Budget Committee
Ohio · IRN 044081 · Hamilton County

Winton Woods City School District

District briefing, fall 2026: enrollment, achievement, finances, property taxes and the levy record.

On the ballot · November 3, 2026

Winton Woods City School District: one referendum question

Issue 9 · New operating levy

An additional tax for the benefit of Winton Woods City School District for the purpose of current expenses that the county auditor estimates will collect $5,346,642 annually, at a rate not exceeding 6.95 mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $243 for each $100,000 of the county auditor's market value, for a continuing period of time, commencing in 2026, first due in calendar year 2027. The county auditor has certified that the amount by which the carry-over balance in the district's general operating budget from the preceding fiscal year exceeds the district's general fund expenditures made in the preceding fiscal year is $16,517,941, which is 26% of those expenditures.

Ballot wording. Source: Hamilton County BOE certified November 2026 Ballot Issues (ballot language)

Enrollment
4,048
2025-26
Performance index
63.8
2025-26
Graduation
89.5%
class of 2025
Spending / pupil
$17,048
2024-25
State share
46%
2024-25
Unreserved balance
25.7%
FY2026
Residential mills
34.8
tax year 2025
Home value
−11%
5-yr avg vs. 11 nearby districts
Enrollment

4,048 students in 2025-26, the most on record; +8.7% over five years against −7.6% for the regional peer median.

Achievement

Performance index 63.8 of 120 in 2025-26 (Ohio median 88.3); 3.0 stars overall; four-year graduation 89.5%.

Spending

$17,048 per pupil in operating spending (2024-25), above the peer median of $16,859; the state supplies 46% of revenue and local taxes 36%.

Reserves

$17.65 million in general-fund cash at the end of FY2026; the unreserved balance was 25.7% of spending (Ohio median 36.2%).

Property taxes

34.84 effective residential mills for current expenses in 2026 (Ohio median 24.39).

Students

100% economically disadvantaged, 23% English learners, 15.1% with disabilities (2024-25).

Winton Woods enrolled 4,048 students in 2025-26. That is the most on record. Since 2006-07 it has changed +8.0%, against −15.3% for the regional peer median and −19.5% for the median Ohio district.

Winton WoodsRegional peers (median)Ohio districts (median)
1111039486772006-072010-112014-152018-192025-26

Students

MeasureWinton WoodsPeers (median)Ohio (median)PercentileYear
Economically disadvantaged100%100%47%92nd2024-25
English learners23.4%4.0%2.4%99th2024-25
Students with disabilities15.1%20.6%16.1%41st2024-25
Black52.8%14.3%3.4%96th2024-25
Hispanic29.0%8.2%4.2%98th2024-25
White6.5%54.2%88.7%1st2024-25
Multiracial7.9%10.7%4.4%81st2024-25

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.

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 Winton Woods’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.

MeasureWinton WoodsRegional peers (median)Ohio (median)PercentileYear
Resident students in district schools3,4412,1611,18085th2025-26
Resident students on EdChoice5632536189th2025-26
Resident students in community (charter) schools2591723992nd2025-26
Resident students open-enrolled elsewhere1641159774th2025-26

Community

MeasureWinton WoodsRegional peers (median)Ohio (median)PercentileYear
Median household income$79,438$72,849$73,77864th2020–24 ACS
Poverty rate9.6%13.3%9.9%47th2020–24 ACS
Adults with a bachelor's degree30.6%21.8%21.9%76th2020–24 ACS
Median home value$201,400$216,600$196,40053rd2020–24 ACS

Home values against nearby districts

Across the five most recent Census releases (2016–20 to 2020–24), the median owner-occupied home in Winton Woods averaged $159,700, 11% below the median of the 11 districts within 25 miles ($179,940). That ranks 9th of 12 in the area and at the 43rd percentile of Ohio districts (state median $167,900).

ACS 5-year releaseWinton WoodsNearby medianDifferenceOhio median
2016–20$129,700$146,700−12%$142,600
2017–21$135,400$152,800−11%$149,100
2018–22$157,500$181,200−13%$167,700
2019–23$174,500$201,900−14%$182,500
2020–24$201,400$216,600−7%$196,400
Five-release average$159,700$179,940−11%$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 Winton Woods's: Clermont Northeastern (24 mi, $204,860); Norwood (9 mi, $200,320); Princeton (6 mi, $192,820); Edgewood (14 mi, $186,220); Goshen (19 mi, $184,440); Northwest Local (Hamilton) (6 mi, $179,940); Franklin City (22 mi, $177,580); Finneytown (4 mi, $170,620); Hamilton City (9 mi, $137,180); Middletown (17 mi, $127,600); North College Hill (5 mi, $113,560).

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: Middletown, North College Hill, Northwest Local (Hamilton), Princeton, Hamilton City, Goshen, Edgewood, Finneytown, Franklin City, Clermont Northeastern and Norwood.

Winton Woods’s performance index — a weighted average of state test results on a 0–120 scale — was 63.8 in 2025-26, against 74.3 for the peer median and 88.3 for the median Ohio district (3rd percentile).

