Riverside Local weighs levy, deep cuts and Buckeye school plans to close a projected $4.5 million gap

The Riverside Local Board of Education spent its March meeting focused on how to close a projected multi‑million‑dollar deficit and whether to put a revenue measure before voters this year.

Administrators opened a work session reviewing policy 6234 and the legal deadlines the district must meet to appear on an election ballot. Board members were told the district could face a midterm funding shortfall that staff have modeled between roughly $4 million and $4.5 million over a multiyear horizon. The administration laid out a near‑term calendar: roughly 90 days’ and 100 days’ filing windows apply depending on whether the board seeks a property‑tax or earned‑income‑tax levy, and an August filing deadline would be nonnegotiable if the district targets the November ballot.

At the center of the discussion was a recent state tax change the administration said accelerated the district’s…