05/13/2026
Hi everyone!
So, as I'm sure you are all aware, Issue 2 for the Painesville City Local Schools failed on May 5th. I would love to hear from fellow voters on what they felt worked well for the campaign and where it fell short.
I'll begin the conversation with what I observed:
1.) Ryan and I attended the first information night about Issue 2, and there were about a dozen people (PCLS employees and 4 parents, including us). No members of the levy committee were present at the meeting.
2.) Dr. Engelhart's presentation on the need for the levy focused on the 30% increase in healthcare costs that the district was "surprised" by and the cuts in funding from the state of Ohio. I thought the language he used was at a higher level than necessary, and the information as a whole would not break down well into bite-sized pieces.
3.) Difficult to find the levy committee information. I was only aware that Kathy Dolney was the treasurer. I couldn't find instructions on how to submit my contact information to assist on the committee. We would have also made a financial donation toward signs. Drez Jennings was at the meeting I attended, so she took my contact information and brought me flyers to hand out in the pick-up line at Heritage.
4.) The online activity for the committee was sporadic and not that engaging from my perspective.
5.) When I spoke with parents in the Heritage car line, they all had good questions and were pleased to have some tangible information about the levy.
All this being said, it was extremely close. My hope is that a better campaign is waged for this issue, going back on the ballot in November. Also, I think the district could pick up some savings if it were to think creatively. Just a reminder: I'm familiar with the district's costs and budgetary restrictions.
My goal is to post a video soon where we can delve a little further into creative thinking.
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