Belpre City Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Greenley testified Wednesday before the Ohio Senate Finance Committee to advocate for more state funds for Belpre schools. The committee is reviewing the House of Representatives’ version of the budget bill. (Photo Provided)

BELPRE — The superintendent of Belpre City Schools testified this week before the Ohio Senate Finance Committee, seeking more funding for Belpre schools.

Superintendent Jeffrey Greenley on Wednesday told the committee Ohio must increase its state funding per pupil for Belpre City Schools and all districts to protect ongoing operations for students and taxpayers.

“If our district is going to maintain operations at our current level, especially with the ESSER/ARP funds expiring in the near future, we must see further implementation of Fair Funding which includes (fiscal year) 2022 cost sets” Greenley said. “Without it, we would lose the small amount of ground we have gained in terms of student support and would have to ask our tax base for additional operating funds.”

The Finance Committee is discussing the Ohio House’s budget bill, which is supported by Rep. Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville. Edwards is chairman of the House Finance Committee, and his district includes Belpre.

Belpre City Schools’ tax-base wealth and property tax valuation is considered by Columbus as among the wealthiest in Ohio, Greenley said. Of 604 districts, Ohio has ranked Belpre No. 208 in terms of most wealthy.

Belpre is rated that way because of how Ohio weights property valuation, W-2 tax information of residents and geographic size. Because Ohio has placed Belpre among the top third of wealthy districts in Ohio, they send the district less money based on the idea it is wealthy enough to fund the difference with local tax levies.

“Given our demographic, which includes many retirees on a fixed income, they feel their property valuation does not translate into disposable income that they can dedicate to support (the district),” Greenley said.

Belpre deserves a more equitable amount of funding per pupil, he said. Although the House version of the budget falls short of what Belpre City Schools administrators believe Ohio should be sending in terms of per-pupil funding, Greenley said the Senate should concur with the House and continue to phase in Fair Funding that would ultimately send more state dollars to the district.

Greenley also testified in support of the Ohio Accelerated Appalachian School Building Bill, another piece of legislation that would provide additional funding for a possible building project in the school district. The bill was included in the House version of the budget bill.

If passed, the bill would support Belpre City Schools by allowing the district to access state funding dollars for a building project rather than wait under the Expedited Local Partnership Program which the district has used for its previous bond levy ballot initiatives.

The bill also has language that says if a district’s residents pass a bond levy ballot levy the first time it is on a ballot, Ohio would contribute an additional 20% of state funds for the project. In Belpre’s case, that could translate to an additional $6 million or more to the project, Greenley said.

“These ballot issues have been divisive to say the least in our town,” Greenley said. “There are good people on both sides of the debate who want to provide for our children but have harsh realities given current economic conditions. It’s time that Appalachian counties get an equitable opportunity to see their students placed in learning environments that will better support them at a cost our community can afford.”

The Senate will release its version of the budget bill on or around Tuesday, which will begin another round of testimony.