By Mark Ambrogi
Dr. Sherry Grate began her term as Westfield Washington Schools superintendent July 1 and immediately faced a big decision.
At her first school board meeting July 12, the board approved a recommendation to pursue an operational referendum in November to aid the school general fund rather than wait until 2017.
“Part of the conversation that was there is not an election scheduled for 2017, so that began the conversation, ‘Do we go early, or go in 2017 and pay for the election,’” Grate said.
Grate made the case for supporting the referendum at a State of the Schools presentation Sept. 15 at the Westfield Chamber of Commerce luncheon at The Bridgewater Club.
The referendum reduces the rate from $0.23 to $0.20 per $100 assessed valuation from the previous referendum passed in 2010.
If the referendum passes, it would go into effect in January. If it fails, there would be another chance for a referendum to be on the ballot in 2017.
Westfield Washington Schools is the fifth-lowest funded school district in the state. The referendum is approximately 11 percent of the general fund.
“I would urge you all to get out and support this referendum,” Westfield Mayor Andy Cook said after Grate’s presentation. “It’s very important to continue the importance of education. You have heard me say many times that the number one thing that I have to sell is the quality of education we provide our kids. Let me be direct in the need for this referendum that we’re fifth from the bottom in the state. So what we’re really voting to re-tax ourselves is to do nothing more than to bring us up to the state average. That’s just the game we have to play. Every penny is worth it because we get a huge return on that investment. It’s not only that the high quality of education is documented, but it also shows up in the huge demand to locate a family in Westfield. Is that extra money worth it? It absolutely is, so please support the referendum.”
Grate said if a new referendum is not passed before 2018, the district would have to make staff and programming cuts.
Enrollment has grown from 5,994 in 2010-11 to 7,505 in 2016-17. Westfield High School had the highest graduation rate in Hamilton County at 98.2 percent in 2014-15.
