Lorain Schools' state-required plan cuts more than 160 jobs, reduces electives and support services

LORAIN — Lorain schools may eliminate more than 160 positions next year to balance its budget, including eliminating several school counselors, limiting electives and repurposing buildings to keep the district operating in the black. The state-required plan to slash more than $17 million from next year's budget will see the elimination of all-day preschool and Title I teachers, shifts in scheduling to increase class sizes and cutting dance classes at the elementary and middle schools and choir at the middle and high schools. Of the 167 proposed reductions in force, 106 are Lorain Education Association members, the union representing teachers, school counselors, social workers and speech language pathologists. The next largest cut, at 30 positions, is to Ohio Association of Public School Employees 120, which presents paraprofessionals and personal attendants. The total number of reductions could change due to retirements or resignations. The proposal maintains eight neighborhood elementary schools — sharing four assistant principals and four counselors between them — with plans to convert one building into a preschool hub and another converted into a school for students with high-need autism that the district currently transports out of the area for classes and supports. Most recently, the district discussed designating Washington Elementary School as the school for students with autism and moving all remaining half-day preschool classes to Garfield Elementary, but the specific sites are in flux. Staff and community members have decried plans to move elementary students from either building. Moving to half-day preschool at a centralized location would see the district eliminate a community support specialist, 13 teachers, 23 paraprofessionals and a building administrator. The proposal would also see Title I teachers, who currently provide students additional reading supports outside regular classroom work, repurposed to 18 regular classroom teachers through a pooled funding model, allowing the district to offset the costs for those teachers from the general fund with the federal grant. Other cost-saving measures include pay freezes for central office staff and a pause on capital projects like parking lot repairs and brickwork at the elementary buildings. Additionally, Lorain schools would bring all its transportation in-house, eliminating an expiring contract with Auxilio that provides transportation to charter and private schools in the district. The specialized autism school, while included in the plan as a repurposing of a building, could save the district money in the future. Though no savings were formally incorporated in the schools' financial forecast due to what state law requires, Lorain Schools estimates the district spends about $6.5 million each year on services for children with autism in placements outside the district, including locations in Mentor and Cleveland. Moving those children's care and education in-house would reduce transportation and outside-district tuition costs. A new Titan Virtual Academy, slated to be running next school year, could also provide savings or additional revenue for the district not included in the plan. 'No safety net' Lorain Schools Board of Education approved the plan Thursday evening, with President Courtney Nazario casting the sole dissenting vote. Nazario became politically involved in the district while it was under state control, and often fought against the pooling of federal Title funds or the elimination of positions. "It would be so hypocritical of me to have voted 'yes' for things I fought so hard against," she said after Thursday's session. Staff and community members also spoke out against the proposal throughout the evening. Clayton Larson, a special education teacher at Jacinto Elementary, questioned what the cuts to electives and school counselors may mean for students' social-emotional well-being. "These cuts concern me because we're taking that light away and making school harder," he said. "... We're robbing them of their support – we're making the day harder and then giving them no safety net to fall on. That is too much to ask of a child." Elizabeth Hany, a dance teacher, said on Thursday that she just learned her department was on the reduction list. The schools' kindergarten-through-12th-grade dance program is the first in the state, she said, and is "integral to equity in arts education," by allowing students space to express themselves, collaborate and solve problems. Hany took a chance in joining the district four years ago, she said, and recognized that Lorain Schools was doing something risky, but exciting, but starting its dance program. In the time she has been there, students have been invited to national dance festivals and been given access to an experience they may not have otherwise had, she said. "You took chances – real chances for your students," Hany said. "And now I'm seeing a plan that is just like every other plan. You're seeing it across the board at all other schools. I didn't come here for that. I came here because you challenged the norm." A parent, with two young children in tow, questioned what would happen to the supports her son has come to rely on at Helen Steiner Rice Elementary as a child with special needs. "I feel like what you're doing is unjust and it is a disservice for parents like me who are fully invested and involved in their child's education," she said. "I do understand you are crunching the numbers … I just would've liked to see another option. One that would guarantee that my son's education will not suffer, that he won't be labeled a difficult child because he will no longer have that person who will help regulate those emotions." Others called for funding the district with state lottery money or unclaimed funds, both of which would require approval by the Ohio Statehouse. Go to the polls 'with us in mind' The need to cut so much so quickly comes after the district received less state, federal and local funding heading into the current school year. It was too late to make any major cuts to the budget for the 2025-26 school year, prompting nearly double the cuts to the 2026-27 budget and beyond. In June, the district received $4.9 million less from the state than it anticipated. In August, it received $787,000 less in federal funds and in October the county's doubling of the homestead and owner-occupancy credits for property taxpayers cost the district another $1 million. The reduction plan approved Thursday will keep the district fiscally solvent through 2028, Treasurer Tia Kearney said Friday. According to Lorain Schools' updated financial forecast, also approved by the Board on Thursday, the district will continue to spend against its cash balance every year. Without factoring in the levy on the May ballot, Lorain Schools has enough cash on hand to remain in the black through 2028, but in fiscal year 2029 predicts a $5.9 million deficit. By 2030, that deficit could grow to $17 million. If the upcoming levy passes, the district would remain solvent through 2030, Kearney said. "In order to support public education and the kids that benefit from it, changes to school funding need to happen at the state and federal level," she said. During Thursday's meeting, Regan Onweller, a theater teacher at Lorain High School, said she understood how upset people were in the moment, but asked they remember who the budget cuts affect when going to the polls this spring to vote on the district's 11-mill property tax levy. The levy, if passed, would generate about $10.7 million annually and could allow the district to reinstate programs like all-day preschool. If the levy fails, another round of $4 million to $8 million in cuts would soon follow to offset the district's continual spending against its cash balance. "When you go into the polls and vote on this levy, please do it with us in mind," she said of the district's teachers and other staff. "It will not affect those at the higher level nearly as much as it will affect (teachers)." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.