By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LOCKLAND - Nearly a quarter of Lockland City School District's staff will be eliminated by the end of the summer in an effort to save the financially strapped district.

The Lockland Board of Education voted Wednesday to eliminate 25 positions, including six teachers, four tutors, two administrators, four custodians, four aides, three secretaries and two cafeteria workers.

The positions represent 24 percent of the district's total staff of 104.

"Out of the 25, seven of the positions were retirements or people leaving to take other positions, but 18 of them were reductions in force," said Lockland Superintendent Phil Fox.

Meanwhile, the smallest district in Hamilton County - with 650 students - also took preliminary steps to explore a possible merger with a neighboring district.

Budget cuts were necessary because the district lost an emergency operating levy in February. The school board and administration have met often since the levy defeat to address the district's financial crisis.

With personnel cuts and by cutting back spending selectively, anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent, the district's $7.5 million budget is being reduced by $1.3 millionfor the 2003-'04 school year.

The board also agreed Wednesday to place another levy on the ballot Aug. 5. This time, the district will seek a 15-mill permanent operating levy. If it is approved, the owner of a $75,000 home would pay an extra $345 a year.

Fox feels more confident about the levy's chances in August.

The millage is significantly lower than the 24.1-mill emergency operating levy that lost in February. A typical homeowner would have paid $574 more a year.

What's more, the village of Lockland won't have a tax issue on the ballot this time and has passed a resolution urging voters to approve the school levy, Fox said. The village's tax issue also was defeated in February.

If the levy fails in August, the district has one more chance Nov. 4.

"If that doesn't pass (Nov. 4), we will close our doors in June of '04," Fox said. "We would not have enough money to finish another school year."

On March 5, Fox, two board members, teachers, non-certified personnel and the district's attorney met with the Department of Education in Columbus to discuss the district's financial situation and the possibility of a merger after the 2003-'04 school year if a levy doesn't pass this year.

The school board on Wednesday asked the state to conduct a feasibility study for merging with one of four contiguous districts: Cincinnati, Wyoming, Princeton or Reading. If no district agrees to a merger, Fox said, the state could dissolve Lockland and divide the district four ways, sending students to those districts based on where they live.

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com