Understanding School Levies and Community Engagement

What role do school levies play in supporting public education?

In this episode of Report to the Office, host Mary Cleveland welcomes community advocate Tracey Artis for a conversation about school funding, community involvement and the importance of staying informed.

Together, they discuss:
• How school levies affect local communities
• The relationship between public schools and community well-being
• Why informed civic participation matters
• Ways residents can become involved with their local schools
• The importance of accountability and transparency in public education

This episode offers valuable perspective for parents, community members, school leaders and anyone interested in understanding the connection between strong schools and strong communities.

#PublicEducation #SchoolFunding #CommunityEngagement #SchoolBoards #OSBA

For more resources, training and advocacy updates from the Ohio School Boards Association, visit ohioschoolboards.org.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The following program is the presentation of the Ohio School Boards Association.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

I'm Mary Cleveland, and on today's episode, we're going to talk about something that touches every community: school levies. Today, I'd like to welcome Tracy Artis, a levy committee organizer who has a wealth of information to share with you. Tracy, thank you so much for being here today.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Thank you for having me, Mary.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

I am so excited because you have an amazing track record. You've been a part of multiple levy campaigns and have actually helped lead three that have passed. Can you tell us what drew you into this type of work?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

My passion for the community that I grew up in and my alma mater, my high school Princeton.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I love that. What do you think most communities misunderstand about levies? What is that?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

The messaging of the levies. I think it's very important what message you put before the uh persons that will be coming to the ballot, what you put before the community. I think oftentimes what's misunderstood is that people are always going to be concerned about increase in taxes, increase in gas and food, specifically people with families. And so you just have to be very intentional about the messaging.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

I love that. So when you step into a levy campaign, what is the first thing you focus on?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

The first thing I focus on is why are we running this levy? Is this an operational levy? What will the millage be? Um, how long do we have to run the levy? All those things are very important. Once I build my deck, if you will, and I know what my marching orders are, um, I know you know how much money we have to run the campaign, if I'm able to build my own team to help me run the campaign, all these things are things that I look at from the onset. And then from there, I begin to build out what the operational um, you know, layout of the campaign will be.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Saying that, what separates a successful levy campaign, in your opinion, from one that struggles?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

A successful levy campaign would be comprised of leaders. Um, but people would have to understand it may be a five-person campaign. Somebody's going to lead everybody, all of us are leaders, uh, be able to delegate and be able to receive the delegation. So when I think of successful levy campaigns that I've been a part of, I think about strong leaders and persons that do not um shy away from teamwork.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

I would I would absolutely agree with you. Um as you approach a levy, how do you take something so complex as uh school funding and make it understandable for the voters?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

I break it down into layman's term because I'm a taxpayer as well, and I think about what if if this is laid out before the taxpayer, what will they understand best? So you have to just spoon feed them, bring it to them in a way that when they read it, they'll say, This is what is going to happen to my taxes when this passes. And I'm always very positive about it.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

I love that. Well, if you were to try to engage people who don't have children in the district, how do you approach that?

SPEAKER_00 3:47

We let them know that even if you don't have children, you don't want to be in a school district that has failed a levy because that's going to uh it can affect a lot of things like your property tax, right? Not saying that it would increase or decrease just your property value. You don't want to be in a failing school district. So I I live in an area of the district where a lot of people don't have kids that go to Princeton, but because I am a Viking, I was able to share with them. My mother graduated from this high school in 1959 and myself in 1983. And we don't want the same school system from 59 to now. So things have to change, and we need money to be sustainable and to run a levy, right? And so I'm just always encouraging those persons that that don't have kids. I tell them a lot about the history of Princeton and how rich the history is and how they can be a part of history uh just by continuing to support and protect and preserve our legacy.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I I I would agree. As we start to think about, you know, again, you're in the midst of this work. You've seen obviously a failed attempt. What lessons can be learned when a levy fails?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

