KANAWHA COUNTY, W. Va. (WCHS) — Kanawha County Schools is working to drum up support for the excess levy that will be on the ballot in November.

On Wednesday, representatives from the county and the city of Charleston conducted a kickoff event for their new “Vote Yes on Schools Campaign.”

Supporters gathered at Slack Plaza to educate voters on why they should vote “yes” to the levy, which they say will be critical for county schools.

“Well, we need to invest in our students and our workforce,” Tom Williams, superintendent for the school system, said. “Our students are our future workforce, so we have to invest in them so we can continue to attract businesses to the Kanawha Valley,”

This is not a new tax or a tax increase. Voters will be deciding on whether to continue the levy that has been in existence since 1937.

Kanawha County’s levy makes up a quarter of the county school system’s budget. If the levy fails to pass, the county’s school system would lose about $64 million from the budget.

Following is a breakdown of what the money would be used for:

* More than $37.7 million for professional, service and substitute wages, including specific funds for custodians, counselors and art teachers.

* Nearly $2.5 million for additional staff including seven additional counselors, five additional nurses and 14 additional special education staff.

* About $2.7 million for safety and security improvements across the district including secure entrances at every school that does not have one.

* More than $11.1 million for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and roofing improvements at 10 schools with the greatest need.

* About $7.4 million for facility and extracurricular needs across the county including tennis courts (with pickleball striping), baseball/softball turf, tracks, raises for coaches and scoreboards.

The school system has made a web page for the levy with information about what it would support. Click here to find out more about the levy.