The Akron Public Schools on Monday will unveil for the first time proposed cuts of more than $15 million that, when paired with an expected request for a levy this fall, will help keep the school district solvent.
At last night’s school board meeting, Superintendent Michael Robinson called the expected cuts “gut-wrenching,” but he didn’t say what categories would be affected. He said the proposed cuts would be “strategic and methodical to make sure kids don’t lose services and support.”
“I want to be very clear,” he said. “The cuts have to be made. We have to make them this year.”
Treasurer and CFO Steve Thompson affirmed at the school board meeting that the proposed cuts are on top of a request to voters that they approve a levy this fall. The school board has yet to vote on the proposal, but the administration is recommending a levy that would bring in about $25.7 million for operations annually as well as pay for an $85 million bond to construct a new North High School.
Combined, the requests would cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 an additional $311.50 each year.
Those increases in revenue aren’t enough to cover the current staff and programs at the schools, though. Robinson said if a levy isn’t approved in the fall, the board next year “will be discussing much deeper cuts that have to be made.”
“This is an opportunity for us to right-size the district, to restructure the district,” he said.
Without the planned actions, Thompson said, the district would quickly spend through its reserves.
“You can’t operate in the negative,” he said. “That’s called state receivership. So there’s no question we need a levy.”
‘Frivolous’ spending by district questioned as North High School continues to deteriorate
As cuts were discussed, though, there were questions about the district’s continued spending.
Rene Molenaur, a member of the school board, questioned why the board was approving positions that did not have salary ranges while the budget was still in flux. And Brandy Vickers, a representative for nearly 150 independent van drivers who contract with the school district to transport students to school, said the district had started working with two companies that were receiving many multiples of the $11 per student that her colleagues received per trip.
“There has to be a conversation about money being spent frivolously,” she told board members during the public comment period. “I clearly see where Akron is wasting $1.8 million annually” paying outside companies, Vickers said. “I can show you how to fix it real quick.”
There were also concerns that North High School is continuing to deteriorate while there has been no decision on whether it can be replaced. Frozan Azimi, a North High School senior who is a student representative to the Board of Education, said the latest issue is a smell that is too terrible to even describe. It caused her to change her route to class to avoid it, she said, making her late to math.
“Every classroom has a broken ceiling,” she said. “It does not feel safe.”
Frozan asked that the school board build a new North High School. Board member Summer Hall apologized to Frozan and other students, saying North “should have been built.”
“You should not have had to endure this,” Hall said. “I’m sorry that you guys have to go through that.”
As board members continued to consider what they would ask of voters, Thompson said he knows the request to residents is “significant.” It’s why the district is proposing cuts in addition to asking voters for money to “try to keep our schools solvent,” he said.
“We’re sharing in that burden,” Thompson said.
The presentation on proposed cuts is slated to take place Monday at 4 p.m. during a Board of Education Finance Committee meeting. Robinson said he was being meticulous in looking at the district’s options, understanding that people’s jobs would be affected by his decisions.
“We’re flipping every rock; I’m leaving no stone unturned,” Robinson said. “We’re talking about people’s lives and their livelihoods.”
Equity issues in athletic spending discussed
Members of the Board of Education also discussed issues of equity in athletic facilities at the district’s high schools. Only one high school, Ellet Community Learning Center, has lights that allow football games to be played at night, while Firestone CLC is the only school with a swimming pool. At the same time, Board President Diana Autry said, Buchtel CLC doesn’t have running water in a concession booth that dates to the 1950s.
Autry said board members were asked to approve an additional expenditure to upgrade the lights at Ellet; she asked that the measure be pulled from the agenda while members talked about how spending at the schools could be more equitable.
“We have managed to find a way to keep investing in certain schools,” she said.
Other board members agreed that equity was lacking in terms of athletic offerings from one school to the next.
“Some schools get more than others,” Hall said.
Thompson said some of the inequities date back to resources that parents and others were able to bring to construction of new buildings when the community learning centers were first built. But Autry said it’s incumbent on the district to ensure students have equal opportunities at any school they attend.
“Now is the time to do something about it,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll see something that looks like something fair once and for all.”
