Akron Public Schools officials are mulling more than $11 million in cuts, including potential layoffs, as the board's president argues the state is not adequately funding public schools.
Superintendent Mary Outley said the budget reduction plan she proposed Monday night is just the start. About $58 million in total cuts will be needed over the next three years to keep the district afloat financially, and to avoid state oversight, Outley said.
"We have to make some tough decisions while keeping the integrity of the classroom," she said.
The cuts span multiple departments at the district, which she outlined in a presentation to the Akron Board of Education Monday, including:
- About $6.4 million in staffing reductions spanning about three-dozen positions, including 16 administrators, 13 teachers who work in the school district's College and Career Academies and two special education coordinators
- Cutting back on operational costs by $4.2 million, the lion's share of which will come from cutting most departmental budgets by 6.5%
- Reducing some programming by $1.85 million, including summer learning and removing some seats for a special education program
The budget reduction plan will still need to be voted on by the board, likely sometime in March, according to Outley. She said the district is predicting its enrollment will continue to shrink, which reduces the state funding available to it.
Board President Barbara Sykes said the Ohio Legislature is also forcing districts to cut back by not adequately funding them. She referenced the state's fair school funding plan, which is currently providing funding to districts based on 2022 levels of staffing and expenses.
"When you see our superintendents sit here and struggle with this (budget reductions), it is because it is unconstitutional, that we are not receiving the money that we're supposed to," Sykes said. "And we need to fight for our children."
Sykes also took legislators to task for from districts like Akron that have joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of private school vouchers. The state allocated $2.44 billion in the last biennial budget for private school vouchers.
Board Member Greg Harrison said he only expected further challenges for public education in Ohio based on an "advocacy day" visit to the statehouse he and several board members took recently. He said they heard directly from legislators.
"The prevailing thought is that we have too many school districts, we have too many school administrators and we have too many school buildings," Harrison said. "And one of the thought processes was that some of the stronger school districts needed to absorb some of the not-so financially strong school districts. And so there had to be a way of consolidating school districts."
Cleveland Metropolitan School District is currently in the middle of a major building consolidation effort.
