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Napoleon schools emergency levy to fund district operations

The five-year operating levy would raise $2.3 million for the school district and cost owners of a $100,000 home about $165 per year.

NAPOLEON, Ohio — The Napoleon Area Schools district is asking voters to approve a 4.5-mill, five-year emergency operating levy on the ballot on Tuesday that would raise $2.3 million annually.

Superintendent Erik Belcher says the district has had to make $1.4 million in cuts, 8% of those being in busing.

If passed, the levy would cost owners of $100,000 home about $165 a year.

"This money will just be for the operations of the district, just to keep the doors and lights on within the building," Belcher said. "We are in a people business. We have teachers, and 80% of our expenditures at school are in people. So when we have to make reductions in expenditures, that comes on the heels of people."

If it doesn't pass, he says cuts would happen.

"If this would not pass, we would lose out on additional collections that we would need," he said. "We've already board adopted a series of cuts that would be happening this year. A lot of that would be budgets and departments."

Jeff Ressler is a lifelong Napoleon resident and parent of students in the district.

"This is a great school, a great community, and if we keep on failing the levy, those opportunities are going to be gone and hard to get back for the kids,” he said, adding that the district is a mainstay of the community.

"Our schools are a very important part of this community and so we just hope that parents and supporters of the school will go out and vote," Ressler said. "Whether it's yes or no, we hope for the yes vote, but we'd like to see people get out and vote."

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