MORGANTOWN – The marketing of the excess levy for Monongalia County Schools begins in earnest Thursday evening.
The district’s levy committee, which is a coalition of parents, educators and business leaders, is hosting a forum from 6 to 8 p.m. that evening at the 131 Pleasant St. venue.
“Strong Schools, Strong Communities,” is the name of the gathering where advocates will discuss just what the measure has done for the district since 1973, when it first went before voters on the ballot and passed.
Visit https://communityformoncountyschools.org/ for more information. Email monschoollevy@gmail.com to RVSP, organizers said.
The current levy is again coming due on the May 12 primary ballot.
Rebekah Aranda, who co-chairs the committee doing the outreach for the levy, along with being the parent of children Mon Schools, said she hopes voters check the same boxes in the booth this time around.
“Our schools are the heartbeat of this community,” she said.
“We see the evidence of that all around us in the excellent education statistics, high property values, vibrant arts and afterschool programs.”
Right now, the levy is generating more than $35 million for district coffers, which helps Mon Schools fund all those extras that proponents say give its classrooms a jump over several of its neighbors across the state and region.
Levy dollars go to school nurse salaries and student-issued Chromebook computers.
Maintenance and security are among other levy line items – and money from the measure also helps bankroll the Advanced Placement course offerings for which the district is known.
There are summer programs and extracurricular activities, also.
All told, the levy accounts for more than 20% of the district’s operating budget.
This year’s renewal election is riding on the tails of last year’s resounding defeat of a bond measure that would have paid for the construction of the Renaissance Academy.
The aforementioned academy would have been the county and state’s first standalone school devoted to STEM – science, technology, engineering and math.
Many voters then said that the proposed $142.6 million bond was too pricey, given that the district’s technical center Mississippi Street was already stepping up for STEM training and education.
A failed bond and a levy renewal, though, are decidedly different animals, members of the county Board of Education said last month.
BOE member Jennifer Hagerty, in particular.
Hagerty spent 20 years in Mon Schools as a teacher and principal and said she saw the direct benefit of the levy in her classrooms and offices.
“I’m hopeful that a lot of the people who may not have wanted to go forward with the bond for the Renaissance Academy felt the levy was the most important place to put their money,” she said.
