The Upper Arlington community has endorsed Issue 5 to maintain the high-quality academic program in the Upper Arlington Schools and fund daily operations.
The 6.9 mill operating levy on the November 8 ballot passed with a vote of approximately 53% for and 47% against in unofficial results.
“We are truly grateful for our community’s commitment to excellence in education for the students of Upper Arlington,” Board of Education President Lori Trent said. “The passage of Issue 5 ensures that we will be able to continue to provide a comprehensive academic program, extracurricular opportunities to enhance our students’ experience and the support that they so need to succeed in school and in life.”
Issue 5 followed decisions by the Board of Education to postpone an operating levy request twice — first in the summer of 2020 and again in the summer of 2021 — and to seek out proactive solutions to stretch the district’s budget in the absence of additional operating funding.
“The majority of our district’s funding goes directly to the classroom, and this allows us to keep that focus on what matters most — supporting our students and the excellence of our school district,” said Superintendent Paul Imhoff, Ed.D.
Moving forward, Upper Arlington Schools will continue our focus on being a good steward of the community’s investment in education, because that is a strength of the relationship between the schools and the community.
“We are excited about the future for our schools and our community as we continue to work together to make our schools even better than they are today,” Trent said. “We’ll continue our work that stems from the Listen Learn Lead community engagement process, and a key part of that will be continuing our focus on financial efficiencies and accountability for our community.”
Both Trent and Imhoff thanked the residents who volunteered with the Citizens for UA Schools to support Issue 5.
“This is indicative of the support we’ve seen over many years in our community for our schools,” Imhoff said. “I speak for the entire UA Schools staff when I say your support means the world to us.”