Politics & Government
State Budget to Cut Westlake Schools' Funding by $4.1 Million
Cost-saving measures made by administrators and the school board this spring will work to close the budget gap, but personnel wage freezes and a prospective levy are still on the table.
Now that Gov. John Kasich’s two-year, $112 billion operating budget is in effect, the system will see $4.1 million in state funding losses over the next biennium.
To absorb the losses before the start of the 2011-12 school year, the administration and school board proactively , which included the elimination of high school busing, the elimination or reduction of 40 positions and plans to introduce a tuition-based, all-day kindergarten program next year.
Scholastic programs were cut, but none were eliminated, Superintendent Dan Keenan said.
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The $4.1 million state cut is an improvement from the $6.7 million tabulation included in Kasich’s mid-March budget proposal. But Westlake schools officials hoped to see further relief as they incurred steep losses from the accelerated elimination of tangible personal property tax reimbursements (TPP), treasuer Mark Pepera said.
“We’re losing about $1 million each year over the biennium in TPP,” he said. “Notwithstanding that and seeing what was the end result, it was better than the original proposal so I’m thankful the process did work in our favor somewhat in the end.”
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As the district bounces back from this state funding hit, Keenan said he may want to restore some special education aid positions, put some money back into programs that had their funding reduced and restore all-day kindergarten to a non-tuition-based core program during the 2012-13 school year.
No layoffs or other major cuts or line item eliminations are expected over the next two years, but Keenan is still interested in continuing the conversation with Ohio Association of Public School Employees and the Westlake Teachers Association to discuss the possibility of averting low seven-figure expenditures by freezing step increases to employees’ wages.
“Things like adjustments in concessions in contracts, will that make (stabilizing the budget) easier? Yes. Are they an absolute necessity? I don’t know that right now,” Keenan said.
The school board may also consider putting a to help boost revenue through 2015, but determining the millage will take months as administrators and school officials will need to analyze the available budget data.