Wait, they're putting this on the ballot in November? When will they get the hint...

I don t know, but my taxes just shot up near 60 .00 more yr.Did We pass a levy in the Falls this year past?This is why I didnt vote for it unless it was a safety forces issue or something life affecting like that.

Get the hint? Is the hint we are supposed to damage our school system and as a result hurt our kids. According to the numbers we will run into a negative situation without a levy. What kind of message are we giving our kids?

I'm telling my kids that they have to live with what they have, just like we do.

The message that the system is BROKEN and throwing more money at the problem DOES NOT fix it. People are finally starting to figure this out. At least people that own homes and have to pay property taxes!

Please explain how you would "fix it" Betsy? Funding has been cut and enrollment is up!! We have already made major cuts and refuse to sacrifice our children's education and our community's value by having a failing school system. I hope none of you have to sell your home in the next year. I mean what educated parents would buy a home is this failing unsupportive district? Please enlighten us with your solution?

so so sad.

Yes, your rent may go up genius to offset the tax increase your property owner suffers as a result of waste, teacher unions, insurance hikes as a result of lawsuit happy Yaris drivers...

If parents care about their own kinds then ask them to pay for it. If the teachers/staff care for children education then take a pay/benefit cut. Don't ask the home owners to pay for someone else's children's education or pay for benefits and salary for others when they themselves do not have those kinds of pay or benefit.

Some of my family members live in the WSD and their taxes would go up $634 and $358 per year (2 families)... NONE of their kids (my cousins) go to Woodridge!!! http://fiscaloffice.summitoh.net/index.php/pending-levy-tax-estimator

If there's a levy that affects the kids programs, (sports, music, arts, etc.) Then I would happily vote for it. Employee benefits, no thanks. No tax payer money pays my benefits, they all come out of my paycheck.

This is ridiculous! And part of this blame falls onto the residents of the Woodridge District. The blame is NOT pressuring the district to dissolve and MERGE with either Falls or other neighboring districts!

Woodridge is a prime example of a district that can no longer sustain itself with their existing tax base. There are way too many school districts in this state as it is, and there are many districts in this same situation as Woodridge. But yet, they refuse to do the right AND responsible thing and to pursue merging with another district(s).

The school board needs to remember why they're there and whose best interests they are supposed to be serving -- THE KIDS!

The residents need to start pressuring the district to merge already.

People that use their full given names on this site are much more credible. Grow up.

I will not vote for this levy until the district stops telling me that most of the money is for teacher/staff pay and benefits. I'm tired of seeing articles about how the money will be spent when the first two items listed are always pay and benefits, then the rest of the article goes on to explain that everything but pay and benefits will be cut thus forcing the kids to pay for the pay and benefits. It's blackmail and I'm tired of it. We should fire anyone tba engages in such behavior even if we have to fire them all and start from scratch. Then I would be willing to vote for this levy. Let me just say here and now that the teachers union is absolutely responsible for this mess.

woodridge's pay/benefit costs are right in line (actually a little less) than all the other districts around. pay/benefits always make up the biggest part of a budget, whether in the public or the private sector.

You know, I thought long and hard about this vote.
I thought of the kids in my neighborhood, I thought about what the levy would cost me and I thought about the teachers who refuse to go back to the bargaining table, in spite of their constant claims that they are willing to sacrifice for the children.

I decided that I'd vote FOR the levy, even though these same teachers still won't return to the bargaining table.

We'll see if they suddenly get it and are willing to put their raises aside and try to help save their fellow workers' jobs.

If not, I won't have to think about it in November. If they can't help share the burden, then I can't afford it alone either.

The grounds crew would go and do personal driveways in the winter on the clock, they would also take the wood and aluminum from the old stadium and pocket the money for cleaning it up, How many decks where built with woodridge wood? Did Woodridge Benifit from it? Also, when Dr. Graham ( who did a wonderful job getting money into the district ) was forced to leave because of his personal affairs brought in people that he knew to make the replacements of certain people I believe he did it out of vengance knowing that it would in the long run hurt Woodridge! There are people we wont name in the transportation dept that have been doing the supervisors job for years and has never been compensated for it or given a Thank you for there work! There is Diana Levenger who retired from woodridge to return at the same wage? Get her out of there she is part of the problem a newer accountant can do her job at half the cost! Also who took on Waterford and Timber Top? Didn't that finally come back and bit you? There was also a truck load of paper that was lost on Quick Rd., the drivers thought it was funny and never went back to clean or pick it up. I could go on but why bother, no one listens..... there is tons of waste at Woodridge! They should send Waterford and Timber Top back to Akron where it belongs. Stop whining about money and stop cutting smaller jobs that are needed look for the waste!

