By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

Little Miami Superintendent Ralph Shell (left) and school board President Mike Cremeans steam-cook dinner for levy workers. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP - Little Miami Schools celebrated passage of an operating levy with a meal prepared Wednesday by Superintendent Ralph Shell.

The chicken dinner - cooked in a tin garbage can over a fire - was prepared for 50 community members to say thank you for their levy work.

The 6.9-mill levy passed Tuesday will bring about $2.6 million annually to school coffers beginning in January, allowing the district to reinstate many of the $1.8 million in program and staffing cuts made last spring after a failed May levy.

The owner of a $100,000 house will pay an additional $136 each of the next five years.

After eating Wednesday, school officials met and immediately ended a pay-to-play policy instituted because of the cuts, and will reimburse families who had already paid to play fall sports. They also began recalling laid-off employees.

"We'll be getting back to providing educational opportunities for our kids," Mr. Shell said. "I hope to start bringing people back right away."

The first to come back will be third-shift janitors, library aides and computer aides, followed closely by help at the junior high, which lost its assistant principal to the high school after one administrative position was eliminated.

The district won't replace the business manager position and is studying when to bring back the food service manager, Mr. Shell said.

Junior high Principal Patrick Dubbs plans to bring back library aide Judy Neal so the library can go back to being open all day.

After the cuts were made, teacher Jack Worley arranged for some of his eighth-graders to spend a period each day in the library so that other students could use it.

Ms. Neal is looking forward to going back to her job. After her position was cut, she began volunteering three mornings a week in the school office.

Contractual provisions prevented Ms. Neal from volunteering to do her old job.

"I know the secretary there desperately needed help, and the work was something I had done (as a volunteer) before I was hired," said Ms. Neal, who has a daughter at the school. "It's nice to be able to help. I'm looking forward to coming back."

Mr. Shell's dinner was the first opening of the schools to the community since cutbacks forced the closing of schools at 4:30 p.m. each day.

"It was tough on the community. You don't realize how much these buildings are used until they're closed," said board member Mary Beth Hamburg.

"Fortunately, many of these things we cut in the spring we will be able to put (back) in place very quickly."