Similar to this year, the goal of the Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools is to maximize instruction time by building an additional 5 calamity days into the school year, rather than tacking days on meaninglessly at the end of the year.  The 2012-2013 Calendar will be recommended to the Board of Education for approval at its regular meeting on February 13, 2012.  If you have questions or comments about the proposed calendar, please feel free to contact Superintendent Mark Murphy at mark.murphy@tvtrojans.org or 330-859-2213.

Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools has a $940,000 Levy up for RENEWAL in 2012.  It is a renewal only and will not result in a tax increase.  The levy represents approximately 8% of the district’s annual revenue and supports operating expenses such as salaries, instructional materials, technology, utilities, maintenance, school buses, etc.

In October, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 318 for two primaries (March 6, 2012 and June 12, 2012).  On November 30th, The TV Board of Education approved a resolution to proceed with placing the Renewal Levy on the March 6, 2012 ballot and convert it from 5 to 10 years to reduce ballot expenses.  Given additional information, and believing it would be a cost-saving measure to wait until the June primary, the Board, at its regular December 12th meeting, rescinded its original resolution for the March ballot.  The Board made known its intention to file the Renewal Levy for the June 12, 2012 primary election. 
 
Two days later on December 14, and after weeks of debate over congressional redistricting, the Ohio Legislature fast-tracked and approved House Bill 369 which merged the March and June primaries into one primary only on March 6, 2012.  The bill gave no exception to the already-passed December 7 filing deadline for March tax levies.  With the elimination of the June primary, and with no relief from the December 7 filing deadline for the March ballot, Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools has lost the opportunity to place the $940,000 Renewal Levy before voters in the Spring of 2012. 

“Our Board of Education continues to make every attempt to stretch dollars.  Although I’m frustrated with the impact of House Bill 369 at the local level, I am grateful for the ongoing educational support from our community,” remarked Superintendent Mark Murphy.  “Passage of this levy is imperative to maintain high-quality services for our students,” said Murphy.  “Failure would result in the district being forced to drastically cut an additional $940,000 which would obviously have a detrimental impact on our students.”
The Board of Education now has only two options available for consideration in order to secure passage of the Renewal Levy before funding is interrupted:  August 7th Special Election and/or the November 6th Presidential Election.

Regular updates about the RENEWAL LEVY will be provided to the district website.  Please contact Mark Murphy, Superintendent, or Michael Robinson, Treasurer, at 330-859-2213 with your questions or comments.