Westerville City Schools

Westerville City Schools are asking voters to approve a 0.75% tax on earned income on residents in November. Residents voted down a property tax levy last year.

School district leaders proposed cutting more than 100 staff members, eliminating bus routes and adding participation fees for activities if the ballot issue fails.

The Westerville Board of Education placed the income tax issue on the ballot after voters rejected a 4.9-mill operating levy and 1.66-mill bond issue last November.

The "Parents' Bill of Rights," which goes into effect Wednesday, requires schools to have a religious release time policy on the books.

Data shows that Ohio students have gotten back to where they were before the pandemic when it comes to reading, but despite some recovery, they remain behind in math.

Westerville City Schools said in a letter to parents that PowerSchool, the software platform it uses for managing student information, was impacted by a data breach.

The decision spells the end for the LifeWise Academy in the district. The popular – and sometimes controversial – program had been in the district since fall 2022.

The Westerville City School Board is considering removing its religious release time policy. That would mean the end of the school district’s LifeWise Program.

More than half a dozen central Ohio schools are asking voters to pass levies or bond issues in November.

The district is asking to issue bonds worth up to $140 million and for a levy that would generate another $20.8 million.