GENOA — The year is young, but 2015 already is a busy time for Genoa Schools, with levy requests on the May 5 ballot and the selection of a new superintendent to replace the well-known Dennis Mock, who is retiring after 21 years on the job.
A levy committee, Support Genoa Schools, is planning a campaign that includes a voter-registration drive, according to Joanne Pinkerton, a volunteer. “We’re going to get the word out,” she said.
The new superintendent will be Michael Ferguson, who is the principal at Rootstown High School east of Akron, in Portage County. He will bring 30 years of experience as an educator to the position. He said he and his wife, Meghan, look forward to becoming part of the school community.
Voters will consider two five-year requests for operating money in May: a renewal of a 5-mill levy first adopted in 1990 and a new, dollar-specific emergency levy to raise $1,025,000 each year that would be the equivalent of 6.38 mills. They will appear on the ballot as separate issues.
The renewal levy would generate about $400,000 annually and would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $83 per year, according to Bill Nye, the Genoa schools’ treasurer. The emergency levy would increase taxes on a $100,000 home by about $225 per year.
Absent new revenue, the district would be in deficit in a little more than two years, according to projections. The five-year forecast calls for a $500,000 negative cash balance at the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Mr. Nye said.
The district has lost about $900,000 in state funding in the past decade and another $436,000 in recent years to the phaseout of Ohio’s tangible personal property tax on businesses. By a 10-percentage-point margin, voters rejected a levy request in November that would have brought in $800,000 per year.
Mr. Mock said that to cope with shrinking revenue, the district has reduced spending by $7.5 million since 2004. “Right now, we’ve cut about as much as we can cut without affecting the classroom,” he said. “We’ve not had any new operating money since 2006.”
Mr. Ferguson, 55, said he plans to arrive in the district in July to start learning the system under Mr. Mock. Mr. Ferguson’s salary will be $94,000.
Jim Brossia, president of the Genoa Board of Education, said Mr. Ferguson was chosen from a field of 11 applicants. “We had some very qualified people. Mike [Mr. Ferguson] has not been a superintendent, but his credentials were very good,” he explained. “We were impressed by his background, which included special education, where we know our schools need help.”
Mr. Ferguson said his educational philosophy is “to meet the needs of the kids first. I’m always looking for ways to improve instruction.”
First Published March 2, 2015, 2:10 p.m.
