After a succession of failed levy attempts stretching back to 2011, Parma City School District is hoping the November 2025 election will be the first time it sees success in getting local voters to approve a tax increase to fund education in years.
New Superintendent Scott Hunt said he hopes voters will recognize the 10-year, 6.9-mill operating levy is an investment in the future of the school district and the communities it serves more broadly. The levy will cost about an additional $240 per year in property taxes for a property valued at $100,000.
"Let's highlight the stories about... how our district provides value for students and families," he said, noting the school district's focus on preparing students for college, careers or military service after they graduate.
Hunt said the district is being hit by cuts to state and federal funding. It will lose about $4 million over the next two years after a change to the state's school funding formula in the latest biennial budget, and he said the district also just saw a $2.6 million drop in its federal funding.
Parma's five-year financial forecast, submitted to the state in the spring, shows it running out of cash by the end of the 2028 fiscal year (which spans the 2027-2028 school year). To avoid that, and to avoid potentially falling under state control, new funding will be needed, Hunt said. But it's not just about the school district, he said.
"When the school survives, when the school thrives, the community thrives and vice versa," Hunt said.
Schools have struggled to get new taxes approved in recent years as property taxes rose significantly due to historic increases in property values. Still, statewide, levies fared better in the May 2025 primary than in the 2024 primary, the Ohio School Boards Association said in a news release this spring, with 64% being approved compared to 52% in May 2024. Support for new taxes also grew, up to 40% approval from just 13% last spring.
Other school districts in the region also have new levies on the ballot in the November election. In Cuyahoga County, Richmond Heights, Shaker Heights and South Euclid-Lyndhurst school districts have additional levies on the ballot. Tallmadge City School District in Summit County is seeking a new operating levy. And in Lorain County, Elyria City School District has another new levy on the ballot after an attempt in the spring failed.
