Springfield Local Schools (Lucas County) — OH

1. Snapshot

Suburb-Large district in eastern Lucas County, serving Holland, Springfield Township, and portions of Maumee, Toledo, and Monclova Township (Toledo metro southwest edge). 3,214 students across 7 schools. SAIPE poverty 13.09% — second-highest in this 7-brief OH batch (after Plain Local 14.21%). Demographics 57% White / 21% Black / 12% Hispanic / 9% Multiracial / 1% Asian — more racially diverse than the Lucas County rural-suburban mean. Per-pupil expenditure $13,426 (FY2020). Per-pupil revenue $13,727. Capital construction outlay (FY2020): $0 — zero. Same Vermilion pattern.

2. Why this was a hard sell — community context (ACS 5-yr 2022)

The 60.5% owner-occupied rate is the standout — Springfield (Lucas) has the highest renter share in this 7-brief batch. That matters for property-tax levies: renters don’t pay property tax directly, but they do see it in rent increases, and they vote. The 41% Yes share suggests the homeowner-vs-renter split didn’t break in the district’s favor — a property tax levy in a 40% renter community has structurally different campaign math than in Pickerington (78% owner-occupied) or Strongsville (83% owner-occupied).

A 3.9-mill CPT levy on a $225K home runs ~$307/year, forever — and the “continuing” structure (no sunset) is the same opposition argument Streetsboro hit on. Across the May 2026 OH cohort, continuing levies underperform 5-year-term levies on pass rate.

3. Community context — the renter/tax-base anomaly

Springfield’s tax base is meaningfully constrained by the high renter share. Of the seven districts in this batch, only Springfield (Lucas) crosses below the 65% owner-occupied threshold. The campaign messaging needed to address renters explicitly — “this levy keeps your kids’ schools open” rather than “this levy is $307/year per $225K home” — because the homeowner messaging doesn’t reach 40% of the electorate, and 40% of the electorate does vote.

4. The gap story — what the FMX data layer would have shown voters

Springfield (Lucas) has a moderate facilities under-investment story plus a severe chronic-absenteeism flag.

• Plant operations spending: $1,037.85 / pupil vs national median $1,324 — 22% below the national median. Across 3,214 students, that’s ~$920K/year less than a median district. Not the headline 31–43% gap Plain Local or Southwest have, but defensible.
• Capital construction outlay (FY2020): $0 — zero, district-wide, across 7 schools. This is the Vermilion data point. This is the campaign’s bond justification waiting to happen — even though the May 2026 ask was operating, not capital, the zero-capital story is exactly what frames the operating ask: “we have nothing left for the buildings; the operating levy is what frees up dollars for everything else.”
• Per-pupil instruction $7,713 — at peer band. Compared to FMX-peer Northview MI ($14,186 total per pupil), Hamilton Local OH ($11,324), Dearborn Heights MI #7 ($12,102) — Springfield is mid-pack.
• Chronic absenteeism: 31.0% — the highest in this 7-brief batch (Plain 12.7%, Pickerington 17.6%, Streetsboro 16.8%, Strongsville 10.7%, Sylvania 13.6%, Southwest 21.2%). Nearly a third of Springfield students are chronically absent. The operating levy could fund the climate/attendance interventions that move this number; the campaign never tied levy dollars to the absenteeism number.
• Suspension rate 11.2% — moderate.
• 0 instructional aides FTE — district-wide. Zero. Most Suburb-Large OH districts run 30–100. This is staffing-thin to the point of being a campaign asset: “we run with zero instructional aides across 7 schools. The levy lets us hire the first ones.”
• Counselor ratio 290:1 — actually quite good.
• 0 librarian-specialist FTE.

The Springfield (Lucas) staffing model is paraprofessional-light, counselor-strong — an unusual combination that the campaign could have leveraged: “we make our dollars count on counselors. The operating levy lets us add the instructional aides and librarians every peer district has.”

FMX peer operational benchmarks (live)

Pulled live from fmx_profiles — named FMX-customer peers at ≥0.93 similarity to Springfield (Lucas). Springfield (Lucas) itself is an FMX customer — the comparison neighbors are already on the platform.

Hamilton Local OH at 127 miles, 94% similarity, same state, is the strongest in-state proof point — though their FMX work-order data is still backfilling (0 work orders shown means newly onboarded). The fact that they are on the platform at all is the relevant signal to a Lucas County voter.

Northview Public Schools MI at 95.4% work-order resolution across 13 buildings on 2,387 WOs is the live operational benchmark for what an FMX-customer district at Springfield’s scale looks like.

