For the second time in four years, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District on Tuesday evening voted to put a property tax increase before city voters.

“For the past several years, the voters of Cleveland have stood with our students and passed the levies that the board has put forward,” Board Chair Sara Elaqad said. “We’re still in need of additional revenue in order to provide Cleveland’s children with the education that they need and deserve.”

The school district has signaled for months that it planned to seek a new tax to help close a budget shortfall. If passed, the 10-year, 8.6 mill school levy would increase property taxes by $301 annually for each $100,000 of appraised property value. As part of that same ballot issue, the district will seek the issuance of $295 million in bonds to maintain school buildings. All eight board members at the Tuesday’s meeting voted to move the levy forward. Board member Nigamanth Sridhar was absent.

The district needs the new cash flow to fill a budget deficit created in part by expiring federal aid. That deficit has already pushed CEO Warren Morgan to pull funding for some out-of-school programs and cut more than 12.6% of positions in the central office. For now, the district has been able to balance its finances but faces a $110 million shortfall in 2027. 

Mayor Justin Bibb, who oversees the district, has said he will lead the campaign, including  knocking on doors. No public opposition has emerged so far, but during the last school levy campaign in 2020, a group funded by people whose identities were not revealed campaigned against the levy. That levy, as well as the two previous ones,  passed by double-digit margins. 

🗳️For more on this year’s November election, visit our Election Signals 2024 page.

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In addition to moving the levy forward, the board voted to rename East Professional Center in honor of former school board president and prominent political figure Arnold Pinkney. Pinkney helped run Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign and campaigns for Congressman Louis Stokes and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. Pinkney served on the school board from 1967 to 1978, serving as the board’s president for the last seven of those years.

“[Pinkney] will always be remembered for his passion and commitment to our greatest asset: our children,” Morgan said.

The district will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the name change at a yet unspecified date.