Garfield Heights parents & students hit the phones & streets to drum up support for school levy

CLEVELAND - "Hi, my name is Mike and I'm calling on behalf of Citizens for Garfield Heights. We have drastic cuts in the district and we need your support on March 6 ^th"

That phone call and others like were made today by grade school children from the Garfield Heights School District to residents urging them to vote for a school levy in March.

For 20 years voters in Garfield Heights have taken a wrecking ball to school levies.

So this time around, parents, students, teachers and administrators are teaming up for a grass roots campaign like no other the city has seen.

Grade school kids and high school students walked side by side wit their parents on this snowy weekend hitting the sidewalks and front porches spreading the word about the school levy on the March 6 ^th ballot.

They know these are tough economic times in their hometown, but today they’re trying to rally support for the levy. "I feel the levy is very important we haven't passed one for 20 years and I hope the community backs the children because want them to get a good education." Said parent Melissa Pawlak.

The school day has been shortened to save on utility bills so now students get out of school by 1:00 PM in Garfield Heights putting a strain on parents schedules.

Gym class, art and music have been cut.

Teachers only have time to focus students on core classes like math and reading.

Recently the school district voted to eliminate 48 positions.

But this time around, the push for a levy feels different says Superintendent Linda Reid.

"This is my 6th campaign in two years but today I was at a rally and there’s a lot of support 300 hundred people hundred showed up for one of them and hundreds more going out to show support." Reid said.

High School Junior Jorge Miranda added "It’s pretty important because I want to go to college and I need all the support and quality education I can get."

Voters will decide on the levy March 6 ^th.