5. Levy history (WTOL + nwohiostrong.com + ballotpedia)

• Pre-2024: Springfield has run renewal levies routinely (per WTOL: “Issue 23” renewal info on the Nov 5, 2024 ballot at a 10-year duration — that renewal passed without raising rates).
• Nov 2024: Issue 23 renewal levy (10-year, no rate increase) — passed.
• May 5, 2026: new 3.9-mill continuing operating levy, failed 41.05% Yes / 58.95% No (911-vote margin). This was a different ask — an additional CPT levy, not a renewal.
• Jan 2026 context: Springfield support staff threatened to strike (13abc, Jan 6 2026) — labor relations strained heading into the levy campaign.

Springfield (Lucas) is in the same Lucas County tax-fatigue cluster as Sylvania. Both lost by ~60/40 margins on operating levies on the same ballot. Per WTOL’s analysis: “rising home values over the past several years have played a key role in shaping voter sentiment, as rising values drive up property tax bills, leaving many residents feeling financially stretched.” This is a county-wide ceiling problem more than a Springfield-specific narrative problem.

6. What voters / opposition actually said

• WTOL Lucas County analysis: “The surge in home values over the past several years has played a key role in shaping voter sentiment, as rising values drive up property tax bills, leaving many residents feeling financially stretched.” — same explanation for both Sylvania and Springfield losses.
• Springfield context (13abc, Jan 6 2026): Support-staff labor tension entering the campaign cycle. Voters likely registered the labor-management tension as additional reason to wait on the levy.
• No named opposition committee in coverage. The 59% No vote is a diffuse county-wide property-tax-fatigue reaction.
• District messaging emphasized the $1.5M state-funding loss — but voters didn’t get a per-household dollar translation that competed with the levy’s $307/year per $225K home cost.

7. What we could have told them

1. “Springfield Local is already an FMX customer. Northview Public Schools in Michigan — same enrollment, 13 buildings, on FMX — publishes 95.4% work-order resolution. Hamilton Local in Columbus (127 miles, 94% similarity, also an FMX customer) is onboarding now. We can publish our portfolio data the same way and show voters where the $1,038/student plant-ops budget is going.” Single most credible argument given Springfield already runs FMX.
2. “Capital construction last reporting year: $0. Zero, across all 7 buildings. The operating levy isn’t paying for new spending — it’s stopping the deferred-maintenance hole from getting deeper, because the operating budget is what funds the capital that operations can’t.” Reframes operating ask in capital-deferral terms.
3. “31% of our students are chronically absent — the highest rate in our peer comparison set. Counselor ratio is 290:1 (well-resourced for that single intervention). But we have zero instructional aides across 7 schools, zero librarians. The operating levy is what hires the people who reach the chronically-absent students.” Names the climate problem and ties the levy to it.
4. “We just passed Issue 23 renewal in November 2024 without raising rates. We aren’t asking you to keep paying more on top of more — we’re asking you to fund the $1.5M the state took back.” Reframes as backfill, not increase.
5. For the next attempt: 5-year term, not continuing. The “continuing” structure is the strongest opposition argument in the Lucas County tax-fatigue context. Replace with a 5-year sunset.
6. For the next attempt: explicit renter messaging. “Your rent reflects property taxes. School quality reflects home values. This levy keeps both.” 40% of the electorate doesn’t own.

8. FMX outreach hook — Springfield (Lucas) is already on the platform

Springfield Local Schools (Lucas County) is an existing FMX customer. Like Pickerington, this is an expand/engage play — the conversation is “you already have FMX; here’s the campaign artifact you didn’t pull from it.”

Contact unit: Ryan Lockwood III (Treasurer) is the right primary contact. He owns the per-pupil arithmetic, the $1.5M state-funding-loss number, and the levy math. Matt Geha (Superintendent) is the spokesperson — 2022 Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Outstanding Superintendent honoree, so he has credibility — but Lockwood is the data owner. Lead with Lockwood.

Opener: “You’re already running FMX. You missed by 911 votes — 3 points — in a Lucas County cohort where both you and Sylvania lost ~60/40 to a tax-fatigue ceiling tied to rising home values. Your nearest in-state FMX peer is Hamilton Local OH (127 miles, 94% similarity), also onboarding. Your closest similar peer publishing work-order data inside FMX today is Northview Public Schools (MI, 95.4% resolution, 13 buildings, 2,387 WOs). Your campaign emphasized the $1.5M state-funding cut but never put your $1,038/student plant-ops spend vs the $1,324 national median in front of a voter, and you had $0 capital outlay last reporting year. We can have a per-building operational artifact ready inside 45 days, ahead of whatever the board lands on for November 2026.”

The combination of (a) existing customer, (b) zero capital outlay (clean facilities-deferral narrative), (c) 31% chronic absenteeism (clean climate narrative), and (d) named in-state FMX peer (Hamilton Local) makes Springfield a strong expand candidate — assuming the Treasurer has appetite to lead with the data on the next ask.