Schools

Bayless School Board to Ask for Tax Levy

Jeff Preisack proposed placing a tax levy on the ballot in November.

At the Bayless Board of Education meeting Wednesday, board president Jeff Preisack proposed that the board begin the process of asking district residents to support a new tax levy.

The proposal came at the end of an extended presentation by Preisack on the relationship between money and academic success. Though Preisack stressed that Bayless achieved high results with its limited funds, he said that without increased revenue, the school would slip down the slope of decreased performance.

Bayless has been struggling in recent years. Home values in the district have dropped in the last two assessment cycles, and Missouri continues to underfund its foundation formula, which calculates financial assistances for state school districts.

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District Chief Financial Officer John Stewart said that Bayless cut its operating budget by $750,000 last year, and by another $350,000 this year. With a district operating budget of only $13.4 million, Stewart said this $1.1 million budget reduction is significant. Cuts included the district’s bus system, which was canceled last year.

“If things don’t improve revenue-wise, the cuts are going to be severe,” Stewart said. “We are running out of things that can be cut that don’t affect classrooms.”

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Stewart said that if the state continues to fail to fully fund its school assistance formula, it could cost the district around $300,000 a year. The school has also been forced to replace the intermediate school’s roof early due to shoddy workmanship on the last renovation. Without a significant economic bounce-back, Stewart said the district might have to cut staff and increase class sizes.

Preisack said he hopes to bring a formal proposal for the board to look at in June, with a goal of putting the levy to a vote on the November ballot. Stewart said that there were several election days in 2012 that the district could consider as well, though once passed it would still be more than a year before the district saw increased revenue from the levy.

The school board has not decided on the details of the levy, though Preisack suggested 75 cents per $100 of assessed home value as a number to consider. The average price of a house in the Bayless district is $136,000. The board calculated that owner of such a house would pay around $250 per year to a 75-cent levy.

The board now has the job of informing district residents of Bayless’s financial strains and persuading them to support the levy.

“We need the community’s help,” Superintendent Maureen Clancy-May said. “Cutting a million dollars over two years is really hard on a school district our size’s budget.”


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