Athens area schools and a local agency will take hits in state funding if Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget for Ohio is passed by the Ohio House and Senate.
One way Kasich will try to fix the projected $8 billion shortfall in Ohio’s budget for fiscal year 2012-13 is to cut funding for public schools grades K-12, which he proposed in his budget, released March 15.
Kasich proposed cutting $3.1 billion from public school funding during the next two years, which would decrease the amount of funds public schools received by 11.5 percent from 2010.
“We do not believe the people of Ohio elected leaders with a mandate to cut school funding and short-change learning opportunities for their children,” said Patricia Frost-Brooks, president of the Ohio Education Association, in a news release.
Local school officials could not be reached for comment.
If the budget passes, Athens County Job and Family Services would suffer a loss of more than $2 million, or 17.5 percent of its budget, said Nick Claussen, spokesman for the agency.
Agency officials have not received all the details of Kasich’s budget yet and have not created a plan in response to the cuts, Claussen said.
During the past three years, the agency lost $3 million in funding, which has forced it to reduce public programs and lay off employees, according to an agency news release.
“We are hoping that the budget proposal will be changed during the budget deliberations and that the funding for our programs and services won’t be cut so drastically,” Claussen said.
Both the Ohio House and Senate must pass Kasich’s budget proposal by June 1 for it to go into effect.
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