District: ‘Racial animus’ behind transfer request
Some in Jefffffffffffferson Twp. district ask state for shift to Valley View schools.
Residents in an 8.6-squaremile tract of the Jefffffffffffferson Twp. Local SchoolDistrict are asking the state for a territory transfer to the Valley View Local School District so their kids can attend schoolwith friends, access more extra-curricular activities and “receive a quality education,” according to paperwork fifiled with the Ohio Department of Education.
Jefffffffffffferson Twp. school offifficials allege the request ismotivated by “racial animus” and by the close of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, a failed online public school that closed in January. The school board says the move “certainly could be considered a tax grab” and would result in “greater racial and economic segregation” and have an “immediate impact on the fifinancial well-being of the district.”
The land proposed for transfer runs from Dayton-Farmersville Roadonthenorth,downDiamond MillRoadonthewest, acrossManning Road on the south, and then upUnion Road and Liberty-Ellerton Road back to Dayton-Farmersville Road.
“Folkswhoknowtheareaknow that particular section of the JeffersonTwp. SchoolDistrict is primarily caucasian, while the rest of the district isprimarily minority,” said Tabitha Justice, an attorney for the district. “When you look at the map of the area they’re trying to get out of, there are kids who could walk to the Jefffffffffffferson ( Junior/Senior) High School.”
Petitioners, in fifilings, said the move “will enable children of school age residing in the terri-
tory to attend Valley Viewin accordancewith the desires (of ) a majority of its residents.”
An attorney representing the petitioning residents did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The newspaper attempted to contact several of thepetitioners directly using numbers found in phone books and other records, but calls Tuesday were not immediately returned.
None of the petitioners currently sends their children to Jefffffffffffferson Twp. schools, Justice said in a letter to the state.
“Thus, it appears the true motive for the request arises from the recent closing of ECOT and racial animus,” Justice wrote.
About 83.4 percent of Jefferson Twp. students are minorities, primarily African-Americans, according to the state fifilings. Similar documents fromValleyView show the Germantown-area district is 95.7 percentwhite.
Ohio law requires 75 percent of qualified electors within the proposed territory to request a transfer. Requests can only bemade to the state before April 1 in any even-numbered year. The state board of education is required tomake a determination no later than Sept. 1. Ahearingmay be held, but one is not yet scheduled.
In documents fifiled with the state, Valley View said it would have adequate facilities to accommodate any additional enrollment. Otherwise, offifficials for Valley View said the district isn’t advocating for or against the transfer.
“We’re just doing what we’re told by the Ohio Department of Education,” said Joe Scholler Sr., Valley View interim superintendent. Asked if he would be against the district receiving an estimated $400,000 in additional tax revenue, he said, “If that’swhat happens, then that’s what happens. We’ll see what happens.”
Justice, the JeffffffffffffersonTwp. schools’ attorney, said residents in the proposed transfer territory would face a lighter tax burden in the Valley View district, something the petition does not mention.
The Ohio Supreme Court found in 2010 that evidence of school district revenueloss is a legally suffifficient basis for the State Board of Education to deny a petition by the owners of that property to a difffffffffffferent school district.
If the transfer occurred, JeffffffffffffersonTwp. schoolswould still have a pupil population and property valuation to maintain a high school, according to documents the school board fifiled with the state. But the district also argues the transfer would “result in dramatically decreased revenues.” Losing the 8.6-square miles of territory would result in a $13.6 million valuation loss, approximately 14 percent of the district’s $97.4 million valuation, according to documents Jefffffffffffferson Twp. schools fifiled with the state. The same documents showa revenue loss of about $456,552, or about 14 percent of the $3.1 combined tax revenue.
“The cumulative effffffffffffect of the valuation loss and the corresponding revenue loss will reduce the ending cash balance in fifiscal year 2022 by 33 (percent), from $5.4 (million) to $3.6 (million),” treasurer Craig Jones said in the documents.
JeffffffffffffersonTwp. schools told the state it would eliminate part of the district’s College CreditPlus program— which allows students to receive associate degrees while attending high school — if the transfer occurred.
“Such an act would literally eradicate tremendous opportunities for our students, and thus reducing post-secondary college and career options,” the schools told the state. “It is both disgraceful and shameful that those who are most at risk inour societymay be denied the opportunity to improve life chances for themselves and their families due to the racial motives of a select few.”
In 1997, the Ohio Board of Education rejected a territory transfer petition from Riverside residents seeking to leave the Dayton City Schools in favor of theMad River Local School District. The change would have transferred five Riverside neighborhoods into the Mad River district, a loss of more than 220 students that would have disrupted the Dayton school system’s court-orderedracialbalance. The Riverside residents petitioned for the transfer in 1996 on grounds that their children should be able to attend the same schools that most other Riverside children attend.