect the growth and the progress we’ve made, and obviously prevent any future cuts that would have to be made if it does not pass,” Papouras said.
The sudden shift to only mail-in voting in the March primary hurt the levy’s chances, he said, but the general election next month will be a very different situation.
“We actually felt an opportunity to vote both in-person and by mail this time will help us secure the margin for victory,” Papouras said.
Some in the community have spoken out against the levy, he said, but the district is working to inform voters about the need for more funding. Without the levy, he said, Euclid schools would potentially need to make cuts to teaching staff, athletics, arts programming and in the administration.
“We want to keep this momentum going,” Papouras said. “We feel like we’re in a good place academically, and we know the money will be helpful to keep it moving forward.”