Marshall BOE Begins Process To Place Operational Levy On November Ballot

MOUNDSVILLE -- The Marshall County Board of Education took the first step Monday toward placing the district’s operational excess levy before voters this fall, approving a “lengthy consideration” that begins the process of sending the measure to the state so it can appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

While the current five-year levy is not set to expire until June 30, 2028, school officials said seeking voter approval this year provides the district with additional opportunities to renew the levy before the current one expires.

Superintendent Shelby Haines told board members the resolution is the first step in a long certification process before the levy can be placed on the ballot.

“What happens is we get approval through the legal support and from there we submit that to the state and local level for review and we get that approved and pretty much it is about the same information as we have had in the past,” Haines said. “You can see there is a little bit more detail as far paying specifically for the counsel overages and the nurse overages. We try to define that a little more so you can specifically see where it is.”

The operational excess levy has been a key source of funding for Marshall County Schools for decades, supporting the day-to-day operation of the district and providing funding for salaries, employee benefits, building maintenance, instructional materials, technology, transportation and other essential services.

Haines said the district also expanded the information provided to voters to better explain additional programs supported through the levy.

“Some of the stuff you will see in there specifically are the activity passes that we give back to the community and you will also see the possibility of a school-based health clinic,” Haines said. “As you know we have been meeting at the health department to talk about doing something for Marshall County employees as well as their children as well as Marshall County Schools children to run to the health clinic if you have a cough, cold, something like that. It’s very rapid care-like.”

“For the most part the rest of it is the same -- STEM, Robotics, Music, Arts, the activity passes, those are a huge hit with the community and gives back to them,” she added.

The levy also supports employee compensation beyond state funding.

“If you look at the salary schedule, you will see the state-based salary and then you will see the column that says county supplement,” Haines said. “It also pays for the medical benefit card that we approved to offset some of the costs of the rising insurance, so we tried to make the [information] a little more specific and explicit.”

Board President John Miller said those benefits are important to attracting and retaining employees.

“That medical card is new and it’s very helpful to our employees and the supplement, we wouldn’t want to do without that,” Miller said. “All of our employees, we want to take them.”

Board member Lori Kestner said the levy language helped illustrate the services that extend beyond what the state’s funding formula provides.

“What stood out for me when I read it was the words ‘beyond, not funded’ and I started to calculate things that were not funded that were over the [state-aid] formula and I think those are the things as a citizen reading it that stood out to me,” Kestner said.

Haines said asking voters to consider the levy in 2026 instead of waiting until 2028 is intended to avoid creating a situation where the district would have no opportunity to return the issue to voters before the current levy expires.

“So the current levy that we are under does expire until June 30, 2028, but we have to run this levy either November coming up or May of 2028,” Haines said. “So if we run it May of 2028, we have no backup plan if it would go down … We do all of our budgets in February and March for the next year. We would have to do all those budgets as if we have a levy and then redo them once the levy was approved.”

Miller noted the district followed a similar approach in the past.

“We ran it early in 2017, with that in mind should it go down we could put it out again,” Miller said. “We are guardedly optimistic. We never want to take it for granted. We want to put it out rather and the voters make the decision. We are constantly aware of our voting public.”

Kestner said the levy helps provide services requested by families and ensures students receive support beyond basic classroom instruction.

“Most of the things in here are services for students that we’ve been able to give individual attention to and sometimes at the request of the parents and we’ve been able to do that,” she said. “We are trying to ensure that every child has services they need and a lot of that is in here.”

Miller said the board’s goal is to continue providing students with opportunities for success.

“We want every child that goes through our doors to have the best shot at life and the best opportunities that we can afford to give them so when they leave our public education they are able to take care of themselves and be productive members of society,” Miller said. “We want the best for all of our kids and we certainly want to give them the best.”