Superintendent warns $2.6 million in cuts, 29 job losses if May 6 levy fails

The superintendent of the Bowling Green City School District told the school board and the public on April 15 that the district must reduce its budget about $2,600,000 for the 2025–26 school year if the 0.75 percent, five‑year income tax levy on the May 6 ballot does not pass.

The superintendent said the board previously approved an eliminations and reductions list that would be implemented in that school year if voters reject the levy. The list includes elimination of 29 positions — including seven teachers, three central office or administrative positions (the athletic director, director of communications and the district student wellness coordinator), three nurses, seven bus drivers and multiple support and custodial roles — and “major reductions to programs” such as extracurricular activities, district gifted programming, elementary orchestra and contracted mental‑health therapists and case managers.

The superintendent provided specific examples of proposed transportation changes that would follow a failed levy: transportation would be limited to the state minimum requirement (students preschool through eighth grade who live more than two miles from school), no routine high‑school transportation except where required by law (for example, to the career center), and substantially larger bus routes that could increase student ride times by as much as 1.5 hours. The superintendent also said all buildings would be closed to outside entities after the school day to save utilities and personnel costs.

The superintendent said pay‑to‑play fees, now about $40,000 annually, could not reasonably be expected to replace the lost revenue; the district estimates extracurriculars represent about 29% of total expenditures on the reductions list and calculated that covering 29% of a $2.6 million reduction would require more than $790,000 — far above current fee revenue.

District leadership emphasized that the cuts described would be the first round of reductions and that further cuts would be required in subsequent years if additional revenue is not secured. The superintendent said individual staff members likely to be eliminated had already been notified in February.

Board members and the superintendent encouraged voters to use available early voting and to vote on May 6. The superintendent also gave a brief schedule note: the new high school's groundbreaking is planned for May 1 at 4 p.m.

The board took no formal vote on the levy itself during the meeting.