An Important Message From Daphne Moehring

​

Friends and Neighbors, if you received a postcard titled "Please Don't Vote for Beryl Brown Piccolantonio or Daphne Moehring", let me share the truth behind this disgruntled individual's message.  This individual was vocally opposed to Franklin County Public Health guidance  during the pandemic and continues to seek retribution against me and Beryl Piccolantonio who were on the school board during the horrible pandemic time.

Let me address the concern from Mr. Sweeney that is an actionable item, not his feelings on COVID pandemic issues that are in our past:

His untruth:   Despite passing 2 levies in 8 years district is headed for “fiscal cliff”, may need to cut 20-30% of budget in 2024.

TRUTH:  There is no fiscal cliff in our district’s future,  no cliff at all.  In short, our expenses are impacted by inflation; while our primary source of revenue (local property taxes) is flat, and our secondary source of revenue (from the State of Ohio) is unpredictable and subject to political whims.  To learn more about this visit https://tax.ohio.gov/static/research/property_taxation_school_funding_2012c.pdf, or email me to schedule a time to chat.

The General Fund is the district’s operating fund and is primarily (68%) made up of local property tax dollars.  Ohio Revised Code freezes the revenue of a particular operating levy to the amount predicted to be raised when the levy goes on the ballot and is not impacted by changes in property value.  So, we look into the future of the district’s financial condition and attempt to predict when the revenue that is currently being generated will be absorbed by the drivers listed below over a period of years.  At this point, we anticipate that the levy passed in 2020 will be absorbed in the school year 2027-2028 having supported the district for 7 years, when a typical central Ohio operating levy cycle normally lasts 4 years.  We will be trying to stretch that by managing some expenses now but the extent to which we can do that is not clear given the growth in enrollment and the required investment in technology.

The district’s financial situation is very transparent and in fact, in 2016, Beryl and I along with our board colleagues created a Finance & Facilities Committee to provide a focused, public presentation and discussion of district finances.  Those meetings  continue to be held every 3rd Tuesday of the month, 6:30pm, on the 3rd floor community area of Clark Hall.  Please come and learn!

There are three basic drivers of costs to a school district:
1.  Enrollment – our district has added 710 students during my 8 years on the board.  If you assume 22 students per classroom, that would mean that our district has added 32 classrooms of students – that is significant when you consider that 32 teachers, perhaps 12 classroom aids, 10 potential licensed specialists like reading teachers, occupational therapists, speech teachers, plus the support staff like custodians, bus drivers, food service personnel, etc.  To put it in perspective, 32 classrooms is greater than our largest middle school with 27 classrooms.

2. Costs of Doing Business - this includes expenses like bus fuel, electricity, natural gas, etc. which are all impacted by inflation. This also includes decisions we make to maintain a competitive and attractive district to teach in like pay increases and adjustments to benefit packages. This also includes decisions related to keeping class sizes to a number that provides the best possible learning environment for students.  It also includes technology which has become a greater area of cost over the past 10 years.
3. Composition of students within the district.  Our district is diverse by learning needs, including our special education learners, English as Second Language Learners, gifted learners.  We believe that each student should be met where they are and success of each student is our goal, there are costs that are necessary to fulfill this goal.

I could discuss school district finances for a long time, but suffice it to say that our district’s finances are scrutinized often and deeply by district staff and the board, particularly the Finance  and Facility Committee members.  I believe that we are delivering a large return on each dollar invested to all of our property owners and residents of this district.  Our academics are strong, our graduation rate admirable, and our recognition by the State of Ohio’s report card of "Exceeding" Student Academic Achievement and "Significantly Exceeding" Student Gap Closing.

I am happy to meet with you, talk by phone, or chat via email.  Reach out to voteforDaphne@gmail.com to share how you would like to communicate.