"Devastating," Elyria Schools approves $9 million in budget reduction plan, cuts dozens of teachers (VIDEOS)

ELYRIA — The Elyria Board of Education voted Wednesday to implement a reduction plan that will cut $9 million in spending over the next four months. The cuts are the deepest the district has faced since the 2008 financial crisis, as Elyria Schools will lay off 71 certified personnel, nearly 14 percent of the category that contains all the district's teachers. Administrative staffing will be reduced by 17 percent. District officials said the cuts would hurt students, but were necessary to keep the district financially afloat after two failed operating levies in 2025 and amid losses in state, local and federal funding. "This is devastating for all of us," Superintendent Ann Schloss told The Chronicle-Telegram. "We have tried to keep these cuts as far away from the students as possible… but it is devastating for the whole Pioneer family. It is so upsetting to see people lose their jobs, and to see students lose people that they trust every day. We never put anyone in a position that we don't think is valued and necessary. Every position that is getting cut is valued and necessary in our eyes." After the emergency funding levies failed in 2025, district officials said that Elyria would have to cut about $9 million in funding to remain fiscally solvent. Treasurer Colleen Aholt said Wednesday that without the planned cuts, the district's deficit would balloon and its cash balance would run almost completely dry by 2028, a situation that could potentially see the district placed under state supervision. The board voted 3-1 to pass it. Board member Mike Gebhardt was not present at the meeting, and member Brent Parker was the sole vote against the plan. Parker said that he voted against the plan because he felt that the proportion of teachers cut at each school was unfair when compared to the reduction of just two school building-level administrators. "I am only seeing two building administrators being reduced throughout the district," Parker said. "I love our admin, I think our administrators do a great job. But, we are asking classified staff to do more with less, and I only think it is fair to ask the administration and everyone else to do the same." Schloss said that work on implementing the plan would begin immediately, and all staff cuts would be completed by spring break. In all, the district reduction plan will cut $9,025,074. More than half of that number will come from cuts to the district's certified staff, which includes all teachers as well as nurses, counselors and other groups. Elyria will lay off 13 elementary teachers, 14 middle school teachers, 18 high school teachers, 12 building substitutes, nine tutors and five student support services employees. These cuts amount to 13.7 percent of all certified employees and will account for more than $5.5 million of the total reduction. Before the presentation, Elyria Education Association President Linda Aguinaga agreed that the district's financial situation was not sustainable, but urged the district not to cut any personnel because of the impact their loss would have on students. "I am looking forward to actually working with the superintendent," Aguinaga said after the cuts were approved. "Sitting down in a room and actually working together, as we have done in the past. We did it when we had to consolidate the buildings, and we were very lucky at that time that we saved, I believe, every position we had with natural attrition (retirements and departures). This time around, we don't know yet." The second highest proportion of cuts will be made to classified staff, which include maintenance workers, custodians, IT, paraprofessional, school safety personnel and receptionists. Since most such employees are paid hourly, unlike certified employees, their cuts come in the form of reduced hours. These cuts will amount to $1.18 million. For the district administration, Elyria will cut 12 administrative personnel at a total cost savings of $666,395. Though only 12 employees will be laid off, this number is equivalent to over 17 percent of the district's administrative staff. Other cuts include reductions in numbers of field trips, professional development for teachers and a reduction in crossing guard contracts. The district also plans to expand its busing radius for kindergarten through eighth grade students from a 1.25 mile radius to the state-mandated 2 mile radius. Aholt, Schloss, Aguinaga and others who spoke at the meeting were insistent that the massive cuts were necessitated not by misspending or poor planning on the part of the district, but by a fundamental failure of Ohio to fairly fund schools. "The way the state is approaching tax reform does not help public education," Schloss said during the presentation. "We all saw that our local (property) valuations went up last year. … Many think that additional money comes to the schools. The reality is, the more local taxes that we get, the less the state gives us." Schloss also said that Ohio's current public education funding system, the Fair School Funding Act, is drastically underfunding public schools because it is using an outdated calculus. While the state calculates the local taxes that a district receives based on their most recent property tax evaluations, it calculates district's expenses based on outdated 2022 estimates, meaning Columbus assumes schools to need significantly lower funding levels than they actually do. To see the full meeting and presentation, visit youtube.com/user/chroniclet. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.