School boards across Athens County are turning to laying off personnel and asking taxpayers for more money as districts struggle to make ends meets.
The most common reason districts are in financial trouble is a faulty five-year forecast, said Scott Ebright, deputy director of communications services for the Ohio School Board Association. A district is required to put out a five-year forecast showing expected expenditure and income. Many districts depend on funds from the state in their forecasts, but those depend on a state budget that is changing up until midnight on the last day of June, Ebright said.
Why are schools at fiscal fault? Because their source of revenue is not real accurate
he said.
There is no particular reason schools go into fiscal emergency, said Jen Detwiler, spokeswoman for the state auditor's office. The state auditor's office is in charge of schools put in fiscal emergency.
One could argue that every fiscal emergency is because of mismanagement on the part of the district Detwiler said. What I can tell you is that there is no single reason. Every school district experiences a different set of circumstances.
J.C. Benton, Ohio Department of Education spokesman, said while more schools may be in financial trouble, it is not fair to always assume it is the schools' fault.
I don't think it's an issue of mismanaging money he said. I think it's an issue of schools making difficult decisions.
Trimble Local School District Trimble Local School District is in fiscal emergency and has been since 2001.
They had an income tax in the 90s and that was the only time in recent history that the district has been financially healthy
district Superintendent Jack Loudin said.
The income tax ran out in 1998 and taxpayers decided not to renew it in 1999. Loudin said the district has also lost funding because of declining enrollment. This and the end of the income tax constitute an estimated $800,000 loss.
In the past year, the district has made more than $1 million in budget cuts, most of that in personnel, Board Member Cindy Irwin said. All of those layoffs were made through attrition or through union negotiations.
The district is still in trouble and at last week's board meeting the district agreed to lay off an elementary school teacher, two special education teachers and the drug-free schools coordinator.
The district also eliminated 37 supplemental positions, including most sports coaches, class advisors, the band director, student council advisors and the elementary music director.
The district is trying to get the Reading First Grant and the 21st Century Grant to fund reading and after-school programs. The grants would also provide additional jobs.
A new tax on the ballot similar to the one that helped fund the district throughout the 90s is also being considered, Loudin said.
Athens City School District Athens City School District is one of only two districts in the county not struggling to stay out of debt.
Well
fiscally we're OK
Superintendent Carl Martin said. Mainly because we were able to pass a local levy.
If the district had not passed that levy in November, it would have put us in a very distressed financial condition
Martin said.
Another thing that has helped the district is its declining reliance on state funding.
Athens City Schools at one time was 55 percent state funding -now it's less than 40 percent
Martin said Being less reliant on state funds means the district does not have to worry as much about cuts in funding from the state, one of the problems Ebright sited as a cause for the financial difficulties of most districts.
Nelsonville-York City Schools Nelsonville-York City School District is not so lucky.
At the March district school board meeting, parents and teachers complained about a list of 10 jobs -mostly aide, custodial and busing positions -that would be cut.
Several of the positions were established using grant money that ran out last year and should already have been cut, Board Member Tim Maiden said. Keeping these positions has put the district at a deficit for this year and cutting them would help balance the budget, he said.
At last week's school board meeting, the positions were officially eliminated, although Superintendant Ted Bayat said he hopes to be able to rehire some of those laid off if they get money from a 21st Century Grant or Ohio Reading First Grant.
Let's put it this way
we're spending more money than we have coming in
Bayat said. We need to stop the bleeding. We as a school system need to make a decision to become more fiscally responsible.
Federal Hocking Local School District Federal Hocking Local School District has cut one teaching position, six aides, two custodians and one bus driver, Superintendent Jim Patsey said. However, the district still has an $80,000 deficit, Board Member Margaret Cooper said.
This is considerably less than the $900,000 budget deficit the district had at the beginning of the year. Because the deficit of $80,000 is comparatively small, the district is neither in fiscal watch nor fiscal emergency.
Patsey said the district is not done cutting positions, though they did renew 29 staff contracts at Monday's board meeting. Because of falling enrollment, the district might have to cut four teachers, one bus driver and a cook for next year.
By the union contract
we are permitted to cut
