Cuyahoga Falls Voters Approve School Renewal Levy

Looks like all-day kindergarten is a go.

Issue 8, the Cuyahoga Falls City School District's 4.75-mill, five-year renewal levy, has been approved by a 1,732-vote margin.

The levy – which originally passed in 2002 and is set to expire this year – will generate $3.3 million in revenue through 2017 and will not raise taxes, according to treasurer Jerry Zelenka. 

To keep pace with growing scholastic rigors set forth by the Ohio Department of Education,  said they wanted to give young students a running head start.

In order to do so, Superintendent Todd Nichols and Zelenka want to extend kindergarten instruction from a half day to a full day. Problem is, the state will only cover half the bill, so the district's answer was Issue 8.

A bulk of the new revenue will go toward hiring seven to eight new kindergarten teachers and filling classrooms with computers, desks and supplies, said Zelenka.

Remaining revenue will most likely go to updating technology throughout the district, he added.

These are the complete but unofficial results from the Summit County Board of Elections with all 43 precincts counted:

*Unofficial results.