A little more than one in three school levies in Ohio were successful this spring, and the picture was much the same in Northeast Ohio.
The majority of levies failing comes amid a dynamic time for school funding and the broader economic picture in Ohio. Advocates are attempting to put an issue on the November ballot to abolish all property taxes in the state, following large increases in property taxes after property reappraisals in recent years. Gas prices hit almost $5 in some parts of the state not long before the election on May 5. Finally, school advocates argue state funding has not kept up with rising costs, with hundreds of school districts joining a coalition that's filed suit opposing state spending on private school vouchers.
In total, just 24 of 66 levies passed statewide this May, about 36%, compared to 64% being approved in May 2025 and 52% in May 2024, according to Ohio School Boards Association data.
One factor at play could have been more new levies on the ballot this spring that asked for increased taxes, versus simple renewals, the OSBA said in a press release. Renewals typically pass at much higher rates by voters.
“Renewals are holding, but new asks are harder,” OSBA CEO Tom Hosler said. “That’s not a lack of support for schools; it’s the reality families are facing. Voters are making careful decisions, and much of that is outside the control of local school districts.”
In the meantime, the levy failures mean school districts like Parma and Streetsboro must move forward with cuts to programming and staff. Parma will need to lay off staff, Superintendent Scott Hunt said in an interview last week. The district has about $9 million it's going to trim from its budget over the next three years, and will likely place another levy on the ballot in November.
"Without that (levy), that dollar amount is likely going to be much more than $9 million without new operating money," Hunt said
In Streetsboro, the school board already authorized cuts for teachers, library aides and secretaries earlier this year after two consecutive levies failed. The district said it was also canceling junior varsity and freshman sports, increasing pay-to-play sports fees and canceling some arts-related extracurriculars now that its third levy failed.
A mix of economic issues, and concerns about schools' decision-making
Streetsboro resident Rod Flauhaus got the idea to form a political action committee digging into Streetsboro schools' spending a little more than a year ago, not long after a property reappraisal in Portage County that increased property values significantly.
"I was talking with one of my neighbors who's a widow, who lives on Social Security, owns her home, but ... she's not rich," he said. "And she was talking about how hard it was gonna be with this new levy they were proposing."
So, Flauhaus said he began to request public records of the district's operations. His posts through the Streetsboro Residents for School Accountability PAC on social media criticized the district for not being responsible with the money it already receives from taxpayers. Flauhaus said the district has not cut back on things like administrative spending and that it still increased benefits and salaries for teachers even when it knew its enrollment had slid and was forecasting a deficit. He also noted academic outcomes at the high-performing suburban district have dropped slightly, from 4.5 stars overall to 4 stars.
"It was amazing when people found out, 'oh my gosh, my tax dollars, I can't afford my prescriptions yet my tax dollars are going toward platinum-level benefits,'" he said, noting the levy would have added another $600 onto residents' property tax bills annually on average.
Andy Frazier, a Parma resident, is another voter who opted not to support his local school's levy. Frazier said this is the first time he's ever not voted for a local school levy.
The main reason? It was an income tax this election cycle, instead of a property tax, Frazier said.
"This is a wealth transfer to homeowners who are already relatively wealthy (away from) working people," he said.
Parma and other districts opted for income taxes this cycle only after years of local voters being unwilling to support property taxes. That didn't pan out well for them, with 24 of 32 income tax requests failing in Ohio this May.
Frazier said external economic forces also didn't help voters' willingness to support the income tax in Parma.
"Gas is up to what, $5 a gallon?" he said. "People are needing to do what they needed to make ends meet. Food is up considerably, I don't know the exact figures, but my sense is that it's doubled over the last couple years. We just you know new cars are insanely expensive, the cost of clothing has gone up, everything has has gone up."
Dueling perspectives in Mentor
In Mentor, both before and after its levy failed, residents and officials hotly debated school funding and the district's operations.
The district is facing a mix of challenges, especially when it comes to state funding, Mentor School Board President Maggie Cook said in a post on her personal campaign Facebook page,
"Over and over I heard from residents who value the school and are just limited in what they can contribute. They are also tired and frankly unwilling to continue to take the brunt of legislators in Ohio who fail to make public education a priority," she said. "The current state budget, passed by Ohio legislators, allocates funds to public schools based on costs from 2022. They refuse to update them. In fact our state funding rank for public education is the 45th lowest in the United States. This has shoved the burden on local property taxes. You should expect better."
Former Mentor school board member Annie Payne, meanwhile, said the district has not been spending its money wisely, in a recent post on her own campaign Facebook page.
"We currently have 13 instructional teacher coaches who are not in classrooms with students, but instead coach teachers, many of whom already hold master’s degrees and are highly capable professionals. My hope is that the district takes a real, honest look at its spending patterns and finds ways to reduce bloat without impacting students," she wrote.
Cook said the district will be moving forward with $3.4 million in cuts, and could put another levy on the ballot in November. With the majority of levies failing this spring, many other schools will be in the same boat.
