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Teachers, parents and union leaders urge Cincinnati school board to put levy on November ballot
Summary
About 61 public commenters — teachers, counselors, parents, students and community partners — told the Cincinnati Public Schools board that proposed cuts to social workers, counselors, assistant athletic directors and other student-facing roles would harm students and urged the board to place a new-money levy on the November ballot so voters can decide.
The Cincinnati Public Schools board on May 18 heard more than two hours of public comment from teachers, parents, students and labor leaders urging the district to place a new-money levy on the November ballot and to spare student-facing positions from cuts.
The public comment period opened with a statement from a Cincinnati AFL-CIO leader who described state funding changes as a “five-alarm fire” and urged the board to put a levy to voters so the district could offset deep cuts to classroom supports and stop transfers of public dollars to private school voucher programs. “Put it on the ballot. Let the people decide,” the labor council representative said.
Speakers who identified themselves as classroom teachers and counselors detailed the on-the-ground role that full-time counselors, social workers, school psychologists, resource coordinators and intervention specialists play: crisis response, suicide assessments, attendance recovery, individualized behavior plans and connections to health and family services. “Without a school counselor, students like this would miss out on life-changing opportunities,” said Craig Traska, a school counselor and parent. Several counselors cited multi‑hundred-case workloads and said cuts would widen achievement and safety gaps.
Students and coaches also warned about the consequences of proposed reductions to athletic administration. Greta Linzer, a Walnut Hills High School junior and water-polo captain, said eliminating assistant athletic director positions would likely force cuts to junior-high and nontraditional sports, taking opportunities away from students. Coaches described assistant ADs as coordinating transportation, facilities and safety logistics that keep large programs running.
Multiple speakers asked the board to prioritize putting a levy on the ballot rather than making immediate cuts to positions that serve students directly. Several teachers and parents said they would support such a levy and asked the board to trust voters to decide. Others pushed for a clear plan explaining how any new money would be used.
Board members acknowledged the emotion in the room and asked administration for more concrete trade-off analyses — for example, what savings would be realized if the district adjusted transportation policies, shifted contracted services back to district staff, or altered device lifecycle plans. Several trustees said they are unwilling to support cuts to counselors and social workers without seeing quantified alternatives.
The board did not take a vote on a new levy during the meeting; trustees instead pressed administration for additional budget scenarios and said they would continue discussing timing and strategy. The next public budget-related meetings were left open for follow-up.
The public comment period—61 speakers and roughly 122 minutes—was one of the meeting’s central moments and framed the community’s central request: a public vote on additional local funding before the district finalizes further cuts.
What’s next: Board members asked the administration for concrete, line-by-line trade-off numbers and for options that could preserve the most student-facing staff. Several trustees said a levy would need to be accompanied by a coherent plan showing how new funds would be spent to improve outcomes.
