Columbus City Schools' board of education voted unanimously to cut nearly 300 positions as the final component of a bid to reduce next school year's budget by $50 million.
"When you're cutting 50 million, you are gonna have to cut people. There's just no way around it when...81% of your budget is personnel," Board President Antoinette Miranda said after the meeting.
The board got rid of a total of 299 positions, most of which were open. The district said attrition, retirements and what it calls "other building staff changes" means less people were impacted.
Vacant positions that were eliminated include HR assistants, custodians, bus mechanics, teachers, school counselors, and specialists, among others.
"These are employees and colleagues that have served our districts, served our students and our families."- Columbus City Schools Superintendent Angela Chapman
The people
But 112 people lost their jobs Tuesday night, including 104 building substitutes. Those are full-time employees assigned to one of the district's school buildings.
More than a dozen building substitutes stood before the board holding signs at the meeting. Some signs read, "there is no substitute for a building substitute."
Kim Maupin, the senior faculty representative for the building substitutes and a retired Columbus City Schools teacher, asked the board to consider bringing back the building substitute program in full if the state gives the district more money in the future.
After the vote, the building substitutes all rose at once and left the room.
Maupin said the outcome was expected but still "devastating news." She said the decision will affect students as well as those who lost their jobs.
"When a teacher is absent and the students walk in that day and there's no sub, those children get split up into other classrooms, where they just go sit for the day. Quality instruction comes to a halt, you know," Maupin said. "We had qualified, experienced, trained subs who were delivering quality instruction lessons when the teachers were gone."
She said the district saved about two dozen substitutes, but that won't be enough.
"What do you do with 25 subs with 113 buildings?" Maupin asked.
The board also eliminated seven attendance program specialists and a human resources data analytics specialist.
District Superintendent Angela Chapman said that the reductions weren't based on performance.
"We were intentional about making sure that the cuts that we made were furthest away from the classroom so that we can continue to support teaching and learning," Chapman said.
She added that the positions still matter.
"Our attendance program specialists matter. The building subs matter. These are employees and colleagues that have served our districts, served our students and our families, and we value the work that they do," Chapman said.
"The consequences are sobering."- Columbus City Schools District Treasurer Ryan Cook
Shoring up finances
The district estimates the cuts will save nearly $26 million — the last piece in a $50 million budgeting puzzle mandated by the board of education in December.
CCS leaders have blamed the district's budget situation on inadequate state funding by the Ohio General Assembly and Gov. Mike DeWine.
Tuesday night, district treasurer Ryan Cook detailed legislative changes to school funding during the meeting in a presentation titled, "Chronology of a crisis: legislative disinvestment."
"The consequences are sobering," Cook said.
"We are required to educate public students in public schools. And so we are here to do just that, but we also need the resources to do that," Chapman said. "And so that's the question: how can we reinvest in public education, and make sure that the fair school funding model is continued to be implemented to fully fund public schools across the state of Ohio?"
Columbus isn't alone in this predicament. Cincinnati Public Schools' administration is also considering cutting more than 100 positions to address its own budget woes.
To date, CCS has closed multiple school buildings, cut dozens of administrative staff and cut back on busing for K-8 students who use the school lottery system to go outside of their neighborhood school or to a non-100% lottery school.
The district says that over the past five months, CCS began cutting non-personnel contracts, services, travel and training by $8.9 million for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Chapman also eliminated 62 administrative level positions, saving $7.2 million.
Same needs, fewer resources
Chapman acknowledged that after reductions, the remaining district staff will have to meet the needs of students with "fewer resources and fewer hands."
"To make it happen, we will have to call on each other to do that work," Chapman said. "We're stronger together. "
Chapman also stressed that the displaced staff can apply for the district's many open positions. She said 40 special education teaching positions remain open, and the district is also still hiring bus drivers and instructional assistants.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the district announced $60 million in school renovations that will take place over the summer. District treasurer Ryan Cook said that money comes from a levy passed by voters in 2023, and is earmarked strictly for facilities.
