After delaying an operating levy request for the past two years, the Upper Arlington Board of Education is returning to voters on the November 8, 2022, ballot with a 6.9-mill operating levy request. Issue 5 is a 6.9 mill continuing levy that would fund daily operations and maintain current academic programming so that the district can continue providing the current quality of education for Upper Arlington’s students while also addressing enrollment growth. 

Issue 5 would add approximately $241.50 a year in property taxes per $100,000 of auditor’s appraised home value. For a home with an auditor’s appraised value of $400,000, the levy would add about $966 per year in property taxes based on calendar year 2022 tax valuations. You can look up your appraised home value at www.franklincountyauditor.com.

13 seniors named National Merit Semifinalists

Thirteen Upper Arlington High School students have qualified as Semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, giving them the opportunity to compete for approximately 7,250 National Merit college scholarships worth nearly $28 million. 

These academically talented members of the UAHS Class of 2023 are among approximately 16,000 high school seniors nationwide to qualify as Semifinalists based on their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The Semifinalists represent the highest scores on the PSAT/NMSQT and less than 1 percent of high school seniors nationwide.

Why do suburban school districts like Upper Arlington keep asking for operating levies? This is a question that comes up quite often whenever a school district is on the ballot.

The primary reason is House Bill 920. In the 1970s, the Ohio legislature passed this state law, which ensures that voted operating levies do not grow as property values increase. In fact, as property values increase, tax rates on voted operating levies actually decrease for homeowners, so the district gets about the same amount of money.

In September, the Ohio Department of Education released the 2021-2022 annual school report cards. The report cards look different this year than in previous years. Schools and districts now receive star ratings, on a scale of one to five, for five components: achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation and early literacy. 

Upper Arlington Schools was one of only 12 districts of the more than 600 in the state — and one of three in the central Ohio area — to receive a five-star rating on all five components.  

The state report card is one of the data points we review as a district to monitor the success of our academic program and our students.

After delaying an operating levy request for the past two years, the Upper Arlington Board of Education is returning to voters on the November 8, 2022, ballot with a 6.9-mill operating levy request to provide funding to maintain the district’s high-quality educational program. 

“Amid the difficulties that families and residents have faced over the past two years, our school district has been good stewards to our community by creatively stretching our financial resources so that we did not have to return to voters until this fall,” said Board of Education President Lori Trent. 

The role of the school district in an operating levy request is to provide factual information so that community members may make an informed decision on November 8. Below is a sampling of the frequently asked questions available at www.uaschools.org/LevyFAQ.aspx. The district will be adding to the questions and answers as it hears from community members this fall. If you have questions, please contact [email protected].

This summer, Upper Arlington Schools Superintendent Paul Imhoff, Ed.D., announced that he will retire in January 2023, sharing that his 10 years in Upper Arlington have been the most memorable of his 30-plus years career in public schools. 

“We have amazing students, the most dedicated and talented teachers, and an incredibly supportive community,” Imhoff said. “Our own children are both UAHS graduates, and our family will always be Golden Bears.”