Ohio School Districts Plan for Fiscal Uncertainty (OH)

August 23, 2010

Only one school district in Marion County has successfully sought new operating money since the mid-1990s.

Two school districts, the highest achieving ones in the county, have failed in their last two attempts and are going for their third try Nov. 2.

Discussions of school funding, whether focused on state or federal coffers, usually starts with "we don’t know." Rumors circulate that school funding in the next state biennium will be cut by up to 20 percent.

At the same time, enrollment has continued dropping in all area districts but River Valley Local Schools.

"It’s really a most difficult time for school districts," said Tri-Rivers Career Center Treasurer Stephen Earnest. "It’s like throwing darts blindly."

If anything, with three school districts and the career center on the Nov. 2 ballot, the 2010-11 school year is a guessing game.

Such times have treasurers like Earnest staying on the conservative side, and school board members seeking strategies to persuade voters to give the magic yes vote.
FORECASTS

According to five-year forecasts filed in May, Marion City and Ridgedale Local school districts project dipping into their carryover funds in 2010. River Valley and Pleasant local school districts reached that point in 2009.

Elgin Local Schools, which passed a 1 percent income tax in 2009, will start receiving the tax revenue this year. It is still projected to spend over its revenues this year, cutting into its carryover. The district may stay within its revenues in 2011, but the forecast calls for a return to deficit spending in 2012.

CUTBACKS POSSIBLE

The levy wasn’t passed early enough to stop two rounds of employee cuts that included teachers. Such cuts often spare subjects such as English and science, required by the state, but hit electives such as family living classes and the arts. Elgin, Pleasant and River Valley all have gone through cuts within the last five years that have affected their art programs.

Talk at school board meetings isn’t as much about what will be offered, but what may not. River Valley Superintendent Tom Shade said school officials look at what’s not mandated as they choose what to cut.

While saving dollars, he said, the cuts lead to fewer electives and more boredom, as well as larger class sizes and crowded lunch periods. Study halls grow to about 100 students instead of 50.

Shade, the superintendent of a district ranked excellent by the state the past two years, is waiting to see how the Ohio Department of Education school report cards rank the district Friday. Indi cators released so far seem to show the district slipping, but Shade held off discussing what he expects to happen.

He thinks the district is beginning to feel the impact of cuts amounting to about $800,000 during the past few years. He expects those cuts will be felt more this year.

There is talk about possible increases, Earnest said, referring to talk of an increase in funding to career centers. There also is talk of cuts, of up to 20 percent.

"We decided we would take the middle of the road," he said. "We forecast a 10-percent cut. Twenty percent seems like such an extreme cut."

When asked about how they make such decisions, he said officials rely on their guts.

School officials believe they are safe in making some assumptions. They don’t expect any more stimulus money, leaving them wondering what to do when they stop receiving federal stimulus funds after 2011. They also don’t expect to receive much more in state funding.

Shade said he sees the day when the state and federal governments give only enough to cover the core subjects, leaving it completely up to local taxpayers – and local dollars – to determine what else is offered.

Pleasant Local Schools, which will seek a 1 percent income tax levy in November, already warns it may be headed in that direction if the levy fails. Extracurricular activities – including the high school musical and fall play, the Destination Imagination program and sports – are slated to be eliminated during the 2011-12 school year if the levy doesn’t pass.

Pleasant Superintendent Stephen Larcomb said school officials believe the arts, music and other extracurric ular activities are vital.

"However, our backs are against the wall," he said.

Pleasant will be joined on the ballot by River Valley, Ridgedale and Tri-Rivers. River Valley is seeking a new operating levy, while Ridgedale and Tri-Rivers are seeking permanent improvement levies that can go only to items with a lifespan of five or more years. The money can not go toward operating expenses such as teacher and administrator salaries, which often come under attack during levy campaigns.

TOUGH TIMES

Tough economic times are leading people to doubt their state and federal leaders and wonder whether or not taxes will go up in coming years, depending on who’s elected. Those concerns could spill down into local issues such as the school levies and other local levies in which taxpayers have a direct say.

"The federal government doesn’t have to ask permission when they raise taxes," Larcomb said. The same is true for the state, but when it comes to local school districts, "we have to come hat in hand."