Cuts loom if Sandusky City School levy doesn’t get approved

Sep 17, 2026

SANDUSKY — For the first time in 14 years, Sandusky City Schools is asking voters for new operating money.

On November 3, Sandusky voters will decide on a 4.9-mill property tax levy aimed at staving off projected deficit spending and securing the financial future of the district’s six educational facilities. If passed, the measure will generate approximately $3.4 million annually, costing the owner of a $100,000 home about $172 a year—or $14.06 per month.

For school leaders, the request is a necessary response to a converging financial storm: rising operational costs, state funding limits, and recent local revenue drops

𝘿𝙊𝙉’𝙏 𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙎 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙔 𝘼𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙀𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 — 𝙎𝙐𝘽𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙄𝘽𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀

Financial pressure point

While enrollment stands at roughly 3,000 students across six facilities, district officials emphasize that fixed expenses—ranging from bus fleet maintenance and utilities to classroom technology and special education services—do not drop simply because student headcount decreases.

The district operates on a $54.8 million annual budget, with roughly 78% dedicated to staffing. Despite maintaining average class sizes of 26:1 across K-12, keeping the budget balanced has required aggressive internal cuts:

Fiscal Year 2025: Reduced payroll expenses by approximately $500,000 through attrition as retiring or departing staff went unreplaced.
Sandusky City Schools
Fiscal Year 2026: Implemented an additional $1.9 million in staffing reductions through strategic restructuring and position eliminations.
Sandusky City Schools

District leadership notes these adjustments were executed without reducing direct educational services. However, administrators warn that cost-cutting alone can no longer bridge the gap.

Squeeze on revenues

Ohio’s school funding model leaves districts reliant on a mix of state aid and local property taxes. Sandusky receives about 55.1% of its budget from the state, but much of those funds are legally earmarked for specific mandates rather than general daily operations.

Compounding the pressure:

House Bill 920: Under Ohio law, revenue generated by existing operating levies remains frozen at a fixed dollar amount and does not rise with inflation.
Sandusky City Schools
Federal & County Cuts: The district lost $500,000 in federal funding for FY2026. Simultaneously, recent updates to the Homestead Exemption and Owner-Occupied Credit approved by Erie County Commissioners reduced local property tax revenue to the district by another $500,000 annually.
Sandusky City Schools

What’s at stake on Election Day

School officials caution that if the levy fails on November 3, the district will face increasingly difficult decisions. Without new revenue, deeper cuts to staffing, academic offerings, and extracurricular programs will be required to avoid triggering a state-monitored fiscal emergency.