I think you should go back um when a levy has failed and look at a where it failed, um, how much did it fail by? And I think you should look at the the layout that the former levy committee used, and you want to build upon that because everybody sets out to win. So just because an individual levy didn't pass does not mean that people weren't passionate about it or didn't care. Um, it maybe just means that their campaign wasn't as robust as it needed to be. So you just build upon it. Um, sometimes bringing new um players to the table will also help um and try to make sure you have male and female, um and you have people of different ages and from the different communities that make up um, you know, where you're running the levy.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Okay. And then from your perspective, why do school levies even exist? Um, how do you talk to people about why they even exist? Because I know that oftentimes our communities are confused on, you know, I I get you need money, but but do you? And so I know you've had to deal with that a lot in the community. Can you share a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Yes, I just explained to people that taxes are how a school district is ran. And so you have tangible property tax. And I've had to break it down to people to say in your home, you have tangible property, and all of that tax, everything in there has a value to it, and then that's how you come up with a number for a general electric and their tangible property tax, right? Right that a company of that size would have. Some of the money from their tangible property tax goes to state, and some of it resides with the school district. So there's so many different scenarios. I've ran levies that had different millage, I've ran levies that were operational, I've ran levies that had a different mission, right? I just always try to sit down and explain to everyone that without a tax, you would not be able to have a school district that's sustainable. And we we never really talk about this a lot, but this is important. It also helps to employ people in your community. And you don't want a high unemployment rate where you live. So if a school uh levy failed, and let's say a school had to close, you may have lost thousands of jobs because of that school closing. I know in my district that would be the case. If Princeton never closed, the communities would feel it because we have elementary schools in every community, and Princeton High School and Middle School are two of the largest employers in Sharonville.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Correct, correct. And that is always worth saying it's it's one of those things that I know I too uh try to make sure people understand that if your school district was pulled out of your community being one of the largest employers, what would that actually look like? And so you have to look at, well, that means that you don't have um the tax base that you're currently um um using, utilizing, or you have to look at those ancillary businesses that no longer have a need to be in your community would also close up. So there's a lot to it when it comes to the need uh of making sure that we fund our schools. When you talk about the people, because you mentioned a committee. What does that look like? How many people, you know, what is it, how do you get people involved? What is what does it take to really build out a true levy committee that's that's successful?

SPEAKER_00 8:44

So for how many people I would say depends on the size of the school district. Some some persons could have a five-person levy and be impactful. Somebody may need 10 persons. For all the levies that I've ran, I would say we had a core group of four to five persons. Um, but we also had what I call a dream team. People who were passionate and they cared. And that might have been, again, a core group of three to four people. Um, I've worked with levies that had as many as five, but I've also uh saw levy teams that were as many as 10, you know. So um you definitely need a team, um, and you have to look at that number based on the amount of people you're trying to reach. Um so I just think you know that the team is very important and the work you're doing and strategizing and making sure that the left knows what the right is doing and that we're not duplicating efforts. Everybody should be helping to raise money, everybody should be helping to uh either put signs out or share information about where sign it should go. So these are just some of the things in the life of a campaign daily.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Thank you. And you talked about a core group. So your core group of five or or however many, depending on the school size, but then is there a bigger team? Is what does that look like? How does how do you get that going?

SPEAKER_00 10:05

The bigger team looks like PTA presidents, or could be PTO. The bigger team looks like uh staff, maybe not being able to work during school hours, but definitely supporting when they're away from school, principals, your superintendent, and just knowing the law and the rules that apply to all of them, what they can do, when they can do it, and how they can do it. Also, community in every community, you may have a mayor, you may have a council members, um, you have a fire chief, you have a police chief. Um, I left no stone unturned. We talked to everyone. We even talked to students because some students, based on their age, they were able to vote. So um just knowing where you could engage them, how you could engage them, um, and just asking for support again from anyone in the community that was willing to join the team. So for a broader team, Mary, you could easily have a hundred persons that made up those groups that I just spoke of, your elected officials, your staff, and students.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Absolutely, absolutely. So, what's a moment from your experience that's really stayed with you?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Um, a student coming up to me after the last levy was ran and just saying, Miss Tracy, I just want to thank you. Um, it means a lot to me that you know you care enough about the school. I know your kids don't go here anymore. She was like a senior, but she was like, you know, I just want to say thank you because I saw your work, you know, I saw you out in the community. I think I went by her house once and talked to her parents. So that that always has made me feel good. And then even seeing my own kids and family members who were in the district who I know had a fair shot at education because levies were passed. And because I've been a part of levy teams for decades now in my district, I've also found some reward in um seeing them pass and then seeing the work that we told people would get done, get done. So that's been very rewarding for me as well.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

