Firing more personnel, acquiring grants and remaining in a state of fiscal emergency were some of the options for keeping Trimble Local School District afloat proposed by district Superintendent Jack Loudin at last night's school board meeting.
The penny sales tax for the state will expire June 30, said Cindy Irwin, the district treasurer. The state itself has a $5 billion deficit. The economy in Ohio is one of the worst in the country, and the legislature is looking at business tax incentives to bring more industry to the state. The Blue Ribbon Commission on school funding has to pass an amendment to the state's constitution to enable them to put their new funding plan into practice for the state's schools. This leaves the district with a large funding gap for the future.
We're looking at getting state funds we had counted on cut
she said.
To make matters worse, she said, the district lost 19 students this year. Each of those students would have brought with them an estimated $5,000 dollars in revenue from the state.
With the closing of McBee's and the recent flood damage in the area, Irwin said she expects enrollment to continue to fall in the future.
The district has already cut over $1 million from their budget in the course of the past year, most of which came from personnel cuts. All personnel cuts made up to this point have been made with cooperation from the staff.
Linda Craddock, the president of the district's teachers' union, said during the meeting that no matter who the board was thinking of firing, it was not fair of them to let rumors fly about the job status of five special education teachers.
When all five names are special education teachers we are really concerned and it comes at a bad time because testing is in one month
Craddock said.
The rumors started, Craddock said, when two special education teachers were approached and told they may have to find new positions in another school district for next year.
One special education teacher at Trimble, Linda Davis, told the board she was not sure where in the special education personnel they were going to find space to cut.
It's not just two individuals. And I don't want anyone to lose their job
David said. But
I used to teach two classrooms; I now have four.
Larry and Libby Sission are parents of a special education student in the district. They said they attended the board meeting because of the rumors.
It's a big deal for us. Larry said. Our son is in that program
and it's been good for him.
The board is also looking at cutting back personnel in the district office and the transportation department, Loudin said
It's a damned if you do
damned if you don't scenario
said Sherry Downs, president of the board. The bottom line is our students. They're our first concern
and I don't think we're going to lose sight of that.
Before the state announced its budget, which cuts funds the district needed, the district was about to be out of a state of fiscal emergency. The district had to declare a fiscal emergency last year because of the deficit in their budget. If it passes a review by the state this year, it could lose its emergency status. However, one option for the district would be to simply stay in a state of fiscal emergency, which would allow them to borrow money from the state, Loudin said. But being in a state of fiscal emergency could also mean the state might look to consolidate Trimble with other school districts.
This is really disheartening
Loudin said. The important thing
