BRIDGEPORT — Bridgeport Exempted Village School District is hoping that voters will renew its levy to fund operations.

The levy, originally implemented in 2010, is a 6-mill, five-year measure that will not impose any new taxes on the community. The levy raises about $500,000 per year.

According to district Superintendent Brent Ripley, the money raised by the levy would continue to provide comprehensive support, services and programming and help keep up with rising costs related to day-to-day operating expenses.

“We use that levy money for staffing. We’ve used it for when we need to buy a new school bus, and we’ve used it for curricular enhancements for kids,” Ripley said.

He added that the district recently purchased a new kindergarten through sixth grade language arts curriculum.

“Those curriculums are very costly when you’re talking about all of the technology integration that we do. Also with a new curriculum comes professional development for teachers and leaders,” he said. “When we look at how we staff Bridgeport and the programs that we have at Bridgeport, we go above and beyond. We’re a small school district, but we offer a lot of … enhancements for our students and parents.”

According to a district press release, the school system has been diligent in pursuing other funding sources. It also notes that the levy has provided partial or full funding to several renovation projects for the school. The building that houses kindergarten through 12th grade recently received a new roof with a 20-year warranty, the building’s air conditioning unit is slated to have a full chiller replacement, the building’s exterior doors will be re-caulked, classrooms will have new temperature controls and variable air volume valves, as well as a new air filtration system.

Ripley added that the district had to hire a new fourth grade teacher due to the surplus of new students who are choosing to attend Bridgeport schools.

“Every year since I’ve been here, I believe that our open enrollment has picked up each year,” he said. “This year we are up around 30 kids from last year. The work that we do is teamwork. We use that money to do good for our kids and our community.”

He added that for the past three years, the Bridgeport Board of Education has been able to provide all students free passes to attend all school sporting events. The schools also provide free breakfasts and lunches to all students.

“We plan to continue to do that for the next five years,” Ripley said. “That’s a huge cost saver for the parents, knowing that they can send their kids to Bridgeport and they can receive their lunches for free.

“We feel proud and comfortable to ask our community to do this renewal levy because any time we can extend that goodwill to our community to save them money, we try and do that for them.”

He added that he believes the district makes its decisions based on what is best for the students.

“The proof is in the pudding. Kids choose to come to Bridgeport. Open enrollment continues to go up,” he said.

In addition, the district has used the levy funds to update its security, adding a schoolwide public address system as well as replacing handheld radios with a multi-agency radio communication system that was purchased for emergencies. Digital video recording cameras were also updated for the school and buses.

Finally, an additional set of bleachers has been set up on the visitor’s side of Perkins Field on the Niekro Diamond. The Perkins Field Foundation donated two sets of bleachers. Donations from the Bridgeport Educational Assistance Foundation and Ascent Resources have also allowed the district to place a digital wall of fame at the middle and high school entrances.

“The Bridgeport Exempted Village School District and board of education are committed to providing every student with the very best in facilities, support, instruction and environment so children are prepared for their future,” the release states.

According to Ripley, the renewal levy would cost taxpayers $210 per $100,000 of the county auditor’s assessed value of their property on an annual basis.