The small school district with aging buildings would receive $1.8 million a year from the levy, with most of it to be used for operating expenses and a small portion for maintenance of school facilities and technology.

"It won't bring us any new projects or new programs," said Deer Park Superintendent Barbara Hammel. "It's what we need to maintain what we have."

The levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 house an additional $264 a year in taxes.

Hammel pins part of the blame for Deer Park's money woes on Ohio's school funding formula. The formula, she said, unfairly penalizes school districts like Deer Park because it has a large number of houses in a small area.

Deer Park's basic state aid has dropped from $1,854 per pupil in the 2002-2003 school year to $1,750 per pupil for the last school year. The district anticipates receiving $1,730 per pupil this school year, Hammel said.

"We're at the point where expenditures are exceeding our revenues," she said. "Unfortunately, the state school funding formula throws the bulk of the responsibility on the local property owner."

Charles Tassell, who has a first-grade son in Deer Park's school system, organized a group called Parents United for Responsible School Expenditures (PURSE) to fight the levy proposal.

"It's not about funding," Tassell said. "It's about spending. They've been spending at three times the rate of inflation for the past seven years."

His group, which Tassell said includes 25 families, has been waging a door-to-door campaign, distributing fliers and talking to voters.

Hammell said the district has been prudent in its spending and offers a solid academic program at a good value.

A levy defeat would force school officials to cut $500,000 to $900,000 from the budget for the 2005-2006 school year, she said.

"We would be taking a look at extracurriculars and clubs, support services and staff," Hammel said. "We're not a district that has a lot of frills to begin with."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com