By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

MOUNT HEALTHY - Sharp cuts if a school levy fails next month aren't a threat, but reality, Superintendent David Horine told a forum Monday evening.

The school district faces a $1.7 million deficit next year because of increased workers compensation premiums, a tax payback and declining enrollment.

"That's why, unfortunately, I can't promise that we're going to be able to do a whole lot of extra stuff (with the money)," Horine said during the hour-long meeting, attended by about 50 people. "We need to preserve what it is that we have."

MORE FORUMS

• Mount Healthy City Schools plans three more levy forums: • 6 p.m. Thursday, Mount Healthy High School, 2046 Adams Road. • 7 p.m. Oct. 28, South Middle School, 1917 Miles Road. • 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29, Frost Elementary, 2065 Mistyhill Drive

Voters in the district will decide the future of the school district Nov. 4 when they face a 6.95-mill levy that will cost the owner of a $100,000 house $204 a year.

The district has asked voters four times since 2002 to pass a levy, but all have failed.

"I can invest 55 cents a day for my child's education," Andrea Goins said, pointing to the bottle of pop that she spends as much as $1.25 on once or twice a day.

Goins works in the Cincinnati Public Schools system, but the Mount Healthy resident's 5-year-old twins, Elyse and Elijah, attend kindergarten at Jane Hoop Elementary.

"This has been the best-kept secret," Goins said. "I've been around teachers almost all my life and to see a teacher bend over backward for a child ... they show they care."

It's imperative the levy pass, officials said, or extracurricular activities such as athletics could be cut. The Board of Education has even considered closing one of the nine buildings in the district, which would mean larger classes. Cuts could also affect classroom supplies, new textbooks, and staff positions.

It's been three years since the district has purchased new textbooks. Students at Jane Hoop Elementary use science and citizenship books that in some cases are older than they are, Principal Todd Bowling said.

Cornelia Cotton lives on the border of Mount Healthy and Springfield Township. Her two sons, Justin, 15, a sophomore, and Brandon, 8, a second-grader, are enrolled in Mount Healthy schools.

"I always vote for the levy, but I've heard rumors and I wanted to come to get confirmation that what I heard is not true," Cotton said.

She recently visited Mount Healthy High School to find an oversized garbage can collecting water from a drip in the library ceiling.

"I'll do anything that I can do for the schools," she said. "They need it."