Board Takes First Step to Place Combined Levy on November 2025 Ballot
West Geauga Board of Education Special Meeting – July 16, 2025
Meeting Details: The West Geauga Board of Education met on July 16, 2025 at 4:45 pm in the Board Office Community Room, 8615 Cedar Road in Chester Township. Meetings are open to the public and media. The meeting agenda and minutes are available online. Look for the Meeting tab in the right hand corner. Pick the meeting you want to review and then click on “Agenda.” A video recording is available here. As of the date of publication this video has been viewed 49 times. Notations in the report refer to the minute notation on the video for a particular section.
Board Attendance: Mrs. Christina Sherwood, President; Dr. William Beers, Vice President; Mrs. Kathy Leavenworth, Member, and Mrs. Mary-Michelle Coleman Walsh, Member, were present. Mrs. Pam Claypool was absent.
Staff Attendance: Karen Pavlat, Treasurer; Dr. Nancy Benincasa, Assistant Superintendent; Scott Amstutz, Director of Instructional Technology; and Dr. Amy Davis, Director of Pupil Personnel were present.
Other Attendees: There were no other observed attendees. Observer’s Note: This observer streamed the meeting and utilized an online version of the agenda in preparation of this report.
Opening of Special Meeting - The Special Meeting was called to order at 4:45 pm by Mrs. Sherwood. The roll call was conducted, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Additions and/or Changes to the Agenda – There were none.
0.50 min. Board Resolution - Approved Unanimously
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2025-07-296 Resolution to Approve the Resolution of Necessity for the Substitution of Two Emergency Tax Levies - Mrs. Pavlat explained that this action is the same as the board had contemplated for the May 2026 election. She said that If the Legislature overrides the line item vetoes by the governor, this action will no longer be available starting in 2026. Reviewer Note: See the July 7, 2025 West Geauga Board of Education Observer Report for additional background information. This Resolution is the first of two steps necessary to place the consolidation of two Emergency Levies (from 2003 and 2005) into a Substitution Levy on the ballot for the November 2025 election. If the veto overrides fail, it will not be necessary for the board to take the second step needed to place the Resolution on the November 2025 ballot. The veto override voting was scheduled to take place in the next week after this meeting. Reviewer Note: As of the publication of this report, the House has voted to override the Governor’s veto of the budget provision eliminating emergency levies, but the Senate has not voted on it yet. More information is available here. Mrs. Pavlat said that the two levies constitute approximately $6 million dollars annually in revenue for the district. Dr. Beers spoke in favor of the Resolution because if the veto override is successful and the board does not take the step to place this Substitution Levy on the November ballot, any future levy to replace the existing levies would not be subject to the state roll back allowance of 10-12% of the levy amount. Property Tax Rollback Payments are made from the State to school districts to reimburse revenue lost due to property tax relief programs granted by the State to taxpayers under the 10% and 2.5% property tax rollback programs. Reviewer Note: More information about rollbacks, also called qualified levies, is available in the July 9, 2025 Geauga County Township Association Observer Report. In effect the district taxpayers would have to make up this amount which would raise their overall tax obligation. The board agreed to meet on July 31st at 5:30 pm if the veto override is successful.
9.25 min. Adjournment
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Announcement of Next Board Meeting – It was announced that there would be a Special Meeting on July 31, 2025 beginning at 4:45pm in the Board Office Community Room, 8615 Cedar Road in Chester Township. Observer Note: Subsequent to the meeting, an additional Special Meeting was called for July 22, 2025.
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2025-06-294 Resolution to Adjourn – the meeting was adjourned at 4:55 pm
Observer: Bob Doxey
Editor: Gail Roussey
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: August 1, 2025
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