mary hodgson, what would "sending waterford and timber top back to akron where they belong" accomplish in your mind?

but woodridge would LOSE all the PROPERTY TAX money that the owners of the waterford and timber top pay.

and i'm confused, are you saying that the residents there are currently not allowed to vote for levies, or under "your plan" they would not be allowed to vote for levies?

http://buckeyeinstitute.org/the-liberty-wall/2011/09/23/state-teachers%E2%80%99-retirement-system-strs-ignoring-the-facts/

Mary Hodgson - your personal attacks and accusations are a wonderful example of why no one listens to you. Of all the rumors, to accuse any one in the Graham family of NOT caring about Woodridge - is simply untrue and cruel.

Woodridge community - we will be back on in November. I am asking that all the families in all the neighborhoods please be diligent in making sure every voter in every house gets to the polls. One way our community of voters grows is our graduating 18 yr. old children and our college children. PLEASE be sure your children are registered and if they are NOT able to cast their vote here at the polls, they fill out the absentee ballot. One household can have many voters, and we need all of them. I know there are MANY MANY families without children etc that DO support our communities children EVERY time - and we THANK YOU. We need to remember all our voters in EVERY house is how we will pass this levy.

Adam great points as well.

Ms. Sutton's highly inappropriate comments breached Patch's Terms of Use (http://cuyahogafalls.patch.com/terms) and have been deleted.

Cant handle The Truth..keep deleting it then...cupcakes!

Obama's communist influence sensoring The truth.

This levy will NEVER pass. Hug a tree... I'll bring an ax.

Great points Betty!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Grow up people and use your real names when you post. Don't hide behind pseudonyms. Absolutely no one takes you seriously.

My family and I have owned many properties in Woodridge through the years and still currently own two houses in the district. I'm a graduate of Woodridge (Class of '89). I've been watching Woodridge go down the tubes for years and it has nothing to do with money. You can get a good education at any school if you have your parents pushing you to succeed like I did. Throwing money at a problem is definitely not the answer. I've learned that the hard way in my own businesses. Let me ask you this... if Utah spends almost HALF of what Ohio does on a per student basis... then why do they have better schools than us? If New York spends the most per student on their public schools then why do they consistently rank much lower than Ohio?

Bradley Gross

I'll tell you why... Teacher Unions. I personally know two people who retired just a couple of years back that now double-dip in Ohio... One makes almost $80,000 a year for the rest of her life and the other makes almost a $100,000 a year for the rest of her life. Both of these women now have new jobs that almost Double that income.... and guess what? They love living on the taxpayers dime. They're getting rich!! They can't believe the deal they got. Both now drive BMW's, and live in much nicer houses than I do.

I work hard. I don't get those kind of golden-parachute retirement benefits... maybe I should have become a teacher. I can teach. I could have had union negotiators working for me to screw the taxpayers like these women did.

What was I thinking? Oh that's right, I was raised with the idea that people have to live within their means and didn't expect unreasonable retirement benefits. Didn't it used to be that government workers were happy making less than the private sector, knowing they were serving their communities and had a certain level of job security? Now many public sector workers are making considerably more than their private sector counterparts. We the taxpayers know this.... hence why we voted down this Levy.

When times are good... fine, public workers can make more money. When times are not so good, why would should they expect a pay increase? I didn't get one. Why should they?

No, I teach my children that the Chinese and Indians will eat their lunch if they don't compete at the highest levels in today's global economy.

Do you think Chinese teachers make nearly what our teachers do? I can tell you they don't, yet their students are far more prepared for life than our children.

Wow Earl nice job bashing our kids and the way we parent them. I love the personal attacks when you don't live on the district or if you do you are too much of a coward to use your real name. Secondly, I do agree with the benefits Mary, however oh should really learn how to spell before posting your opinions on a public forum. My husband has 33% of his salary taken out to pay for benefits. Third, Dr Graham made a decision to leave the district , who cares, why judge? He and his family still live in the district. I think Mr Davis has performed to the best of his abilities. Once again, why are we pointing fingers. The state funding situation is what is lacking. We need to focus our energy on making changes to that. Not bashing our parenting! Lastly, at Adam, if your"cousins" don't use the bus, they get a check every year if they don't use it. Look it up!

Bradley...Amen! Someone with inteligence sharing Truth.

$450 from Woodridge School District a year... Keep wasting your money. I love it!!!

Several messages were deleted for violating Patch's Terms of Use. http://cuyahogafalls.patch.com/terms

Due to an abundance of inappropriate responses, comments on this article have been closed. Thank you.