For Perkins Schools, it's 'Yes' and 'No'

District voters kill 4.98-mill additional levy, approve 2-mill renewal (Updated 9 p.m. with final tally)
Sandusky Register Staff
May 7, 2013

Perkins voters will decide the fate today of two levies the school district has on the ballot — one a renewal, the other a request for new money.


The 4.98-mill, 10-year additional levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $153 a year.

Here are early unofficial results, with all votes tallied:

For: 1,397

Against: 2,535


The 2-mill, five-year renewal levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $61 a year.

Here are early unofficial results, with all votes tallied:

For: 2,027

Against: 1,918


Click here for more Decision 2013 results. 



The school spent $1.7 from the general fund....hmmm, seems to me that would employ a few teachers losing their jobs today.


Here's the thing - This won't impact what is erroneously labeled "the quality of the schools," because what is really being measured is the educational performance of the students. The schools aren't tested; the students are, and Perkins students will continue to learn, achieve, and perform, just as they did in the past, because it's a function of their desire to learn, and how much they value education, rather than how much money is spent. If their parents instilled in them the desire to become educated, then that is what they will do, and that is what separates a good school district from a lousy one - the values instilled in the students by their parents. You can spend a million dollars per pupil, and if a kid thinks that the material being taught isn't as important as knowing with whom the degenerate pop culture flavor of the month is currently sleeping, or that knowing how to construct a sentence or solve an equation isn't as important as knowing exactly how far to rotate a ball cap to identify with the desired clique, that kid is going to be an educational failure. There is no correlation of student achievement with per pupil spending, but there's a huge correlation with parental education and income. So, if you live in Perkins,value education, instilled that value in your kid, and are actively and effectively involved in your kid's education, then this isn't going to hurt your kid.

In any event, school board behavior state-wide indicates that most school board members and superintendents, like many drunken frat boys these days, were never taught that no means no. If history is any indicator, they will keep trying to force this levy down the voters' throats until their gag reflex wears out and they swallow it. Most communities get campaign fatigue after 3 repetitions. Perkins voters will have to continue voting down reincarnations of this levy until such time as they replace a majority of board members, and not with clones of the incumbents, as too often happens.


Hey do realize even if the board would move the inside millage back to operating, we would still need a new levy for operating regardless. If you don't build new, you will have to invest $$$ for extensive renovations anyway. There has been no new operating money in Perkins for THIRTEEN years which is laughable community support. You can fire Gunner, replace the whole board, and guess what? You'll still need to pass a operating levy for new money to prevent fiscal watch, and the schools will still be substandard for the forseeable future. So congrats on the levy defeat, you sure showed Gunner and the board who's boss.


Stop drinking the kool-aid Tribster. No "extensive" renovations are required. There are no standards or bringing buildings up to code. If that were the case, 90% of school buildings in Erie County would be in trouble. Want to see my tax bill? Saying community support is laughable is the most ignorant comment on here....who's the genius here? Clearly....65% of us don't agree with you. Do the math.


I just left the Kroger store and was talking to a long time aquantance. He had one renter with a Police levy sign in the yard and another who supported the school levy. He's raising the rent on one $10.00 a month and the other $25.00 a month.
If one of these levies is on another ballot within a year then all three should be voted on again. This is the only way a "No" vote is equal to a "Yes" vote.

Mr. D

Give them time. . . It took Port Clinton Schools about 3 yrs of trying, to get it passed. . . And property tax went up. Get ready Perkins people, your school board will get the ballot wording just right and WHAMMO, you will have that new school!

Mr. D

Good idea to remind renters, especially those who display "vote for levy issues" signs, that property tax hikes will be passed down to them.


Just read Mr. Gasteier's letter to the editor today. Mr. Gasteier is the Director of Communications for the Perkins Public Schools.

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. In fact, it was a wasted rebuttal since the voting public defeated his levy by a 65% to 35% margin before it was in the paper.

