School districts brace for cuts in funding

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Schools throughout Ohio are anticipating tighter budgets next year and expecting to hear about education cuts this week when Republican Gov. John Kasich unveils his two-year budget.

The Cincinnati Public Schools, which have more than 33,000 students, are taking input on spending priorities at a meeting today, a day before Kasich reveals his spending plan to help address an estimated $8 billion gap, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

“To my knowledge and listening to people who’ve been around a lot longer, they do believe these are some of the largest cuts we’ve had to contemplate,” Cincinnati school board president Eve Bolton said. She said cuts would force schools to change how they operate and look for ways to generate money, including taxes in the community and other partnerships.

The district also will lose almost $40 million in federal stimulus money used for summer programs, and considering rising costs, its treasurer has said the district will need a levy to maintain the services it has now, the newspaper reported.

That may be a common move for districts this November if they face cuts, David Varda, the head of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, told the Enquirer.

Though formal information on any cuts has not been released, some school leaders in northwest Ohio tell The Blade in Toledo that they’re preparing for the possibility of losing up to 20 percent of their funding — a move that could force staff cuts and program eliminations.

“I think everyone’s waiting, everyone’s anxious,“ said Thomas Hosler, superintendent of Perrysburg Exempted Village Schools. “Everyone’s waiting to see what happens.”

He said the budget process complicates schools’ planning for next year because the spending plan also must go through the state legislature.

In Maumee, where the cash-strapped school district already has a 5.9-mill operating levy request on the May ballot, officials are trying to remain optimistic while considering worst-case scenarios, Superintendent Gregory Smith told The Blade.

“It is very difficult when you don’t have accurate information, and then when what you think is accurate changes,” Smith said. “That can be very frustrating.”