Issue 5: Lorain Schools ask voters for operating levy to stave off further budget cuts

LORAIN — In the wake of more than $17 million in cuts made to the school district's budget for the upcoming school year, residents in Lorain Schools will see a property tax levy on the May ballot to stave off further reductions to operations. The 11-mill levy would raise about $10.6 million per year for the district, not enough to fully stop the upcoming reductions but enough to avoid further drastic cuts to keep the school's budget in the black. It would cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $385 per year over the next five years. When the school board voted to place the measure on the ballot, Superintendent Jeff Graham said the district needed closer to a 22-mill levy to fully offset income losses at the state, federal and local levels, but he felt that ask was unrealistic of district taxpayers. Late in the summer going into the 2025-26 school year, the district unexpectedly lost $4.9 million from the state, $787,000 from the federal government and $1 million at the local level due to the doubling of the homestead and owner-occupancy credits for property owners by county commissioners. Those cuts came after the district already eliminated $6.4 million in spending during fiscal years 2025 and 2026, Kearney said. "We cut into bone then," Graham said of the $6.4 million eliminated from its budget prior to the other funding losses. "To come up with this model, it's awful." The state, federal and local revenue reductions came too late for the district to make meaningful budget cuts for the current school year, nearly doubling the reductions to the 2026-27 school year's budget and beyond. In response, the Board of Education recently approved a plan to eliminate 167 positions throughout the district, cut dance at the elementary and middle schools and repurpose two elementary buildings to keep the district fiscally solvent through fiscal year 2028. Under the plan, Frank Jacinto Elementary will become a specialized school for students with autism, and Garfield Elementary will be the sole site for half-day preschool classes. Even with the reductions, the district will be spending against a cash balance, Treasurer Tia Kearney said. According to its most recent financial forecast, it will spend about $2.7 million against a cash balance next school year, nearly $5 million the following year, and $7.8 million the year after that. Without the levy, it will run out of cash in the 2027-28 school year. If the levy passes, it will remain solvent through fiscal year 2030, Kearney said. Lorain Schools rely heavily on state and federal revenue, receiving about 21 percent of its income from local levies, Kearney said. When cuts come at the state and federal level, it hurts Lorain Schools' bottom line more so than other districts that see more local tax revenue. If voters reject the property tax levy, more cuts will come to the district serving some 6,100 students. Those cuts, Graham said, would range from $4 million to $8 million. If it passes, the district plans to bring back some of its services and programs, including all-day preschool. The last time Lorain Schools passed a new operating levy was a 3-mill measure in 2012. Prior to that, its last successful levy was in the 1990s. Graham's oft-repeated line that the district "cannot cut its way out" came up again when talking to The Chronicle-Telegram about the levy's impact. He said there is a business side the district cannot ignore, but he added that public schools do not create any product other than educated students, and that those in Lorain Schools deserve better. "Our outcomes are a better livelihood for the children of Lorain," he said. "How do you do that with constantly cutting everything?" Contact Carissa Woytach at ctnews@chroniclet.com.