Mantua – At their last meeting, the Board voted to place a renewal levy on the ballot for the upcoming November elections. So, Crestwood Schools will be on the ballot on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, for a tax renewal in the amount of 4.27 mills, to cover emergency needs. According to information shared by the district, the proposed levy is a replacement of an existing levy, which is set to expire at the end of 2019.
If passed in November, the replacement levy will take effect in January 2020 and continue for a period of four years. The levy is a fixed sum levy, meaning that the amount taxpayers have been paying since the levy’s inception in 2012 is the same amount they’ll pay if the levy passes in 2019. This means that although inflation rates per month have increased an average of 1% to 2% since 2012, District funding has not kept pace. In addition, this does not take into account the possible pending decrease in state revenue, which will be shared in the State of Ohio’s report. Complete levy details are available at crestwoodschools.org.
Next, Superintendent Toth asked Athletic Director Brett Koch to explain to the Board the positive and negative reasons for possibly changing from the Portage Trail Conference to the Chagrin Valley Conference. Among the factors that made leaving the PTC favorable included the new conference’s size, which includes twenty-one schools. According to Koch, schools are spread throughout four counties: Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, and Cuyahoga; and many of the districts in the CVC are similar in size and competitiveness.
Koch noted that 16 of the 21 CVC members have turf football fields and all-weather tracks and offered off-field opportunities as well. Those activities include leadership conferences, robotics competitions, and other opportunities for Crestwood students. After lengthy discussion, the board approved a resolution authorizing Crestwood’s withdrawal from the Portage Trail Conference and membership in the Chagrin Valley Athletic Conference, effective in the 2020-2021 school year.
In similar news, Crestwood’s Scarlet Guard just completed band camp, and is ready to represent Crestwood High School with pride. Come hear them perform at the Red Devil’s first home football game on August 30th against Chippewa.
Lastly, the Board gave approval to employ Sarah Palm as District Treasurer for a 36-month term to commence on August 1st of this year. Palm will replace former Treasurer Deb Armbruster.
The next School Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 13th at 7 pm in the CHS library.
