Mayfield School District officials recently addressed the positive impact a new continuing 5-mill levy will have on the school system. District voters in the Nov. 5 election approved the measure that will generate an estimated $7,743,000 million annually. “Grateful, very grateful, really appreciative of the community coming out and supporting the Mayfield City Schools and seeing the value add for the sustained excellence that I think is the Mayfield City Schools,” Superintendent Michael Barnes said in a Nov. 20 interview. “We talked about four deliverables,” Barnes said. “Enhancing early literacy, enhancing safety and security, providing additional mental health and support for our students and expanding career readiness, those four deliverables will be in focus. “We have been, in anticipation of a successful passage, going through a revisioning exercise of what those deliverables will look like. We won’t be able to do everything at once for certain, but over a period of time, we want to make sure we are focusing on those four areas.” Paper leaves with different statements are seen in the hallway of Mayfield Middle School. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) He said one example of what focusing on early childhood education would look like was to turn their attention to the importance of what happens before kids are even enrolled in kindergarten. “What we do know is that we want to make sure more kids are kindergarten ready by the time they enter kindergarten,” Barnes said. “And that means access to early literacy, whether that’s outreach, alternate services, working with the libraries in the community…” Attendees wait for a Nov. 20 Mayfield City Schools board meeting to start. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) According to unofficial final results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the issue was approved 9,884 to 7,276. The levy will cost an additional $175 a year per $100,000 in property value, according to the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer. Sue Groszek, school board president for more than 20 years, said that before she got on the board, she used to run the levy committee and can see the change in how people value public education. School Board President Sue Groszek prepares for a meeting. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) “We’ve never taken anything for granted,” Groszek said. “…the first one I ran we did not pass, the second one we did. That was at a very different time than where we are now, and we all seem to be marching in the same direction, which is very important. “We are so grateful to have the support of the entire community, it’s been wonderful and it’s nice to know that we are there for them and they are there for us.”