Amherst Exempted Village Schools — OH (May 2026 update)

1. Snapshot

Suburb-Midsize district in Lorain County, immediately west of Elyria. 3,533 students across 4 schools — Powers ES (PK-3), Walter G. Nord MS (4-5), Amherst JH (6-8), Marion L. Steele HS (9-12). SAIPE poverty 6.9% — one of the lowest-poverty districts in the entire May 2026 statewide failure cohort. Demographics 73% White / 17% Hispanic / 5% Multiracial — notable Hispanic share for a Lake Erie suburb. Per-pupil expenditure $12,027 (FY2020) — among the lowest in the Suburb-Midsize peer cluster, and the lowest of any Ohio district in this re-run.

2. Why this was a hard sell — community context (ACS)

This is a wealthy, high-homeownership community that should be passing levies. The structure is the explanatory variable. The May 5, 2026 cycle was a statewide bloodbath: 42 of 66 issues failed (64% rejection rate), and 24 of those 42 failures were earned-income tax measures. Voters across Ohio rejected the EIT structure en masse — and Amherst was on its third swing at the same pitch. An EIT of 0.75% on a $86K household ≈ $650/year, for life. The opposition coalition writes itself: non-resident workers pay but can’t vote on it; retirees pay nothing while their working neighbors pay forever. The structure unbundles the tax base from the homeowner base — every time.

3. The gap story (what the data would have shown voters)

Amherst remains the lowest-investment district in its national peer cluster, three asks running.

• Plant operations spending: $1,012 / pupil vs national median $1,324 — 24% below median. Reeths-Puffer MI $796, Lumberton TX $983, De Pere WI $964 are below; Avon Lake OH (14 mi away, same county) sits at $13,961 total per pupil — Amherst is $12,027. Avon Lake passes levies; Amherst is 0-for-3.
• Per-pupil instruction: $6,580 — the lowest in the entire MCP top-15 peer set. Seaman KS $12,598 PP, De Pere WI $12,425 PP all spend more on classroom instruction. Amherst is the under-spender, not the wasteful district.
• Capital construction outlay (FY2020): $958K — minimal for a 3,533-student district. The next ask is for operations not buildings, but the deferred capital picture compounds the under-investment narrative.
• Counselor ratio 505:1 — peer median 410:1. Powers Elementary: 1,104 students, 1 counselor. Walter G. Nord MS: 556:1. Marion L. Steele HS: 338:1. Powers’ ratio is more than 3× the peer benchmark.
• 18 expulsions district-wide — the highest in the 6-district peer comparison set (peer median ~4). Concentrated at Marion L. Steele HS (8) and Amherst JH (7).
• Chronic absenteeism: Amherst JH 19.3% — junior high is the trouble grade. District-wide 13.5%.
• 3 of 4 schools have a nurse; Walter G. Nord MS does not.

FMX peer operational benchmarks (live)

Lumberton TX is publishing 97.9% work-order resolution against ~7,800 WOs/year — that’s the operational transparency Amherst’s next ballot has to point to. Grand Haven MI carries a 47-year portfolio age and still hits 94.8% resolution at $2.07/sqft — a defensible “we are running tight” data point Amherst doesn’t have today.

4. Bond/levy history (updated)

• Spring 2025 — Income tax: defeated
• Nov 4, 2025 — Issue 16, 1.5% continuing EIT: defeated again
• May 5, 2026 — 0.75% EIT (5-year, scaled down from continuing 1.5%): defeated 45.67% Yes, by 568 votes — third consecutive failure
• District status: State “precautionary” fiscal status; News 5 Cleveland reported ~$5M in cuts already on deck after the November failure.

The scale-down from a 1.5% continuing EIT to a 0.75% 5-year EIT moved the Yes share modestly but did not flip the outcome. After three attempts, the structure is the issue — the dollar amount and term length are not. A property-tax-based ask is the only structural lever left untried.

5. What voters / opposition said

Coverage is thin and lumped Amherst into the broader Ideastream “majority of NE Ohio income-tax levies failed” framing. The May 5, 2026 cycle was a cohort failure — voters statewide rejected 24 of 42 EITs. Amherst’s loss is part of a wave, not a localized opposition story. No organized opposition coverage surfaced for this attempt. The absence of public debate after three asks suggests a campaign-communications void at this point, not contested politics.

6. What we could have told them

1. “Per-student instruction spending: $6,580. This is the lowest of every peer district we benchmark against in the United States — Seaman KS, De Pere WI, Reeths-Puffer MI, Avon Lake OH. We are not spending too much. We are spending the least.” Direct rebuttal to “schools waste money.”
2. “Powers Elementary: 1,104 students, 1 counselor. Walter G. Nord MS has no nurse. Amherst JH has 19% chronic absenteeism. The next $5M in cuts will land on these positions — not on administrators.” Specific, school-named, names what the EIT protects.
3. “Plant operations: $1,012/student. National median $1,324. We are 24% below the national maintenance benchmark — the buildings are running on what we have, not what they need.” This is the FMX-aligned proof point for the operational story of the next campaign.
4. “Avon Lake — same Lorain County, same demographics, 14 miles away — invests $13,961 per student per year. We invest $12,027. The $1,934/student gap is what we’re trying to close, not exceed.” Same-county peer is the only credible comparator to a no-voter.
5. “Switch to a property-tax-based renewal for the next ask. Three EIT failures in 13 months is the structure failing, not the dollar amount. 78% of Amherst is owner-occupied — that’s the voter base, and a property-tax renewal speaks their language.” This is the structural pivot that hasn’t been tried.

7. FMX outreach hook

Amherst is now 3-for-3 failed asks on EIT and into state fiscal oversight. The pitch is no longer “fix this campaign” — it’s “build the operational proof layer for the next ask, on a 12-18 month engagement timeline.”

• Lumberton ISD (TX, 1,019 mi, enrollment 4,108, 94% similarity, lisdtx.gofmx.com): 7,771 work orders/yr, 97.9% resolution, 14 buildings tracked. Same Suburb-Midsize locale, same per-pupil band, same low-poverty profile.
• Grand Haven Area Public Schools (MI, 233 mi, enrollment 5,202, 91% similarity, ghaps.gofmx.com): 47-year portfolio age, 94.8% resolution, $2.07/sqft, 49.4 WO/Ksf, 2.3% HVAC burden — a comparable Midwestern lake suburb publishing the full operational stack.

Opener for the call: “Three consecutive failures on the same earned-income tax structure means the next ask has to defend itself on operational transparency, not financial scale. Lumberton ISD in Texas — same enrollment, same poverty, same locale — publishes 97.9% work-order resolution across 7,800 work orders a year inside FMX. Grand Haven Michigan, same lake-shore suburb profile, runs a 47-year portfolio at 94.8% resolution and $2.07/sqft. Your campaign just lost by 568 votes on a 0.75% ask. The next ballot needs per-building condition scores voters can scrutinize, and a maintenance-per-pupil number you can defend against the $1,324 national median you’re 24% below. Both peers I just named are already publishing that data inside FMX. We can have your portfolio benchmarked against them inside 60 days.”

Lead with Chuck Grimmett (B&G Supervisor) per the prior brief — named facilities head means the data conversation starts at the right altitude. Amelia Gioffredo (Treasurer) is the financial co-owner of the next ballot’s narrative.