But, it was sure nice of Mr. Gasteier to show the real side of the school administration. Quite condescending.

Now the lines have been drawn very clear by this editorial for the voting public of this community. The school board, superintendent and administration have no respect for the community. They feel they are the only ones that speak the truth. But, we all know they have filled their propaganda with half truths.

Mr. Gasteier, remember the say of "not throwing rocks in a glass house ?" This editorial will bit you and your cronies in the backside from here on out.


Wasn't it his job to get the levy passed? Since it failed, shouldn't he resign? The levy failure is his failure. How much do we pay him? Sounds like a good savings to me.


Pretty scathing attack for someone whose job description is public relations. No points there.


Which begs the question of why Perkins residents should have to pay someone to insult them. I thought the only places that had Ministers of Propaganda were banana republics with tinpot dictators. Where do they get off using tax dollars to pay someone to tell us how to vote? The First Amendment protects us from being compelled to fund speech with which we disagree - someone should call the ACLU.


I didn't get to read this. My daughter threw the paper away before I read it. Anyone care to copy and paste it here?


The First Amendment allows Mr. Gasteier the right to say what ever he wants. I will protect his freedom on this issue.

But the First Amendment does not mandate the voting public to finance a school administration that is polar opposite of 65% of its constituents.

Aren't you all glad you voted against allowing these individual to have no check and balance in regards to funding a building ?

Thank you Mr. Gasteier for make my point crystal clear. Couldn't have done better myself.


Donutshop, the First Amendment protects Mr. Gasteler's right to say what he wishes, AS A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL, ON HIS OWN TIME AND HIS OWN DIME. It simultaneously prohibits him, in his capacity as a state actor, on the clock to the taxpayers, and using taxpayer funded resources, from making political statements on our behalf. It protects our right not to be compelled to speak, or be compelled to fund political speech with which we disagree. If he wrote it on his own personal computer, using his own home internet connection, on his own time, without any collusion with other district officials, and signed it without mentioning his title, (and if you think he did that, I've a bridge to sell you) then it's about his right to free speech. Otherwise, it's a question of your right not to fund speech.

"It is sinful and tyrannical, to compel a man to furnish funds for the propogation of ideas which he abhors" - Thomas Jefferson

Mr. D

Why does the school system need a Director of Communications? Are board members and the superintendent not able to speak for the school? More "fat" at the administrative level. . . Don't just trim the fat, cut it off!

Mr. D

One point everyone always seems to overlook. In public school systems, elected board of education members hire the superintendent. He is hired to run the schools as directed by the board members. It is his job to do their bidding. The superintendent does not just dream ideas up for new buildings and levys. The superintendent does what the school board tells him to do. That is his function. Remember that at election time.


wow to everyone who may have read my previous comment. it was removed.. was so surprising that when you speak the truth someone comes on here and wants it gone. Probably a police officer or spouce. so for everyone to read I will sum it up again. Sandusky police have officers urinating off a boat dock. sex crimes against minors, sending sex messages to other officers wife. Then you threaten that officer with your gun get fired and get your job back. And that's only half of the stuff going on. Now yes perkins does deserve some respect because the officers are more professional. But here is the thing. Its nothing personal against the police officers themselves. The township overspends a couple million on the new building and other expenses and then they black mail the voters that we will lose police protection and other stuff if we don't agree to pay more.. What about those of us who can barely scrap by now. That's like running up my bills and telling my boss if I don't get a raise I quit. Just don't make any sense. Now as I said before the tax payers pay for the bills in the police dept. That includes the car, insurance and gas. Yes officers are running personal erronds on duty. I myself along with my child and his mom have went to Milan to take our child to school. I seen a perkins police car in the driveway of a house in town. The officer and his family were in the car. And then taking bags out of the trunk with groceries. That was two years ago I seen that. But things like this still go on. This city wants the voters to approve levy after levy for careless spending, For the schools run by idiots. And then Sandusky wants to get respect for their police dept when day after day they continue to prove they don't deserve it. What gives.. Show the community you deserve respect. Tell the school board to get their act together. Tell perkins township to stop overspending money. Spend that money on the officers pay and things they need. Police dog. and the dare program. You get my vote any day of the year on that. Officers deserve a good wage for putting their lives on the line everyday. They deal with the most ignorant people in life on a day to day basis. That alone would drive me crazy. But the township does not need to continue overspending money like every other dept. The old police staition was fine. Maybe some remodeling would have been nice. But plenty in the budget for that. That expense would be ok. Just don't overspend and waste money and then black mail the voters. We are tired. Don't the votes show you we are fed up.


