The financial forecast for the next five years was approved and the busing of private school children was declared impractical at the meeting of the Trimble Local School Board of Education last night.
Treasurer Cindy Rhonemus introduced the forecast for the district, which is requesting exit from fiscal emergency from the state, meaning they would no longer be classified as being in a state of emergency. The forecast must be balanced before the district may move above the current emergency status.
Superintendent Jack Loudin said he hopes to hear good news in that arena.
Rhonemus partially credited the Baldrige system for the debt recovery. The Baldrige system is a business management philosophy that the school has been using for two years.
More than a million dollars have been cut out of the budget using the most creative accounting of her career, Rhonemus said.
It has been a struggle
she said.
Although Trimble is making progress, Rhonemus explained that the district is nowhere near secure.
This is the worst time for education in 20 years she said, as the state of Ohio is currently operating with a $3 billion deficit.
The district is not going to be able to continue cutting expenditures, Loudin said. We are no longer cutting into muscle we are cutting into bone.
Trimble is not one of the 278 districts in Ohio with a bond issue or levy on the November ballot.
In other business, board members declared the busing of private students to Nelsonville Christian Academy financially impractical, though several parents of private students protested the decision. Several parents spoke at the meeting and said the district has a legal obligation to bus their students because they are tax-paying citizens.
The board also discussed problems with the implementation of a new food service policy. Parents are complaining to the administration because the schools are not giving adequate notice before lunch accounts run out of money.
Children who do not have money on their account are entitled to a lunch free of charge, which consists of a significantly smaller amount of food than the normal hot lunch option, usually a sandwich and milk.
The district has hired a food service expert to analyze the program and suggest improvement strategies, Loudin said.
The program has several rough spots that need to be smoothed out, he said.
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Emily Petro
