If School Levy Doesn't Pass, Then What?

School officials are hoping they can toss a levy timeline out the window after Tuesday's general election -- if the  passes, they won't need it.

But if Issue 15 is defeated at the polls tomorrow, the officials are already planning their next step.

They have to -- deadline to get the issue on the March ballot it Dec. 7, and the board would have to start the ball rolling Nov. 17.

Treasurer Bill Parkinson laid out a schedule of events for this year and next if the revewal, which generates about $7.6 million a year, is not approved on its first try.

The district would go to the ballot again in the March 6 primary and, if necessary, at the June 6 primary. 

If it isn't approved then, it has one more chance at the Nov. 6, 2012 election.

But by that time, the board would have had to make significant cuts for the 2012-13 school year -- things like eliminating AP classes and the gifted program, drastically cutting busing and axing extra-curriculars.

"This is not meant to be threatening," Parkinson said. "It's meant to inform."

Not 'Playing Games'

At the Nov. 3 school board meeting, Parkinson also presented a play-by-play of how the district went from requesting a 9.9-mill levy to a 6.9-mill issue to asking for only a renewal.

In a nutshell, things changed, he said.

"People think we were playing games going from 9.9 to 6.9 mills," School Board President Jennifer Sinisgalli said. "Everything we did was based on the information we had at the time."

For example, when Parkinson recommended the last May, it was based on projections that showed state funding dropping by $2-$4 million, straggling property tax collections and an unknown outcome in ongoing teacher contract negotiations.

When the district shrunk the millage to in August, the board had cut $4.3 million out of the budget, and state budget cuts were not as drastic as feared.

The board has since lopped .