Lorain County schools caught off guard with funding announcement

Some of Lorain County's superintendents were caught off guard by Gov. Mike DeWine's announcement Tuesday that $300 million would be pulled from kindergarten through 12th grade schools in the state. The cuts are part of several budget changes to be implemented over the next two months by the state that totals $775 million. Elyria Superintendent Ann Schloss still was processing the news later Tuesday, uncertain about what it would mean for Elyria Schools. "I have to wait and see what he means by basically taking money away from us," Schloss said. "... Obviously, there's guidance on all of this and we'll have to wait to see what comes out of the guidance and how much each of us are losing and how we make ends meet." Oberlin Schools Superintendent David Hall was stunned by the news. "After COVID-19, we're also going to lose income tax, too," he said. "And now this." Treasurer Robert Rinehart said last week that the district's five-year forecast was on track, but he worried about the trailing effects of the pandemic. He already was warning income tax collections probably will drop by $1 million next year for the Oberlin Schools, with $90,000 in losses expected from the Ohio Lottery's contributions. It's extremely late in the school year to have money pulled out of education, Firelands Superintendent Mike Von Gunten said. He was waiting Tuesday to see a district-by-district breakdown of the cuts, and he worried that reacting too soon could cause damage. With the state's response to the public health crisis changing each day, he said the $300 million in K-12 funding could also go up or down at any time. "Certainly we have reserves and we at this point don't anticipate having to make any cuts for the remainder of this year. Going into next year, we were taking a conservative approach," he said. Districts are getting stimulus money from the CARES Act, but Schloss said with the reduction from the state, it could almost completely offset for some districts. School districts also are pulling together five-year forecasts right now, which are required by the state every May and November. In November's forecast, Elyria started projected deficit spending that increased over the next five years. Schloss said the district has worked on ways to decrease deficit spending, but it will be hard to predict the next couple years as more funding cuts will come for next year. Midview Superintendent Bruce Willingham said next year could be challenging. "I think for the end of this year, we're not going to take a severe hit because of the CARES Act, so I think the CARES Act will help us a little bit to offset that," Willingham said. "I'm more worried for the next couple weeks just to see what kind of decrease they're looking at for fiscal year 2021. That's the one that's really, potentially, going impact staffing and things like that." Amherst Schools Superintendent Steve Sayers also said they'll be OK for the end of the year, and that the district has a healthy cash reserve. "Unfortunately, we knew a reduction was probably going to happen. It was just a matter of when and how much," Sayers said. While the state cuts are significant, he's also more worried about the long-term toll the pandemic will take on the district's budget. Like Sayers, Avon Lake Schools Superintendent Bob Scott also saw the cut coming and was just waiting to see the amount. Even after seeing that it would be a $300 million reduction, he is reserving judgement until more specifics are revealed. "There are still a lot of details that we don't know yet, and we are going to have to wait and see," Scott said. Avon Lake Schools, considered a "high-wealth district," already receives less funding from the state than other schools in the area, leaving Scott wondering how the cut will be distributed. "You don't know how it is going to be taken care of in the foundation, but we get less anyways so we will just get less of less," Scott said. The districts Scott is most concerned about, he said, are ones needing to put new money levies on the ballot in November just to continue their current level of operations. Willingham said he's spoken with the district's unions, but he won't make any premature decisions. Midview just finished negotiations with teachers and is holding off on upcoming negotiations with classified staff. Oberlin administrators are negotiating memorandums of understanding with unions in case layoffs are needed. Rinehart said a lot of support workers could be affected if school buildings don't reopen in the fall. Hall said he is worried that many parents will keep their kids home in the fall due to fears of a resurgence in coronavirus cases. That could force hard decisions for staffing levels. Schloss said preparing for the possibility of not being open in the fall, and changing what learning may look like, costs money and time, too. DeWine implied the funding cuts will take into account the districts in high-poverty areas, which could save some districts in the county like Elyria and Lorain. "We'll keep our fingers crossed that this isn't as heavy a blow as I'm looking at it," Schloss said. "... It's a puzzle and we'll have to put all the pieces together and see where we land."