Schools

Pending Legislation Causes Financial Uncertainty in Public Schools

Senate Bill 5, state budget could dramatically change funding

The dialogue surrounding Ohio Senate Bill 5 will impact the way school staff is compensated whether its repeal passes or not, said Treasurer Michelle Mills.

The Board of Education approved the district’s five-year plan, which included mostly flat wages for staff, at last night’s meeting.

“We, too, have to tighten our belt,” Mills said.

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Mills forecasted that teachers and other certified staff would receive a 1 percent stipend plus a 1 percent base increase between now and 2016. Other staff are projected to receive a 1 percent stipend and a half-percent base increase between now and 2016. Administrators agreed to a wage freeze for the 2012 fiscal year.

Step increases are included in the projections. In total, this accounts for slightly less than $1 million in wage increases by 2016.

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The district expects its revenue to decrease by more than $1 million.

Mills noted that much of the projections rely on legislation that is under consideration now.

House Bill 136 would take money from public schools to give to private school students and could remove millions of dollars from Beachwood City Schools, said Mills.

”This bill is an assault on public education as we know it,” Mills wrote in the report.

The district does not track the number of students living in the district who attend private schools, but Mills said that her best estimate — based on the number of students BCS busses to private schools — is that around 500 students attend private schools. There are around 1,500 students enrolled in BCS.

Also creating uncertainty in school funding is the state budget bill, which is still under debate.

“As the state legislators continue to debate the budget bill and its impact on school funding, what has been ultimately made clear is that schools along with every other public entity have been put on notice that they must change their method of doing business to achieve greater operational efficiencies, track teacher and student performance and to reward staff members accordingly,” Mills wrote. “We are facing uncertain times without a road map.”


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