Pickerington Local School District

• A thin cushion. $22.9M of general-fund cash at the end of FY2026: 48 days of spending, against a board floor of 45 and a statewide median of 138. Without new money, the August 2026 forecast falls to $4.3M in FY2029 and −$19.7M in FY2030.
• The November 3 question. A 0.75% school income tax for 10 years on Ohio taxable income, on top of the existing 1%: $21.9M a year as certified. With it, cash reaches about $45M by FY2030, but the forecast still shows a $9.6M deficit in FY2031.
• A May defeat. A continuing 1.25% income tax failed on May 5, 2026 with 37.3%. The board held listening sessions, cut the rate and added a 10-year term. Pickerington has not passed new operating money since 2011, and a $95M bond failed in 2020.
• Growth versus staffing. Enrollment grew 17.7% from FY2016 to FY2025 while staff grew 31.3% (administrative FTEs 53.5 to 89.0). The state’s performance audit found about $5.7M a year of savings, mostly in staffing and insurance, and said even full adoption would not close the gap.
• Low spending, strong results. $14,756 per pupil in operating spending, about the 19th percentile in Ohio; 4.5 stars, performance index 92.3, graduation 96.3%. The teachers’ union says its pay trails neighboring districts.
• Cuts made and planned. Phase I ($3.3M a year) took effect for 2026–27, including higher pay-to-participate fees. If November fails, Phase II (January 2027) ends on-campus College Credit Plus, instructional coaches and many electives; if a May 2027 retry also fails, Phase III cuts teachers, middle-school band and orchestra, and busing to the state minimum.
• State aid set to fall. The state pays 40.1% of Pickerington’s formula base cost (FY2027); the forecast assumes about 27% by FY2031 because the base cost is not being updated. Residential property taxes already sit at the 20-mill floor.

What to watch

• November 3: the 0.75% income tax.
• If it fails: Phase II cuts in January 2027, and a decision by early February on a May 4, 2027 retry.
• The November 2026 five-year forecast, due November 30: whether FY2029 cash stays above zero.
• How much of the performance audit’s $5.7M is adopted, and the next teachers’ contract.

Pickerington enrolled 11,481 students in 2025-26. That is the most on record. Since 2006-07 it has changed +18.7%, against +15.5% for the regional peer median and −19.5% for the median Ohio district.

Students

Districts that serve free meals to every student report every student as economically disadvantaged. For the 123 Ohio districts where that raised the share by 25 points or more to 95% or above in one year, this briefing uses the district’s last share before the rise (for Pickerington, 41% from 2023-24).

Where resident students go

Since 2021-22 the state pays community schools, EdChoice private schools and open-enrollment districts directly, so these students no longer appear as deductions in Pickerington’s budget, but the district still receives no state aid for them and, for most private and charter students in grades K–8, must provide or pay for transportation.

Community

Home values against nearby districts

Across the five most recent Census releases (2016–20 to 2020–24), the median owner-occupied home in Pickerington averaged $285,080, 12% above the median of the 12 districts within 25 miles ($254,940). That ranks 5th of 13 in the area and at the 91st percentile of Ohio districts (state median $167,900).

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, median value of owner-occupied homes (table B25077), in nominal dollars. Consecutive releases share four of their five survey years, so the average is a smoothed level rather than five independent years. Nearby districts are those whose NCES office address lies within 25 miles of Pickerington's: Olentangy (25 mi, $427,660); Worthington (21 mi, $316,880); Gahanna-Jefferson (10 mi, $305,000); Hilliard (22 mi, $289,680); Westerville (17 mi, $282,000); Southwest Licking (6 mi, $265,620); Licking Heights (8 mi, $244,260); Teays Valley (15 mi, $239,980); Reynoldsburg (6 mi, $207,760); South-Western (16 mi, $202,760); Lancaster (14 mi, $175,500); Hamilton Local (12 mi, $158,240).

Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Report Card and District Profile (Cupp) Report; U.S. Census ACS 5-year. Student characteristics compare with the peers; enrollment, school choice and community figures with the regional peers: Southwest Licking, Licking Heights, Gahanna-Jefferson, Westerville, Hilliard, Lancaster, Teays Valley, Olentangy, South-Western, Worthington, Hamilton Local and Reynoldsburg.

Pickerington’s performance index — a weighted average of state test results on a 0–120 scale — was 92.3 in 2025-26, against 91.6 for the peer median and 88.3 for the median Ohio district (64th percentile).

Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Report Card. No state tests in 2019-20; star ratings began in 2022-23.

Pickerington spent $14,756 per pupil on operations in 2024-25, against $15,242 for the peer median and $16,580 for the median Ohio district. Ohio’s formula assumes each district can raise a local share based on its property values and residents’ incomes; the state supplied 48% of Pickerington’s revenue. At the end of FY2026 the district held $22.87 million in general-fund cash, an unreserved balance of 11.6% of a year’s spending.

ODEW District Profile (Cupp) Report; five-year forecast actuals (general operating funds, cash basis) as filed with ODEW.

Ohio’s H.B. 920 reduction factors cut the effective rate of voted levies as property values rise, so most levies raise a fixed number of dollars and districts must return to voters to keep pace; no district’s effective current-expense rate can fall below 20 mills. Pickerington’s effective residential rate was 22.00 mills (Ohio median 24.39). Since January 2026, districts can no longer place new emergency, substitute or replacement levies on the ballot.

Past school tax issues

Pickerington has put 5 school tax issues to voters since 2017; 1 passed and 4 failed. Statewide, the Ohio School Boards Association records 2,342 school tax issues from 2016 through May 2026; 66% passed, and 39% of new-money issues.

Ohio School Boards Association school election results (unofficial), 2016–2026.

Ohio Department of Taxation and ODEW District Profile Report (effective millage); U.S. Census ACS 5-year; Ohio School Boards Association election results.

Claims from the district, its supporters and critics, checked against state data, the district’s forecasts and audits, and rating-agency reports.

Sources: the district’s five-year forecasts, board resolutions and audited financial statements; Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Department of Taxation data; county boards of elections; rating-agency reports; local news coverage.

Wherever this briefing sets Pickerington beside other districts, it uses the groups below. A group figure is the middle value across its members, each counted equally, so one large member cannot dominate it.

Peers 12 districts

The 12 Ohio districts (city, local and exempted-village districts) most like Pickerington on four equally weighted factors: total enrollment (compared as a ratio), operating spending per pupil, students per teacher and the share of economically disadvantaged students, each difference scaled by how much the factor varies across districts, and none more than two standard deviations away on any one. The group starts with nearby districts that match closely (within half a standard deviation on average) and fills the rest from anywhere in the state. Peers carry the achievement, spending and staffing comparisons.

Regional peers 12 districts

The 12 districts (city, local and exempted-village districts) within 25 miles of Pickerington, straight line between district offices, whose profile on the same four factors is comparable: on average within one standard deviation. They carry enrollment, property taxes and home values, and their median sits beneath the peer median elsewhere. A district in both groups appears in both lists.

“Ohio median” is the middle value across Ohio’s city, local and exempted-village school districts; career centers and community schools are left out.