Fox C-6 School District voters will be asked during a special Aug. 8 election to approve a tax levy increase of 92.07 cents per $100 assessed valuation.
Board of Education members voted unanimously May 16 to place the tax increase, called Prop I, on the ballot.
Superintendent Paul Fregeau said the district will pay an estimated $90,000 to have the proposition on the special election ballot.
If the proposition, which stands for invest in our students, our school and our community, passes, the school district’s tax levy would increase from $4.2617 per $100 assessed valuation to $5.1824 per $100 assessed valuation, chief financial officer John Stewart said.
The current operating levy is $3.8716 per $100 assessed valuation, and with the tax increase, it would rise to $4.7923 per $100 assessed valuation, he said.
The district’s overall tax levy also includes 39.01 cents per $100 assessed valuation in the debt service levy, which would remain the same because the increase would be for the operating levy only, Stewart said.
If the tax increase is approved, a district resident with a home valued at $200,000 by the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office would pay an additional $349.86 per year, Stewart said.
District residents with a home the Assessor’s Office values at $200,000 currently pay a total of $1,619.45 in real estate taxes a year.
Fox Superintendent Paul Fregeau said he plans to hold a series of town hall-style meetings to explain Fox’s financial situation and why the district is seeking the tax increase.
The first meeting was expected to be held Wednesday, May 24, at the Fox C-6 Service Center in Arnold, after the Leader deadline.
More meetings will be held but had not been scheduled as of Monday.
“(The meetings) will allow people to ask questions and express concerns,” Fregeau said.
Board president April Moeckel said a tax levy increase is extremely critical for Fox.
“We have been very open and honest about the needs that we have,” she said. “We have shown how critical it is by the $5 million that we have cut (from the district’s budget) by attritioning out teachers and administrators, by reducing supplies for our buildings by $250,000, by delaying our Chromebook refresh program that is $500,000 and by moving money from our capital improvement fund to be able to operate, and we still have a $3 million deficit for next year that will start eating into our reserves.”
Fox has eliminated 27 teaching positions and two administrative positions to save about $2.4 million in salary and benefit costs for next school year.
The district reassigned 25 teachers to different positions and in some cases to different school buildings to fill positions vacated by retirements, resignations or promotions.
The district eliminated two teaching positions with the promotion of Meramec Heights Elementary School fourth grade teacher Jason Bahr to that building’s assistant principal and Bridges Alternative School history teacher Craig Coleman to the assistant principal position at Fox Middle School.
The school district will eliminate those two teaching positions.
The district also has eliminated an assistant principal position at both the elementary and high school levels by having Sara Helm serve as the assistant principal at both Hodge and Simpson elementary schools and Tracy LaRose, who is currently the dean of students at Seckman Middle School, to serve as the assistant principal at both Fox and Seckman high schools.
The district’s high schools each started the current school year with five assistant principals, which included the schools’ athletic directors, but next school year, each high school will have four full-time assistant principals and a part-time assistant principal.
In addition, the district also is expected to increase its operating budget by $1.5 million when it asks the board to shift 15 cents from its capital improvement levy to its operating funds.
Even with the budget reductions and the shift from the capital improvements fund to the operating fund, Fregeau said Fox needs to increase its revenue through a tax levy increase. He initially recommended a $1.1207 tax increase per $100 assessed valuation.
“Our fund balances appear to project higher than initially (thought),” Fregeau said of asking for the lower tax levy increase. “As I promised, when more information comes in and if we can, we will reduce the tax burden as much as possible that we are asking people to pay.”
Fox has not had a tax levy increase since 2004 when voters approved an additional $1.2207 per $100 assessed valuation.
“To give our staff and students what they need to compete with other districts and get a good education, I do think that (92.07 cents) is a comfortable number for us,” Moeckel said. “It has been hard to keep up with inflation over the past 19 years. We want to be able to continue to bridge the gap of learning loss and mental health issues due to COVID as well as continue to offer top-rate programs, classes and athletics for our students.”
If the tax levy increase is not approved, Fox officials project a budget deficit of $15,229,703 at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, according to board documents.
District officials said that projection is based on information from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which indicates the state plans to change how districts report average daily attendance numbers for students after the 2023-2024 school year.
Fregeau said currently the state allows districts to submit attendance information based on the number of students enrolled before the COVID-19 pandemic, which is higher than the number of students enrolled now. State funding uses attendance numbers to determine the amount of funding school districts receive.
Fregeau said if the tax increase is not passed and the district loses $5 million in state funding, Fox likely will have to reduce staff again after the 2023-2024 school year. It also would need to cut academic and athletic programs.
Because the Missouri Senate recently passed a bill that would require school districts to ask voters to approve a four-day school week, Fregeau said Fox may not be able to reduce operating costs by $1 million by moving away from the current five-day school schedule.
The bill was moved to the House for consideration, but it was not approved before the end of the recent legislative session.
Fregeau said district officials also had discussed the possibility of saving money by closing a school building, but that might not be feasible.
“Our initial data seems to indicate that we might not be able to do that,” he said. “That is very preliminary, so that $1 million (in savings) (by closing a school) would be off the plate as well. That is depending on the results of our facility master plan study.”
Fox hired Cordogan Clark in August 2022 to complete a demographic study and help the district develop a facility master plan, which is expected to be finished this summer, Fregeau said.
Moeckel said she hopes voters ask questions about the proposed tax levy increase and the district’s financial situation before making up their mind about the proposition.
“We are an open book and are not hiding anything,” she said. “We field all types of questions and emails and come back with information.
“Our students and staff are at risk right now, as is our community. A school is only as good as your community will allow it to be, and your community is only as good as your school. We have to work together to get better and grow.”
Additional information about Prop I may be found on the district’s website, foxc6.org/propi.