A central Ohio district just found out what a few hundred votes can cost athletics programs, including their football program.
Pickerington Local Schools (OH) suspended all athletic teams below the varsity level, along with other extracurricular activities, effective November 4, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The district made the move one day after voters turned down a 0.75% income tax levy by around 250 votes, less than 1% of ballots cast, in unofficial results. 10TV reported the margin as fewer than 300 votes with all 47 precincts reporting.
The 10-year levy would have started January 1 and raised about $21 million a year, enough to keep the district solvent through fiscal year 2031, per 10TV.
The Dispatch reported the district faces a $21 million deficit, based on figures presented to the board.
This was the district’s second levy attempt in six months. In May, voters rejected a 1.25% income tax by 3,379 votes, according to ABC6. The district then cut more than $5 million, including staff, programs and higher athletic fees, per the Dispatch.
Varsity sports survive. Superintendent Charles Smialek told the Dispatch the district kept them so students holding scholarship offers would not be hurt.
“You’re not going to field high-quality varsity teams if you don’t have your own feeder system,” Smialek said. “We don’t want to take that step back and that’s why we’re going to try and make this as short-term as we can.”
Pickerington Central is a 27-time playoff qualifier with Division I state titles in 2017 and 2019, according to the Dispatch. Six former Pickerington players are in the NFL, including Sonny Styles, whom the Washington Commanders took seventh overall in April. Pickerington North is the district’s other high school.
“We understand the value of extracurriculars, we understand the experiences they create. It’s difficult,” Smialek told the Dispatch. “These are among the harder decisions most of us have ever had to take.”
The suspension reaches past athletics. WOSU reported that National Honor Society and student council are also among the activities affected. Not surprisingly, more staff cuts are coming too. Smialek told WOSU that early projections call for cutting 24 high school teachers and 17 middle school teachers, though he stressed those are “not final numbers.”
Despite not offering lower-level programs, The Dispatch adds that athletic fees will rise in two phases come 2027.
Smialek told WOSU affordability was likely the biggest factor at the ballot box. “Gas prices continue to be high. Inflation continues to be higher,” he said. “So when we’re going and asking for more, I mean, we’re definitely meeting up against the folks who are giving everything they can.”
The district plans to look at another levy for the May ballot, and Smialek said more cuts will come even if it passes.
This is a school system that is responsible for the development of guys like Sonny Styles (Ohio State and 7th overall pick by the Commanders in 2026), Taco Charlton (Michigan and 28th overall pick to the Cowboys in 2017) both of whom attended Pickerington Central. Then there's Jack Sawyer (captain of Ohio State's 2024 national title team and 4th round pick of the Steelers in 2025), Jake Butt (former Michigan tight end and winner of the 2016 Mackey Award), and Pat Elfein (Ohio State center who won the 2016 Rimington Trophy before going to a career starting for the Vikings) who all attended Pickerington North.
Fall sub-varsity schedules were mostly finished by November, so the first teams hit are in winter sports and offseason work.
For football, the damage shows up later. Every person reading this knows how valuable development is at the freshman and JV levels. It’s where a 14-year-old who has never put on pads learns a stance, finds out he loves the game and sticks around long enough to become a senior starter. Pull that away and the varsity doesn’t feel it this Friday. It feels it in two or three years, and the opportunity to build a strong program takes a huge hit.
Here’s hoping May brings a different answer for the kids in Pickerington.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.