Monday, February 4, 2013
Check out this video from the governor’s office to learn more about the proposal.
Gov. John Kasich wants to cut income taxes for small businesses and individuals and lower the sales tax in Ohio’s 2014-2015 budget. “Ohio’s taxes are too high,” Kasich said in a video posted to his website. “They hold back job creators and hold back our economy. We need to fix that.” The Columbus Dispatch reports that while the sales tax would decrease from 5.5 percent to 5 percent under the plan, more services would be subject to the tax. Increasing what can be taxed would allow the government to actually bring in more money over time. The Plain Dealer reports that this proposal includes the first tax rewrite since 2005. Kasich’s education funding reform plan, which he introduced last week, plays a big part in his budget proposal. …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The governor’s plan also includes funds for a special grant, designed to encourage schools to try new approaches to increasing achievement and decreasing cost.
Gov. John Kasich today unveiled his school funding reform plan, “Achievement Everywhere,” which aims to distribute funds fairly to districts and give principals more autonomy. The plan will be part of the governor’s overall 2014-2015 budget proposal, which is expected to be released next week. Thursday’s proposal includes $1.2 billion in new money for schools during the next two years. Kasich told reporters on a conference call Thursday afternoon that the additional money is possible because the state has cut costs in other areas and brought in new jobs, which increases the state’s overall revenue. He said his plan would be fully funded from the start, rather than phased in over time. Ohio’s school funding formula, which is based on …
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Westlake Board of Education will convene at Westlake High School at 5:30 tonight in the cafeteria, and may approve a resolution that would make millions in cuts to offset projected state funding losses.
The Westlake Board of Education will meet tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Westlake High School cafeteria to discuss the option of reducing personnel and operating expenditures. If the resolution under consideration passes, it would reduce positions, suspend contracts and make cuts to the district’s transportation services. The board met last Wednesday behind closed doors at the Westlake City Schools administrative building to discuss these reduction measures and to prepare for bargaining sessions with Ohio Association of Public School Employees and the Westlake Teachers Association. During the board’s May 9 work session at Hilliard Elementary, Superintendent Dr. Dan Keenan and treasurer Mark Pepera proposed to cut operating expenses by $950,…
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Debate over where to cut school budget causes bitterness, disagreement among members but teacher contract negotiations will move forward.
School board members Nate Cross and Tim Sullivan openly aired their frustrations to the public over what they believe is a complete mishandling by school administrators to bridge budget gaps that will be created by impending state funding losses at Monday night’s Board of Education work session. As it stands, Westlake City Schools are expected to lose $4.9 million in state funding over the next two years, which means cuts to personnel and operating expenditures would be necessary to help balance the district’s $42-million annual budget. Superintendent Dan Keenan and treasurer Mark Pepera proposed to reduce operating expenditures for next school year by $950,000. To achieve these cuts, field trips, high school and staff transportation, and…
41.462444
-81.888599
Hilliard Elementary School
24365 Hilliard Blvd, Westlake, OH
/articles/tension-among-school-board-members-grows-as-budget-woes-loom
1075074
/locations/4290569
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
An amendment to cap district funding cuts at 20 percent could save city schools over $1 million, superintendent says.
Feeling the pressure from concerned parents, teachers and constituents, Ohio House Republicans offered up some changes last week to Gov. John Kasich’s proposed state budget in order to lighten the deep cuts that are planned to hit many of Ohio’s school districts in July. The amendments proposed by house legislators would include limiting cuts to any district’s basic state aid losses to 20 percent, pouring up to $60 million into per-pupil basic state aid and cutting a plan to allow school officials and personnel to contribute 12 percent apiece into school pension funds. Kasich’s pension plan would offset district expenses as school personnel would contribute more (from 10 percent to 12 percent) and districts would contribute less (from 14 …
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Administrators discuss tuition for all-day kindergarten and concessions from teachers' unions and a possible levy.
