Pickerington Local Schools has suspended all athletic teams below the varsity level and other extracurricular activities, effective November 4, after voters narrowly rejected a 0.75% income tax levy the district said it needed to stabilize its finances. According to unofficial election results in Fairfield and Franklin counties reported by The Columbus Dispatch, the levy failed by around 250 votes — less than 1% of all votes cast — in the November 3 general election.
In a letter to families, Superintendent Charles Smialek said the district had to protect academics in the classroom and that hard decisions needed to be made, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Smialek told The Columbus Dispatch he was hopeful the move would be a “short-term proposition,” adding: “We understand the value of extracurriculars, we understand the experiences they create, its difficult. These are among the harder decisions most of us have ever had to take.”
The suspension is the plan the district laid out before Election Day. In a September 14, 2026 update on its own website, Pickerington Local Schools told families that if the November 3 levy did not pass, athletic teams below the varsity level would be suspended beginning November 4, and that beginning January 1, theater and music productions requiring supplemental contracts would also be suspended. Musicals and theatre will continue through December 31, according to the letter to families reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
The district said in that September update that the extracurricular reductions were projected to save approximately $500,000 for the remainder of this school year and $725,000 on a full-year basis. Those savings come on top of cuts already made: the district said it had eliminated four district-level administrative positions and two assistant principal positions, along with school and department budget reductions, for approximately $3.2 million in savings, and had eliminated transportation for athletic events, for approximately $315,000 in savings.
The levy loss is the second rejection Pickerington voters have delivered this year. After a larger May levy proposal failed by a wide margin, the district cut over $5 million from its budget, including staffing and program reductions, alongside athletic fees, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The district currently faces a $21 million deficit, according to information presented to the board and reported by The Columbus Dispatch. The November proposal would have added a 0.75% income tax for 10 years to the 1% district income tax in place since 1991.
In a statement reported by The Columbus Dispatch, board President Cathy Olshefski called it “a difficult moment for Pickerington Local Schools,” adding: “Our focus must remain on providing the best possible educational opportunities for our students while being responsible stewards of the resources entrusted to us.”
District leaders say they kept varsity sports deliberately. Smialek told The Columbus Dispatch the district kept varsity sports so as not to damage students who may have scholarship offers. He also warned about the pipeline underneath: “You’re not going to field high-quality varsity teams if you don’t have your own feeder system,” Smialek told The Columbus Dispatch. Because the district still offers varsity sports, students will not be able to participate in athletics at a neighboring school under a state law that took effect this year, Smialek told The Columbus Dispatch.
That feeder concern carries unusual weight in Pickerington, a district of around 11,500 students that recently earned a 4.5-star rating on state report cards and is known across Ohio for powerhouse athletics, The Columbus Dispatch reported. Central’s football team won Division I state titles in 2017 and 2019, its girls basketball program has won eight state titles dating to 1985, and six former Pickerington players are active in the NFL, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: Confirmed is the immediate step — non-varsity teams and other extracurriculars are suspended effective November 4, varsity teams continue, and musicals and theatre continue through December 31 — based on the district’s letter to families and its published reduction plan. Still waiting is the final certified vote count from Fairfield and Franklin counties, confirming the roughly 250-vote margin in the unofficial results, and any district decision on whether community support could restore activities sooner. The letter said the district is aware of families discussing sponsorship, but Smialek said in the letter, as reported by The Columbus Dispatch, that “any plan we consider must be both sustainable and equitable.”
More reductions are mapped out if the finances do not change. Under the current plan, the district says it will have to cut additional staff, classes and programs and raise athletic fees over two phases in 2027, The Columbus Dispatch reported. In its September update, the district said academic reductions considered for January would not happen midyear, but would be delayed until July 1, 2027, if they become necessary, and that for 2027-28 everything would be on the table.
What happens next is a sequence of dates families can watch: the November 3 results will be certified by the county boards of elections, theatre and musical productions run through December 31 before the January 1 suspension takes effect, and the district’s two-phase 2027 cuts move closer unless a new funding plan emerges. For now, the junior varsity, freshman and middle school seasons that feed one of Ohio’s most successful varsity programs are on hold — and district leaders say making that hold as short as possible is the goal.