This is just one example, but busing cuts in the Talawanda School District have some parents worried about student safety. On most afternoons, just inside Blackmar’s door, there are a pile of backpacks and shoes. Only one set is from her own child. Because she works part-time, she has turned her house into a safe haven for students whose parents are not able to pick up after school.
“A lot of people are trying to support each other in that way,” Blackmar said. “But the dynamic is really rough.”
Blackmar is a member of the planning commission for the City of Oxford. With school funding under threat, she and other members walked some of the routes they knew Talawanda students would take without buses. She recalled stopping with a police officer at Chestnut and Main streets in Oxford. As the committee members got out of their cars, she said she saw a kid on a bicycle trying to cross the intersection.
The child almost got hit by a car.
“To me, the baseline should be ensuring that all kids can get to school safely,” Blackmar said. “Right now, it feels like that is barely happening.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The decision to eliminate busing at the high school, and within 2 miles of other schools, was made after a tax levy failed last year. School officials announced plans to cut more than $5 million over three years. If finances don’t improve, other cuts could include art, music and gym at elementary schools.
“On one hand, I’m proud of our district,” said Kathleen Knight-Abowitz, a school board member, describing how those in the community rallied together. “On the other hand, it’s been stressful. There are families that are really struggling.”
Officials decided against asking for a tax levy this year, with changes in property tax revenue up in the air. But all signs point to another levy in the future. To save money, Knight-Abowitz said officials previously stopped replacing staff that retires or leaves. She said they’ve also eliminated things such as gifted programs at the elementary school.
At a recent school board meeting, Superintendent Ed Theroux said six employees resigned in September and October because of low wages, according to the Oxford Observer. Theroux and School Treasurer Shaunna Tafelski did not respond to an interview request this week.
“These cuts don’t eliminate the need for a levy, it just pushes it out further,” Knight-Abowitz said. “People are not happy about this, and this is a very active school board race as a result.”
She is one of the people running. There are six candidates and only three open seats.
In Ohio, schools are primarily funded by property taxes. This has long angered school officials across the state, who have lobbied for changes.
“The state and school system need a better partnership,” Holli Hansel, the district’s spokeswoman, said earlier this year. “It can’t be that 80% is paid by the local community. It can’t be that any longer.”
In theory, higher property taxes should benefit the school district. But officials know residents will suffer. And they also don’t know exactly what those tax hikes will look like. In addition, Knight-Abowitz said, because Miami University doesn’t pay taxes it limits the amount of money generated for Talawanda.
Even for someone like Blackmar, who works part-time at Miami University and can afford to help others, the changes have been a burden. More and more recently, she finds herself telling students she needs to leave early to handle a situation stemming from pickup.
She said her students are not surprised. They tell her other professors often do the same.
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