After closely analyzing the District’s finances, the citizen-led Lay Finance Committee reported at the December 16 Board of Education meeting that the District faces a clear need for increased operating support by the end of 2015 in order to avoid cuts to educational programming.
Chief Financial Officer Scott Gainer read the entire Lay Finance Committee report to the Board.
“We’ve carefully reviewed the financial projections for the CH-UH School District,” stated Jane Geneva, Chair of the Lay Finance Committee. “We believe that an operating levy of 6.1 mills is needed to sufficiently cover the costs to operate the District. This increased support would have to be approved by voters in 2015 in order to avoid harmful budget cuts and a double digit levy request in 2016.”
The Board of Education members received the Committee’s report and discussed their findings but took no action yet. The only currently scheduled election in 2015 is the November general election. However, recognizing the public statements from the City of Cleveland Heights about potentially placing a municipal issue on that ballot, the Board indicated that all options would be assessed, including a special election in May.
Recognizing current economic conditions and the need to keep the costs as low as possible for residents, the Board directed the Superintendent to come back with reductions to get the millage amount under 6 mills. The needed operating support is completely separate from the funding residents approved for facilities improvements, none of which can be used to pay for operations.
“This school district has made consistent academic improvements in recent years, and we must protect and build on those achievements,” said Ron Register, CH-UH Board President. “The Board and Administration have placed great importance on reducing costs in all areas. District staff has taken the lead by consistently making cuts in all departments without compromising classroom instruction. But we are at the point now where any more significant cuts to personnel and services, like those that would be necessary without a levy, would hurt education. We cannot let that happen.”
Superintendent Talisa L. Dixon and Chief Financial Officer Scott Gainer stated that they will review the budget and come back to the Board in late January with a list of reductions that will bring the millage down. “We are going to go through the budget line-by-line. We will find a way to do this so that it has the least amount of impact on educational programming,” stated Dixon.
Like every school district in Ohio, the CH-UH School District is unfortunately forced to periodically ask residents for increased operating support to pay for educational necessities such as teachers and educational programming. While the District is always finding ways to economize, cut costs, and accomplish their mission with less, the funding they receive from residents is prohibited by state law from rising with inflation and the usual increases in costs that we all face. Many school districts are forced to ask for an operating levy every three years, but the CH-UH School District has stretched finances and made careful cuts to make the last operating levy last for four years – a year longer than anticipated.