By: James Pruitt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Voters in Wauseon Exempted Village School district overwhelmingly approved the renewal of a levy that will keep the schools solvent.
Unofficial results have voters supporting the millage 1,819-1,089. The result now means the district will levy 4.2 mills to collect $835,000 a year.
The levy was first approved in 1991 for $835,000, but at 8.2 mills. The levy has been renewed every five years since then.
Revenue generated from the levy makes up about 16.22 percent of the total local real estate and tangible public utility property tax dollars the district receives annually, Superintendent Larry Brown stated. The revenue goes into the general and it is needed for all of the operations of the school district, he said.
The district is on track for three consecutive years without having to resort to deficit spending and because of the positive cash flow did not need to ask for more money.
In other news:
The Wauseon High School Speech team sent 13 student qualifiers and three alternates to the State Speech and Debate Finals in Cincinnati and eight advanced into elimination rounds, the highest number in WHS history.
Six of those eight students advanced to the semifinal round of competition, including Sophia Stockham in Congressional Debate and Breanna Demaline, Clarissa Johnson, Lela Slattman, and Lacotus Spiess¬-Ebersole in Duo Interpretation.
The tournament also ended on an extremely high note as Payton Black advanced to the final round, finishing in sixth place in Program Oral Interpretation. Additionally, the WHS speech team has recently qualified three students to the NSDA National Finals to be held in Salt Lake City in June. Demaline and Johnson qualified in Duo Interpretation for a third time and Payton Black qualified in Program Oral Interpretation.
The board of education approve three trips for the Speech team:
•I.E. Tournament of Champions University of Kentucky, April 30-May 2
•NCFL Speech Finals Sacramento, Calif., May 26-30/31
•NSDA Speech Finals Salt Lake City, Utah, June 11-17
The high school Student Council conducted a blood drive March 9 and collected 39 units.
James Pruitt may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com