Copley-Fairlawn school officials 'thrilled' with levy win

Copley-Fairlawn school officials held what could be called an electronic watch party Tuesday evening, exchanging celebratory text messages and emails as the “yes” votes rolled in for Issue 17, a 2-mill renewal levy to fund permanent improvements.

District voters in Fairlawn and Copley approved the measure 5,053 to 2,660, according to final, unofficial results from the Summit County Board of Elections.

District officials are “absolutely thrilled and extremely pleased with the support of our communities," Superintendent Brian Poe said Wednesday. "We’re in a really, really good situation in our district right now.”

Poe was among about a dozen central office administrators and school board members hanging out at the “electronic watch party” Tuesday night from the comfort of their homes.

“From about 8:15 p.m. on we were sending emails and texts and hitting the refresh buttons on our computers " as the board of elections updated results online, Poe said. “We became a little more comfortable when [the vote tally] hit the 80 percent mark around 10 or 10:30 last night. It was a busy night last night.”

Nearly 66 percent of voters approved the renewal.

Treasurer John Wheadons said the levy – which has now changed from a five-year renewal to a continuous measure – will generate $1.73 million annually to fund permanent improvements. Since it’s a renewal, the owner of a home valued at $100,000 will simply continue paying $61 annually, or about $5 per month.

Now that future funding is secure, Poe and other district officials are preparing a prioritized agenda of projects to recommend to the board at its 7 p.m. meeting Nov. 21 at .

“There will be no surprises on there. In meetings with parents and PTAs, we outlined projects that were included in the Ohio School Facilities Commission study and studies we had previously done," Poe said. "The feedback we received is that those projects make absolute sense. I think that’s why we had such strong parent support.”

such as roof repair and replacement of roofs, parking lots, windows and doors, technology, heating and air conditioning systems, classrooms, restrooms and vehicles.

Even though the measure is a renewal, Poe said Wednesday, district officials will not lose sight of the fact that “there’s a lot of money involved and people are spending their hard-earned dollars. We will continue to be acutely aware of the dollars and where they are spent.”