Fact is, we wouldn't have been without police protection. The Sheriff's office would have been forced to take over and the bill paid by the county. In the short term there would be staffing problems but in the long term I personaaly believe it would have solved many financial problems. It would be nice if we had a police force twice this size but as some of us realize everything comes at a cost to taxpayers. The money that has been spent on the Perkins department the last 25 years has left a sour taste with many of us. We lost 800,000 on the sale of the building plus paying rent since the sale. The Sheriff department that is run by an elected official surely seems to have the least amount of problems. I shudder to think of all the money that has been spent on court cases concerning officers in Perkins and Sanduky.


I'll add another thing that will soon become obvious at the Grand opening of the NEW station. Listen Close SR! I was privy to the layout of the new station and there in no way I would have went with the architect that laid this out. Two pillars that added over 60,000 to the cost. The same thing will happen if a new school is approved. they will consider it a "private mansion" with a lot of added luxuries.


Can anyone provide Gasteier's letter? I missed it.

Just Asking

reader forum - Wednesday May 8, 2013

Perkins levy math was incorrect in reader’s letter

Mr. Kraus needs a course in arithmetic and a course in figuring school finances and taxation. He also needs a course in telling the truth instead of spreading rancorous falsehoods in the print and social media.

In a letter to the editor published in the Sandusky Register on Election Day, Mr. Kraus inflates the cost of the taxes on the ballot by almost 3.4 times the correct amount.

By comparison of falsehood to truth let us look at these: Home value Kraus Amount Real Truth $64,000 $800/year $152.41 $100,000 $1,250/year $237.95 $200,000 $2,500/year $475.90

Keep in mind that the permanent improvement levy is not a new tax, it is a renewal, therefore we can subtract that from the amount Mr. Kraus claims are added taxes.

For that matter, the Perkins Police levy is an “additional 2.8” mils, not 5.5 mils, because home and business owners already pay for 2.7 mils on the current levy.

It is apparent that Mr. Kraus has inflated the “added taxes” for these three levies by five times the true amount. For what purpose? Where is the fact checker for the newspaper?

Chris Gasteier Director of Communications Perkins Local Schools


Wow, and we pay this guy? For what?


If he had limited himself to correcting Krause's factual/mathematical errors, that would be fine. The personal insults make it speech we should not be compelled to fund.


Why does Perkins even need a Director of Communication? Chris Gasteier makes $65,000 a year doing this needless (my opinion)job that a secretary could do. He is "double dipping" as is Steve Finn who makes $77,920 a year. Meadowlawn School does just fine with ONE principal. Why does Briar School need an Asst. Principal and a Principal? Briar has about 20 more students than Meadowlawn. How about cutting those two positions at a savings to Perkins and us taxpayers of $142,920 a year.


"Meadowlawn School does just fine with ONE principal."

Does anyone else want to disagree with this statement. If you share, so will I.


Meadowlawn is becoming more and more like Briar.


Mr. Gasteier, just asking, did he "inflate" the "added taxes" by 3.4 times or 5 times the correct/true amount?

I guess we will never know your answer as all further inquiries are to be directed to the superintendent.


I don't believe Mr. Gasteier is double dipping. But the school board and superintendent created a make believe job so he could retire with full benefits. Mr. Finn is double dipping.

The savings are probably more than that with including benefits.