Even after cutting millions of dollars from their budgets in recent years, and levies passed in 2024, both Cleveland and Akron public schools are projecting they will need to make further cuts in the coming years to avoid running out of cash.
Schools across the state are reviewing their budgets for the future this month, preparing to submit them to the state.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District forecast, discussed at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, shows the district has cut $5 million in the current fiscal year and plans to cut $35 million each year over the next three years to keep it in the black. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Stockdale said the district's cuts will come from its Building Brighter Futures consolidation plan, which will close almost a third of the district's schools.
The district has not yet approved any layoffs related to the plan. Officials have said the district is waiting for families to complete school enrollment this month, to determine the staffing size for the next school year. However, 24 principals at closing schools have already been told they will be "displaced."
Meanwhile, Akron Public Schools' board approved a financial forecast Monday that shows the district narrowly keeping its budget in the black over the next three fiscal year. But it will require about $11 million in cuts over that time, Treasurer Wayne Bowers told the Akron Beacon Journal.
"The current path we're on, we'll be facing some serious financial difficulty in the next few years. At the beginning of 2029 we'll drop below our board cash policy requirement of about 60 days, but the sooner we make some decisions on this the better and it will positively influence this path and we'll be on the right track," he said during Monday's board meeting.
Bowers and other officials have not yet shared what could be cut. Even with the cuts being planned, Akron and Cleveland are still projecting to be millions of dollars in the red by the end of the 2029 year.
Cleveland's board of ed voted to cut extra days that some schools received last year which would save about $9.3 million, while Akron Public Schools cut 285 jobs in 2024.
CMSD CFO Kevin Stockdale said Cleveland schools are still being underfunded by the state despite Ohio's Fair School Funding Formula. He said legislators are still using estimates of costs of school operations from 2021, underfunding the district by more than $100 million per year, according to one estimate. The state has also cut other funds for urban districts and for districts that serve large numbers of students from low-income families.
At the same time, the state in an audit last year found that CMSD has too many administrators compared to peer institutions. It suggested the district should cut 77 positions to put itself more in line with other large urban schools, saving about $12 million per year.
School boards in Elyria, Canton and Columbus have also approved budget cuts in recent months to stave off deficits.
