CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH —A complaint filed with the Ohio Auditor of State accuses the Heights Schools of using taxpayer money to fund research into March’s levy initiative. The district has denied any wrongdoing.
In March, voters in Cleveland Heights and University Heights will decide a 7.9-mill operating levy for the Heights Schools. The levy breaks down to an additional $23 per month for residents with homes valued at $100,000, according to school officials. The campaigns for and against the levy have splintered the community.
The complaint against the Heights Schools was filed with the Ohio Auditor of State. The district is accused in the complaint of using taxpayer money to fund a survey researching residents’ “appetite for a levy” which is barred by Ohio law.
The survey was sent out in October 2019 and was conducted by R Strategy Group. The levy was placed on voter ballots in December 2019.
The firm was paid $34,675 for the work, according to the complaint. While many of the questions on the survey focused on the overall image of the district with residents, some inquiries did focus on the levy.
The complaint highlighted a few questions, like this one: “Going back to the proposed Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District levy for a moment. If it passed, the levy would cost homeowners about 76 cents more per day per $100,000 of assessed property value. Does knowing that make you more likely or less likely to vote for this levy?”
That last line — “Does knowing that make you more likely or less likely to vote for this levy?” — appears several times throughout the survey, according to the complaint. Garry Kanter, who filed the complaint against the district, wondered how that question could not be for the benefit of the levy campaign.
A spokesperson for the school district denied any wrongdoing, saying the Board of Education has a “responsibility to determine community awareness and attitude toward the school district before putting a levy on the ballot.”
“The district spending $34,675 for the sole benefit of the [levy] campaign committee is just one more indication of the board’s failure to control spending and be forthright with the community,” said Garry Kanter, who filed the complaint against the district.
He added that he is a Heights High grad and “proudly has a Vote No” sign in his yard.
A district spokesperson said officials had a responsibility to discern the attitude of the community toward the school system, but argued the survey did not influence opinions toward the levy.
“The survey was not crafted or delivered in any way that would shape respondents’ opinions, or in a way to support or oppose a levy. Furthermore, the district utilized much of the questions in the survey to determine general community knowledge about our schools and what respondents feel should be prioritized in local public education. This information will help us in our upcoming strategic planning and furthering our mission of preparing all of our students for college and career,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Auditor of State said the complaint is still being reviewed. They did not answer additional questions from Patch on the complaint.
The levy campaign has been divisive, splitting Cleveland Heights and University Heights along partisan lines. While proponents of the levy argue that EdChoice vouchers, along with the structure of public school funding in Ohio, necessitate a levy, opponents argue the district’s spending is out of control. Voters will head to ballot boxes on March 17 to decide for themselves.
