Several Central Ohio School Superintendents Applaud Senate Budget

There's good news for some school districts in the state Senate's version of the proposed budget. The Senate's spending plan would use about $100 million to soften cuts approved in the House version. The superintendent of the Dublin School District is happy with the Senate's action. David Axner, describes it this way: "This is good news and I really compliment the Senate on listening because many of the suburbs have, you know, worked hard to talk to their legislators and we just appreciate that some of these amendments are being introduced," Axner said. The $100 million is a portion of a much larger amount that the GOP led House had taken away. The Dublin School District would have been cut $14 million under the House plan. It stands to regain about $3 million under the Senate version. Again David Axner: "It looks like from the changes that the Senate has made is that they have restored some of the foundation money so for Dublin that would be approximately $3 million over two years which obviously means a good number of teachers and helps us in regards to getting through this biennium," Axner said. Grandview Heights is a smaller district with a smaller budget but Superintendent Ed O'Reilly says he's also happy with the Senate's changes. "Every portion that we receive back from the state is going to lessen the negative impact that it's going to have for the district," O'Reilly said. But O'Reilly says legislators need to do more to help school districts that are struggling with budget cuts. "It is a large budget deficit and everybody's going to take a hit," O'Reilly said. "It's just finding that right balance between all the different programs, the state funds, and I think there are still some places that the Senate could possibly still look to, to help out the school districts." The Senate could vote on the budget as early as next week.