The Ridgefield School District’s new superintendent and the Board of Directors favor running a levy to replace the one set to expire at the end of 2025.
The district’s educational programs and operations (EP&O) levy, which is set to expire in late 2025, funds essential services such as basic staffing, programs, athletics and professional development.
To replace the levy set to expire, a new proposition levy would likely reach voters in February and would require a simple majority vote to pass. The current levy is set at $1.43 per $1,000 of assessed property value, though the next proposal may vary. Regular levies run between two and four years. Superintendent Jenny Rodriguez, appointed in July, emphasized after the school board’s Aug. 27 meeting the importance of maintaining these services through levies.
“So, the current levy will expire at the end of 2025, which means if we want to maintain those services, which include basic staffing, all of athletics, all of professional development and a variety of other things that people hold and cherish and hold dear, we would need to have that [new levy] in place before that December,” she said after the meeting.
In addition to continuing regular operations, district leaders may consider funding options for regular capital projects. The Union Ridge and South Ridge elementary school buildings are in need of repair, though such a project is outside of the district’s budget scope. To address this, one option under consideration is a “capital levy,” which can run for up to six years instead of the usual four and fund things like modern technology, enhanced building security and renovation projects. Rodriguez stressed roof maintenance is a funding priority for the school district.
“We have some significant maintenance needs and that could allow us to fairly quickly address a few concerning items like the 20 additional rooftop units that are ready to fall apart. That [includes] our heating and cooling [units], that’s important too,” Rodriguez said.
Additionally, budget constraints led the board to cut its technology budget nearly in half for the 2024-25 school year. This reduction will end the four-year laptop replacement cycle for students. To address this, district leaders are considering a potential “technology levy,” which can run for up to six years to fund the Chromebook program. Rodriguez explained that reviving this program could be an important step in improving the student experience.
“When it came down to [it], do we want laptops or do we want to maintain jobs, we opted to maintain jobs. That said, our community, [has] expressed a desire for our kids to have a world-class education. It’s difficult to do that without technology in today’s world, so that [technology levy] might be something we consider,” Rodriguez said.
Budget cuts halted other programs this year, including the paper.co online tutoring service and a new elementary math curriculum. A new levy proposal could include these services and would add to taxpayer costs.
Rodriguez anticipates presenting a draft levy measure to the board in October. A final measure would be approved in November to be eligible for a February special election ballot.
New building proposals postponed for capital project focus
At this point, the Ridgefield School District has no plans to propose another school bond to fund construction of new buildings in the spring of 2025. Unlike levies, bonds run for up to 20 years and fund the construction of new school buildings. This means the school district will focus on funding projects rather than new buildings for the time being. The school district’s two bond proposals in April failed to reach the required 60% plus one supermajority. The bonds would have funded two new school buildings and various capital projects including at the Union Ridge and South Ridge elementary school buildings.
Shortly after the bond failure, the school district released a survey, asking residents their opinions on the bond proposals. Feedback from the questionnaires suggested that voters preferred focusing on a new elementary school rather than including multiple capital projects in a bond measure. Rodriguez noted holding future meetings and listening to community feedback will be the district’s priority before drafting another proposal.
Rodriguez said what interested her about the feedback is voter responses were similar regardless of their vote.
“So whether someone ultimately voted yes or no, there was a sense and a feeling from our community that perhaps there [were] too many things… thrown in,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez added that while the district’s student enrollment has more than doubled over the past decade, facilities have not kept pace. As the school district continues to grow, future bond proposals are likely.
As it appears unlikely the school district will pursue another school bond measure next spring, the earliest opportunity after that for one to take place would be November 2025.
