By Gina Buccino
Enquirer contributor

MORROW - Little Miami Schools are asking voters again to pass an operating levy, after voter rejection last May prompted $1.8 million in cuts in personnel and school programs.

Should the 6.9-mill levy pass Tuesday, School Superintendent Ralph Shell said the district could begin receiving money by February or March. That will also give the board the opportunity to rehire personnel who were laid off because of the cuts, or hire new people. Since the levy's defeat, many of the laid-off workers have found positions in other school districts.

The superintendent added that passing the levy would allow the board to abandon its "pay to play" decision for sports and the band, reopen school buildings that are now closed at 4:30 p.m. and allow for resumption of school field trips and textbook purchases.

Defeat of the levy would mean further cuts in programs and could also result in eliminating some sports teams. State law prohibits school districts from operating with a deficit.

The levy has two components. The first is to renew the $930,000-a-year operating levy that was first passed in 1992 and renewed in 1997. The second part would raise an additional $1.77 million each year. The owner of a $100,000 home pays $73 for the current levy. Under the proposal, that homeowner would pay an additional $138.

Even with the passage of the operating levy, Little Miami Schools still would have the lowest property-tax millage among the eight school districts in Warren County, school officials say.