I I like that you touched on that because I did want you to talk a little bit about. So, what happens after the levy is passed? You know, obviously the the committee work itself is done. However, there's more to it. Like you said, what happens next? So once a levy is passed, from your perspective, what happens?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Well, once the levy is passed, a couple things should happen. Um, internally, for everybody that was a part of your team, a thank you should go out. You know, thank you notes should be written to your donors, right? Um, you can even put signs out in the community to say, you know, you asked for their support. Now you just say thank you. But then the work, um, you know, the tough work comes in, making sure that everything that you had planned for and asked people to vote for is now executed. So then you turn back to the district, you know, you turn back to the district and say, you know, people are already inquiring about the different programs that we said would be sustainable as a result of this levy or the different things that would not um get canceled. So you just have to remind people um of what we set out to do and make sure that it's executed because the voter will remember that the next time. Right. So if you don't, if you don't make good on the promise, uh, or if you don't make good on the levy programming that you promised, people will remember that. So it was always rewarding for me to see that my district always followed, you know, exactly what they told the taxpayer they would do.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

And that is extremely, extremely important. Um, because as you said, from levy to levy, you know, as as we and many other communities now are, we're levy districts. So in between time, people are measuring what's what happened based on the last levy. How how do you as um uh a chair of a levy committee, how do you look at the between time? You know, so from levy to levy, what do you find to be some of the most important things to focus on?

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Um, I think messaging, I think you should still have um engagement with the community. I think you should still send out brochures and let people know that this will be ongoing so they're not surprised. I also think to continue to talk to them, um, not just about the fact that we have to run another levy, but talk to them about why, you know, because everybody won't understand. And you maybe had parents um that were in the last levy that maybe are gone now, but now you have new parents you have to engage, right? So you want to make sure that people understand the district, the business of the district, why you're running a levy, and let them know the past successes. Uh, in the past, we were able to run this levy, and it was for this millage and this amount of money came into the district, and because of that, we were able to do X, Y, and Z. So just that messaging, Mary, making sure that people are apprised of everything that has taken place and what your goals are for the future.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Absolutely. And Tracy, if someone is listening today and they really want to support their local schools, but they don't know how, where should they start?

SPEAKER_00 15:27

They should start by contacting their local school. Um, I always tell people go to the principal in the building where your student is, or go to the principal in the building of the community that you live in. Um, Google is so close to us, right? You can just you can just Google almost anything. Um, even go visit a school, you know, um, so that you will have a connection there because I think community is everything. And I think if we live in communities, we should serve in communities. But I think that starting with your local school, uh joining a PTA, and you don't have to have a student in the building to join a PTA. I was PTA president at my kids' elementary school for five years, and there were grandparents that you know served. So anyone can serve, and I think the greatest amongst us are the ones that do serve.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

I would I would absolutely agree, and thank you for that. Because again, people don't always know where to start, and you just made it real simple. Just contact the school in your community and and ask. Just tell them you want to help, and I guarantee you they're gonna find something helpful for you to do. So again, thank you for that, Tracy. So, what would you say to the voter who is unsure on how to vote on a levy? If you were, if you had the ability right now to just say, you know what, I'm gonna speak to all of Ohio for those who are now saying, Well, I don't know how to, what, what should I, how should I vote on this levy? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00 16:58

I would say to them, you know, study. Make sure that you're reading up on why this levy is being ran and the impact that it will have if it wins or if it fails. Um, I saw a parent several years ago who lived in a neighboring school district, and she said, Hi, Tracy, how are you? I said, I'm doing good. She said, I'm not. She said, I had to change career paths to accommodate my kids because they don't have busing in their school district anymore. And she said, I no longer could work where I worked and keep the hours because a bus couldn't pick them up anymore. And I was like, You're kidding. And she said, No. She said, So I'm no longer with this company because I have to drive my kids back and forth to school and all of their activities, all the busing got canceled. So I want to say to people, you have to look at the consequences for if a levy did not pass. But the only way you will know how to vote is by researching. And that could also be by you contacting the school and asking them, I hear a levy is on the ballot. Is there a website for the levy committee? Is there any information out about the former levies? So I just admonish people to read and to study and to ask questions.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

I love that. Yes, you're absolutely right. We do need to make sure people um are engaged, but the way to be engaged is based on knowledge. So the more they know, the better the outcome. So thank you for that because that kind of brought us back to community. Um and thank you for the work that you've done. Again, you know, a remarkable record. Three out of three is incredible. The fact that you are able to be at the forefront to help get those passed. Again, all I can do is say thank you, not only for um for the people that are listening, but for the communities that you serve. So thank you again. Um, as we know, public education works best when communities are informed, engaged, and connected. And conversation like this helps to open the door. So thank you for joining us here today at Report to the Office. If you found this helpful, share it with someone in your community because the more we understand, the stronger our schools become. Take a moment, pull out the phones, and share this episode with someone who needs to know about levies. Again, thank you.