Winton WoodsPeers (median)Ohio districts (median)
96857462512014-152016-172018-192020-212022-232025-26
MeasureWinton WoodsPeer medianregional beneathOhio (median)PercentileYear
Performance index (of 120)63.874.3regional 78.488.33rd2025-26
Performance index, % of maximum57.8%67.4%regional 71.1%80.1%3rd2025-26
Math proficient29.2%42.0%regional 51.4%63.5%4th2025-26
Four-year graduation rate89.5%91.7%regional 93.9%97.2%6thClass of 2025
Chronically absent31.6%31.4%regional 27.1%16.4%90th2025-26
Overall rating (stars)3.03.0regional 3.54.015th2025-26
Winton WoodsPeers (median)Ohio districts (median)
99%94%90%85%81%2013-142015-162017-182019-202021-222024-25

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

Winton Woods spent $17,048 per pupil on operations in 2024-25, against $16,859 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 46% of Winton Woods’s revenue. At the end of FY2026 the district held $17.65 million in general-fund cash, an unreserved balance of 25.7% of a year’s spending.

Winton WoodsPeers (median)Ohio districts (median)
$17,960$15,605$13,250$10,894$8,5392010-112014-152018-192024-25
Winton WoodsPeers (median)Ohio districts (median)
50%43%35%27%20%FY2014FY2016FY2018FY2020FY2022FY2024FY2026
MeasureWinton WoodsPeer medianregional beneathOhio (median)PercentileYear
Operating spending per pupil$17,048$16,859regional $16,544$16,58056th2024-25
Revenue per pupil$17,897$18,284regional $18,227$18,15046th2024-25
State share of revenue46%49%regional 41%43%58th2024-25
Local share of revenue36%31%regional 44%42%37th2024-25
Federal share of revenue12%11%regional 8%6%83rd2024-25
General-fund cash, end of year$17.65 million$14.47 millionregional $15.29 million$8.3 million80thFY2026
Unreserved balance, % of spending25.7%28.1%regional 33.5%36.2%25thFY2026
Average teacher salary$68,653$74,492regional $74,351$69,16347th2024-25
Property value per pupil$196,498$199,553regional $277,261$267,19718th2023-24

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. Winton Woods’s effective residential rate was 34.84 mills (Ohio median 24.39). Since January 2026, districts can no longer place new emergency, substitute or replacement levies on the ballot.

MeasureWinton WoodsRegional peers (median)Ohio (median)PercentileYear
Effective residential millage, current expenses34.8430.1724.3991stTax year 2025
Effective business millage, current expenses50.6131.2026.5894th2024-25
Total voted operating millage81.8752.9341.8793rd2024-25
Median property tax on owner-occupied homes$3,479$2,503$2,22881st2020–24 ACS
As a share of household income4.4%3.5%3.1%84th2020–24 ACS

Past school tax issues

Winton Woods has put 9 school tax issues to voters since 2016; 2 passed and 7 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.

ElectionIssueResultYes vote
May 2023Emergency (new), 6.21 millsFailed23.42%
Nov 2022Emergency (new), 5.4 millsFailed37.93%
May 2022Emergency (new), 5.4 millsFailed28.14%
Nov 2021Emergency (new), 5.56 millsFailed28.51%
May 2021Operating (new), 6.95 millsFailed28.54%
Nov 2020Operating (new), 6.95 millsFailed44.38%
Mar 2020Operating (new), 6.95 millsFailed38.65%
Nov 2018Emergency (new), 9.18 millsPassed59.14%
Nov 2016Bond (new)Passed52.86%

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.

Wherever this briefing sets Winton Woods 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 Winton Woods 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.

DistrictCountyMilesEnrollmentOperating spending per pupilStudents per teacherEcon. disadvantaged
North College HillHamilton51,289$18,06117.997.7%
MiddletownButler175,620$16,36815.8100.0%
West CarrolltonMontgomery313,055$17,74315.597.0%
Xenia CommunityGreene393,516$19,22417.492.6%
FairbornGreene464,096$16,00915.997.4%
ChillicotheRoss812,535$17,04717.3100.0%
CirclevillePickaway871,988$16,67018.9100.0%
WhitehallFranklin983,361$16,08817.4100.0%
FremontSandusky1602,990$15,92116.798.9%
MassillonStark1914,031$14,63517.2100.0%
Warren CityTrumbull2374,568$20,63117.099.3%
Painesville CityLake2402,567$17,81016.9100.0%

Regional peers 11 districts

The 11 districts (city, local and exempted-village districts) within 25 miles of Winton Woods, 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.

DistrictCountyMilesEnrollmentOperating spending per pupilStudents per teacherEcon. disadvantaged
FinneytownHamilton41,070$18,12216.967.1%
North College HillHamilton51,289$18,06117.997.7%
Northwest Local (Hamilton)Hamilton67,227$14,98918.688.9%
PrincetonHamilton65,556$18,69016.672.0%
Hamilton CityButler98,556$15,78118.269.5%
NorwoodHamilton91,671$20,33114.585.8%
EdgewoodButler143,008$14,74218.153.5%
MiddletownButler175,620$16,36815.8100.0%
GoshenClermont192,597$15,90718.353.2%
Franklin CityWarren222,355$16,54420.760.9%
Clermont NortheasternClermont241,184$17,14617.050.6%

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