The Akron Public Schools’ Board of Education did not take an anticipated vote on a five-year forecast for the district that must be provided to the state by the end of the month.
The delay comes despite an extensive discussion during Monday’s board meeting as well as during last week’s Finance and Capital Management Committee meeting.
Toward the end of the meeting, the board went into executive session to discuss proposed reductions across staffing departments. When they reconvened, the meeting was adjourned within minutes, with no vote taken.
Following the adjournment, Superintendent Michael Robinson left quickly and no board members made themselves available for questions about the forecast not being approved.
“I’m aware of what I need to do, but I can’t give it to you tonight,” Robinson told the board.
If the board fails to submit a five-year forecast to the Ohio Department of Education, it could risk being subject to fiscal oversight by the state, according to the Ohio Revised Code.
“How is it we’re going to say we’re going to make $10.2 million in cuts, and you expect us to vote on this?” Board Member Gregory Harrison asked before they went into executive session.
“We don’t know who is being cut, we don’t know what’s being cut. We’re hiring people, and making cuts. … At what point do we have the information that we need to make an intelligent decision to make sure we’re not cutting something we need?”
Cuts, levy funds mean district could operate in the black for the next 5 years
The five-year budget forecast under consideration includes more than $14 million in cuts, weeks after voters passed a levy that helps to stabilize the district’s finances and will finance a new North High School.
The forecast shows the district operating with a positive balance for the next five fiscal years. Superintendent Michael Robinson has previously said the district would need to go back to voters for another levy in four years.
Despite the levy’s passage, the forecast shows the district operating at a $20 million deficit in fiscal year 2025 but ending with a positive balance of $86 million because of its reserve funds. In fiscal year 2026, the district is forecast to operate at a $675,000 surplus and end with a positive balance of $87 million.
The reserves are projected to tick up slightly in fiscal year 2027 but dwindle the last two years of the forecast, with ending balances of $53 million in 2028 and $16 million in 2029.
The positive balances are due to “reductions from district administration and delays in capital projects,” according to Thompson’s presentation last week.
In a draft of the forecast plan provided to Signal Akron, the administration is proposing the following reductions:
- $1.79 million from the Division of Academics
- $1.1 million from the Division of Student Services
- $4.8 million from the Division of Schools and Accountability
- $85,000 from the Division of Talent and Organization
- $2.39 million from the Division of Operations
In total, the budget reduction plan includes $14.5 million in cuts, $10 million of which would take effect before next school year and $4.5 million of which would be spread out over the life of the five-year forecast, according to Thompson.
“Based on what we know right now, we’ve accomplished our goal,” Thompson said about board member’s desires to see cuts reflected in the five-year forecast.
The plan recommends a staffing audit by the Ohio Department of Education and a fiscal audit by the Auditor of State’s office. It also proposes reducing the physical footprint of the district through building consolidations and closures and the elimination of administrative, teaching and support staff positions.
The plan would eliminate overtime expenditures by 25% and institute a hiring freeze across the district, stopping the creation of “any and all new positions.”
“Despite significant challenges the district faces, we cannot only regain budgetary stability, but also improve academic achievement through long-term financial stability,” the plan states. The administration will begin negotiations with all seven of the district’s labor unions in February or March of 2025, according to the plan.
The forecast presented Monday was previously discussed at last week’s Finance and Capital Management Committee. During the meeting, board member Barbara Sykes took issue with some of the projects and said the administration wasn’t taking their part of the bargain with levy voters seriously.
Sykes said she wanted to see enough cuts by the administration to show voters they were serious about managing the district’s finances responsibly.
The dual levy passed Nov. 5 is a combination of a 7.6-mill operating levy and a 1.29-mill construction bond to rebuild North High School. In total, the levy is expected to cost about $315 a year for Akron homeowners whose homes are valued at $100,000.
Akron Public Schools will collect its first $13 million in January from the operating levy, then $26 million annually after that.
Treasurer proposes early borrowing of part of $85 million bond for new North High School
APS Treasurer Steve Thompson proposed to the board they issue a $15 million bond so the district can start planning the new North High School right away, before it begins collecting money from the passed construction levy.
The plan, which was not voted on Monday night, would allow the district to begin the construction process sooner by providing the funds to hire an architect as early as January.
It would also make money on the issuance of the bond, essentially borrowing the money at a low interest rate, investing it at a higher rate, and pocketing the difference. Thompson said that would net the district between $200,000 and $300,000 in profit they could use for additional investment in the new school.
Thompson said the administration became aware of the potential opportunity late last week, which is why it wasn’t proposed at the finance committee meeting. In his presentation, he suggested the board vote on it at the next full meeting on Dec. 9, but there was some hesitation among members about when they would actually vote to approve the plan, since they wanted to be sure they fully understood the proposal.
Miller South and Pfeiffer project updates
Plans to build a new school in Kenmore to house students from both Miller South Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts and Pfeiffer Elementary are moving along, with the liaisons from the two architectural firms making a presentation on the project’s progress.
Zach Forney, with PRIME AE, the lead design firm on the project, and Brent Foley, with TRIAD, a partner design firm, said the project is currently in a pre-design phase. They said a more developed design will be ready for presentation and review by early January.
The architects expect demolition of the old Kenmore High School to begin in April. Currently, they’re engaging with the public through ward meetings and engagement meetings with faculty, staff and students from both schools to get community input into what the school and its students and faculty want.
The board previously approved the hiring of PRIME AE, an architectural design firm, in early August. The project will replace both schools with one building on the site of the old Kenmore High School.
It will serve about 400 kindergarten through fifth-grade students and 400 fourth through eighth-grade students. It will also include a 1,000-seat auditorium, which is an increase from the previous estimates of 500 seats. The total cost of the project is $61 million — the schools are expected to be open for students within three years.
District hires new director of communications
The board also approved the hiring of Stacey Hodoh as director of strategic communications, replacing the recently retired Mark Williamson.
Hodoh, who will make about $143,000 annually, most recently worked as a global strategic sourcing executive at Google. Prior to that, she was a global vice president for distribution operations at Walmart, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She holds a Doctorate of Education from Grand Canyon University, which she obtained in 2016. She also earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the same university. It’s a for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona.
Hodoh is a graduate of Buchtel High School and “has actively invested in Akron (Ohio) through real estate holdings and philanthropic causes,” according to a biography on the website for Ikonik Events, the event planning company she founded.
Hodoh purchased the South Hawkins Avenue property for Ikonik in 2022 and renovated it into an event center “where residents could host their own events in a luxury themed venue.” The company donates 5% of its proceeds to The Dezzie Foundation, a mental health advocacy non-profit organization.