Columbus City Schools' officials presented financial data and plans to address dire financial woes forced by a $50 million budget deficit at the last in a series of three town hall workshops at Mifflin High School Wednesday evening.
Several speeches by CCS Superintendent Angela Chapman and other officials attempted to raise the morale of hundreds of families, staff and community members in the audience. District leaders also set out to explain how they plan to make cuts, while also advancing some of the district's priorities.
The district will begin deficit spending this fiscal year and will be out of money by 2029 if cuts aren't made. There are also more financial headwinds on the horizon as state lawmakers consider property tax reform.
Chapman told the crowd in Mifflin High School's auditorium the district has tough choices to make to get to a better future. She argued threats to public education and funding cuts are what caused the decisions to be considered.
"I'm giving you the reality. We've only begun to cut the budget. This is a starting point," Chapman said. "But it could get worse if the White House and Ohio Legislature continue to cut and defund public education."
But Chapman also laid out the benefits these cuts can have to the district.
"The plans we are talking about tonight will allow CCS to move forward and compete with our peer districts. I'm asking our community members to stand with us as we invest in bigger, better neighborhood schools at fewer sites," Chapman said.
Chapman said the cuts will lead to room in the budget for new buildings, sustainable enrollment across the district, more equity with programs at neighborhood schools, safe and clean modern buildings and more programming that will make students want to attend their neighborhood schools.
In the latest round of school closure recommendations, the district is considering closing Como, Fairwood and the buildings that house Duxberry Arts Impact Middle School and Columbus Gifted Academy.
Duxberry's programs would be moved into South Mifflin STEM Academy, while Columbus Gifted Academy would relocate to the Avondale Elementary School building.
The district is also considering cuts to high school and lottery school busing to save money. More discussions on potential staff cuts are set for mid-November.
Kelsie Barley, a secretary at Como Elementary, said staff there feel blindsided about the school potentially closing. She and others sported bright green baseball jerseys to show support for the school.
She argued Como, built in the mid-1950s, shouldn't have severe structural issues like older schools in the district. She said closing the school would leave a void in services in the North Linden area that shouldn't be furthered.
Barley said she understands why the district wants to close older buildings that have more issues than Como.
"A lot of these buildings, they are old and they have a lot issues that are continually taking a lot of funds to repair them and upkeep them," Barley said.
Jeff Reeves, a 1978 Linden-McKinley High School alumnus said he doesn't want staff cuts to happen, but is behind potential cuts to busing and buildings. He argued the state and district need to find better ways to handle its money. He said newer revenues generated from legalized gambling and recreational marijuana should be put towards schools.
"The children should be first, be our first priority. And that always last," Reeves said.
Reeves said for school closures, he would like to see a bigger focus on high schools than elementary schools.
"I don't understand how we're closing schools, merging schools. There's too many schools that are sitting there with half the population. And we could do major consolidation," Reeves said.
Chapman also tried to celebrate the district's successes as well. She applauded Mifflin High School's renovations. She also pointed to improvements in chronic absenteeism and good grades on the state's annual report card for dozens of the district's schools.
"I want to keep that momentum going. Our Columbus region is on the rise and growing, but CCS must innovate and prioritize to prepare students for the jobs and leadership opportunities of the future," Chapman said.
Chapman and her team did rule out a new school levy in the near future, saying the community isn't ready to support a ballot measure raising property taxes after passing one in 2023.
Six of the seven school board members were present Wednesday evening, including Board President Michael Cole, Ramona Reyes, Christina Vera, Tina Pierce, Brandon Simmons and Jennifer Adair.
Several of the board candidates seeking to replace Cole, Vera and Reyes were also present including Patrick Katzenmeyer, Janeece Keyes, Antoinette Miranda and Jermaine Kennedy.
Ohio State Rep. Dontavius Jarrells and Columbus City Council President Nick Bankston also spoke on the state and city government's role in supporting public schools. The two criticized the state and federal government for either cutting funding or not adequately funding districts like CCS around the state, forcing many of the potential cuts.
"This state house led by — and I don't want to get political, but I will — by Republicans, are not funding our schools," Bankston said. "Our schools are getting the same amount of funding they were getting back in 2018, and I don't know about you, but prices have looked different between now and then."
Chapman agreed, saying the state's public school funding plan is "totally out of touch with reality." She also criticized the state for forcing public schools to bus private and charter school students.
CCS officials encouraged residents to visit a Nov. 13 meeting at the district's downtown offices to learn more about how the district may make cuts to staff.
