Original Research by School Decision on Fairless High School
Fairless High School is a small, recently rebuilt grades 9–12 school in Brewster, a stable village in southwestern Stark County. The school opened in 2023 as part of a major capital project funded through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission and local tax revenue from natural gas pipelines, replacing an aging facility with a modern campus alongside the elementary and middle schools on Navarre Road.
The student body is predominantly white and draws from a rural-suburban area. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting economic diversity in the attendance zone. The enrollment is small, with roughly equal distribution across ninth and tenth grades and notably smaller classes in eleventh and twelfth grades.
On state testing, the school shows a split picture. Science proficiency is strong, and social studies performance is solid. English language arts proficiency is near the midpoint between strength and concern. Mathematics proficiency is the soft spot, well below the other subjects. Only one year of results is available, so trend data and whether these are patterns or fluctuations cannot be determined from the records provided. A parent may want to ask the school about math supports and how recent cohorts have performed in that subject, as well as what instructional changes are underway if math scores have been consistently lower.
State testing results for nine through twelve grades capture only end-of-course exams and do not reflect a graduation rate or four-year completion metric, so the school's overall graduation outcome cannot be assessed from the data here. A parent interested in college and career readiness, graduation rate, or completion pathways should request that information directly from the school.
The village itself is a small, historically industrial community anchored by three major employers: Shearer's Foods, Brewster Cheese (the largest Swiss cheese producer in North America), and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, whose corporate headquarters and shops are located there. The downtown is compact and walkable along S. Wabash Avenue, though daily life mixes the historic core with car-oriented routes and surrounding farmland. Housing is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, and the area sits within easy reach of both rural Amish country and the larger Canton-Massillon metro.
The district has faced financial headwinds in recent years. In March 2025, the Board of Education made significant cuts to staffing and programming, including the elimination of middle school Spanish, four teaching positions, summer programming, summer credit recovery, and the sophomore ACT exam. Nine paraprofessional aide and tutorial positions were reduced, and class sizes increased. These changes affect course breadth and the intensity of academic support available to students. The district's funding structure relies heavily on a renewable levy that does not raise taxes but is essential to core operations, and on revenue from the Rover Pipeline that will depreciate over time. The levy renewal was placed on the 2026 ballot. A parent should understand that the district's resource environment remains uncertain and that course offerings and support services may shift based on levy outcomes.
The district has adopted a new strategic plan and vision centered on academic excellence and empowering students, developed by a committee including community members, parents, staff, and students. The new high school facility itself represents an investment in infrastructure. Whether that investment is matched by sustained staffing and program depth in the current fiscal climate is a question worth exploring with school leaders directly.
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