Open-enrollment growth may send Austintown schools into red

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

The Austintown Local School District has maintained a balanced budget since the 2015 fiscal year, but a projected decline in enrollment and a stagnant tax base growth could cause the district to start deficit spending in the 2020 fiscal year and chew through a $9.3 million surplus, school officials say.

During a late October meeting, the school board accepted a new five-year forecast developed by Treasurer Ryan Ghizzoni, who joined the administration in July, which shows the district will enter 2022 in the red.

The district predicts about $46.1 million in revenue for fiscal year 2019, decreasing steadily to $40.4 million by fiscal year 2023, with expenditures increasing from $45.5 million in fiscal year 2019 to $52.6 million in 2023.

The forecast indicates more students are choosing to enroll outside the district. The district will spend more for those students by paying nondistrict personnel for services, from $1.9 million spent on 326 open-enrolled students in 2016 to a projected $3.1 million spent on 503 students in 2023.

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