The district has not passed new school funding since 2011, failing six times in the last 13 years to get bond issues and levies approved.
PARMA, Ohio — The Parma City School Distirct is preparing to place a 6.88 millage emergency operating levy on the ballot this fall to address a projected multi-million-dollar budget deficit.
“The first year that we projected a deficit was 2022. We’ve pushed that off through fiscal management, through using grants, through using federal government money, we’ve pushed that all the way to 2027,” Superintendent Charles Smialek says. “So we know how to manage taxpayer money.”
Smialek says the district faces a $17-$18 million budget deficit in three years, and they are coming to voters now to keep the district’s ask low.
“What we ‘re trying to avoid is waiting until 2025 or ’26 when the dollar figures are really going to have to be higher …