Dear Mentor Schools Community,
We are writing to inform you that our Board of Education voted last night to place a five-year 3.5-mill levy on the November 2026 General Election ballot. This represents a reduced request compared to the levy presented to voters in May. The proposed levy would generate $9.6 million annually and would provide funding to support the district’s general operating budget and the day-to-day costs associated with operating the school system at its current level of services. Our team remains focused on providing the high-quality education the children of our community need, while exercising prudent fiscal management practices and maintaining a safe learning environment.
As you know, district leadership has been working diligently over the years to stretch our funding as costs naturally continue to go up, while our revenue stays flat. We have implemented major cost-saving initiatives including reducing staff proportionately with student enrollment, closing and selling school buildings, redistricting, changing benefits plans for employees, cutting budgets, pursuing alternative revenue sources, securing grant monies and more.
After the failure of the levy in May, we’ve implemented $6.6 million in budget reductions going into this school year. While every effort has been made to protect classroom instruction, those reductions include staffing changes, operational efficiencies, and adjustments that affect students and families. The district is committed to cutting an additional $3.3 million going into the 2027-2028 school year, possibly via a school consolidation plan and/or additional staffing reductions. With those plans in place, the new levy request is for $3.9 million less per year than the original request made in May.
The proposed new levy would cost property owners approximately $123 per year (or $10.25/month) per $100,000 valuation. Decisions related to school funding affect our entire community and are not made lightly. The Board of Education and our leadership team considered this action carefully as part of its responsibility to plan for the district’s long-term financial stability.
In Mentor Schools, the majority of our funding comes from local property taxes. We are grateful to our residents, along with a large business community, for contributing to providing well-rounded educational experiences for our students. Mentor Schools has only added one new-money operating levy in the last 22 years, which passed in 2016. This results in Mentor Schools having the 2nd lowest class one effective school tax rate in Lake County.
We are committed to continuing to be great stewards of our community’s tax dollars while providing a safe learning environment where the children of our community can learn and grow. More information will be forthcoming, but we wanted to make sure you were all aware of this important news regarding our district today.
Sincerely,
Craig Heath Bill Wade
Superintendent Chief Financial Officer