School Treasurer Says Proposed Bill Would Devastate District

Proposed state House Bill 136, if passed, would have a devastating effect on the both the Avon Lake school treasurer and superintendent said Oct. 31.

Superintendent of Schools Bob Scott, along with 15 other Lorain County school superintendents, put together a letter to the community calling the bill a “blatant assault on tax payers across the state” and saying is has a “patently marked objective.”

The bill would allow vouchers, on a sliding scale, for students who attend private or charter schools for families with up to four children in households making less than $100,000 per year.

“The plan itself is ingenuous,” Scott said. “They’re putting it out as a way for low income families to pay for private schools but there are a number of other agendas in there that aren’t obvious.”

The letter says the bill, if passed, is a “a blatant attempt to take local tax payer dollars to promote the financial gain of private institutions to the detriment of local schools and local communities, and we strongly oppose it.”

Approximately 70 school boards across the state have already publicly issued resolutions of non-support for the bill. Scott said he expected the Avon Lake School Board would discuss the bill at an upcoming meeting.

If passed, House Bill 136 would create a voucher program that students could use to attend private schools. The sole qualifier for the voucher program is a student's household income.

This differs from the current voucher program because it extends vouchers to students in all districts, even those with high-performing public schools, as opposed to just those who live in districts with struggling schools.

If a student's tuition is less than the voucher amount, they can put the remaining money in a savings accounts for future school expenses.

Avon Lake School Treasurer Denise Holcomb said if passed, the financial affect to the district would be significant, and Avon Lake would lose $1.9 million a year.

“It would wipe out the funding we receive from the state foundation,” Holcomb said. “It would be devastating to the district. It would devastate districts throughout the county.”

Scott noted that the bill would include students already in non-public schools.

“Look at how many kids are now enrolled in , St. Mary’s and St. Ed’s,” Scott said.

He added that should the bill pass, the district would have to consider going to the public for a levy to make up the approximate 2 mills the bill would cause the district and added it could cause a chasm between public and private schools.

Proponents for the bill say that HB 136 will help stabilize out-migration in inner-ring suburbs where families sell their homes and move into higher performing public school districts.