After seven hours of deliberation, discussion and argument, Monday’s Board of Education meeting was, at best, a non-starter as school officials couldn’t agree on much of anything. In front of a capacity crowd of more than 300 parents, teachers and residents in Westlake High School’s cafeteria, board members splintered on two of Superintendent Dan Keenan’s proposals to help absorb $3.6 million in proposed state cuts for the upcoming school year. The first proposal dealt with entering into negotiations with Westlake’s two teacher unions—OAPSE and the WTA— to either lay off or reduce pay for 68 Westlake City Schools employees. The move is projected to save about $2.7 million. “The unions came to me and said ‘How can we help?’ which isn’t …
41.459692
-81.9218
Westlake City Schools Central Office
27200 Hilliard Blvd, Westlake, OH
/articles/westlake-board-of-education-splinters-amid-tough-budget-decisions
1075569
/locations/4094205
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Union reps to school officials: 'We're coming to you, asking how we can help.'
In an effort to help absorb over $6.3 million in proposed state funding losses over the next two school years, Westlake’s teacher unions said they're willing to make concessions on reducing compensation and eliminating personnel within the district. This news comes just days after the release of Superintendent Dan Keenan’s proposal to collectively reduce or eliminate anywhere from 44 to 73 administrative, teaching, classified and exempt positions from Westlake City Schools. More details will surface at Monday’s regular Board of Education meeting as Keenan and the board will start the process of calculating how much needs to be cut from personnel expenditures, which accounts for about 85 percent of the district’s $50 million annual budget…
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Between 44 and 73 jobs may be eliminated in an effort to close the budget gap.
Westlake school officials are maneuvering on district, local and state levels to find a way to absorb $6.3 million in proposed state funding cuts over the next two school years. Superintendent Dan Keenan announced at Monday’s special budget meeting that he may need to collectively reduce or eliminate anywhere from 44 to 73 administrative, teaching, classified and exempt positions. On the operational side, he has proposed offering all-day kindergarten on a tuition basis, eliminating free field trips and cutting back on transportation expenses to bring it to about a 60/40 split in cuts to personnel and operations, respectively. “I may have to cut $3 million out of my budget for next year and beyond and I can’t sustain no new curriculum …
41.459692
-81.9218
Westlake City Schools Central Office
27200 Hilliard Blvd, Westlake, OH
/articles/proposed-state-cuts-would-deliver-devastating-blow-to-westlake-city-schools
1075569
/locations/4021656
Friday, March 4, 2011
District officials eye late spring for budget and design completion.
So far, so good. After four years of planning, budgeting and financing eight-figure sums, phase I of the Master Facilities Plan is on schedule and is set for construction this fall, Superintendent Dan Keenan said. During its regular meeting, the Board of Education reviewed the latest monthly budget update, in which treasurer Mark Pepera showed how the district’s money is going to fund the $84 million school reconstruction project. Westlake voters passed a 3.4-mill bond issue in May. Under phase I, Westlake City Schools will extensively renovate Westlake High School, transform Lee Burneson Middle School into an intermediate school for grades 5-6 and build a new middle school for grades 7-8. The buildings should be open by 2014, Pepera said…
41.459692
-81.9218
Westlake City Schools Central Office
27200 Hilliard Blvd, Westlake, OH
/articles/major-school-construction-moves-closer-to-breaking-ground
1075569
/locations/3584908
41.45552
-81.92202
Lee Burneson Middle School
2240 Dover Center Rd, Westlake, OH
/articles/major-school-construction-moves-closer-to-breaking-ground
1075153
/locations/3584909
41.459548
-81.927815
Westlake High School
27830 Hilliard Blvd, Westlake, OH
/articles/major-school-construction-moves-closer-to-breaking-ground
1075568
/locations/3584910
Duane Gibson
11:25 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
"no districts would lose money during the next two years under this proposal'? Seriously? What about the major cuts he made last year? Those have not been replaced and in essence amounts to additional cuts. He has not complied with the Ohio Supreme Court to fund public schools and continues to send taxpayer money to fund charter schools. This is the same clown who slashed city and school budgets … more ›