Cuyahoga Falls City Schools Superintendent Todd Nichols is recommending laying off teachers and other staff, increasing fees and asking voters for more money to avoid a looming financial crisis.
Without cutting expenses and raising revenue, the district — the third largest in Summit County with nearly 5,000 students — may not be able to meet payroll next year and would run out of cash in 2019, he said.
“It’s no fun,” Nichols said about the difficult upcoming financial decisions. “It is a nightmare from a personnel side.”
Nichols has presented a plan to the Board of Education that would trim spending by $1.8 million and raise $123,000 by boosting fees from students.
Here are the highlights of his proposal, which would take effect next school year:
• Lay off 24 teachers to save $1.2 million. Four teachers would be cut at elementary schools, 12 at middle schools and eight at the high school.
• Eliminate seven Educational Service Center support positions, monitors, three secretaries and a cleaner for a savings of more than $385,000.
• Create a new $30 technology fee for students to raise $90,000.
• Boost the pay-to-participate fee to $100 per sport; $75 for marching band; and $25 per activity. Those fees are now $75 for the first sport, $25 for the second and zero for the third; $50 for marching band; and $10 per activity.
The fee cap would double to $200 per student and $500 for a family.
The increase would bring in an additional $33,000.
• Reduce busing to the state minimum of 2 miles around a school for a savings of $48,330.
The cuts were designed to affect students as little as possible, Nichols said.
The superintendent has asked the school board to approve a reduction plan by its June 7 meeting.
Board President Karen Schofield couldn’t be reached for comment.
The district has started notifying teachers and staff who would be affected by the layoffs because of contract language, the superintendent said.
Cuyahoga Falls Education Association President Melody Carlisle said the union is disappointed in the severity of the proposed cuts.
“The end result is that kids suffer,” she said. “We’re just kind of muddling through the best we can.”
The union represents about 365 educators.
Even with the cuts and additional revenue, the district will need to ask voters for more money — whether that’s a new levy or an income tax, Nichols said.
“Ultimately, we’re going to have to identify how we want to come up with additional funds,” he said.
Voters last week overwhelmingly approved a five-year, 4.75-mill levy for current expenses.
Nichols announced his recommended cuts and fee increases after the levy passed. But he said his proposal should have come as no surprise to the community, and there had been warnings.
He also said the district didn’t want to ask for new money as part of that levy request.
“We wanted to secure the money we have right now,” he said.
Nichols attributed the money woes, in part, to the district never fully recovering from a financial crisis in 2005, combined with a reduction in property values, the state’s phaseout of the tangible personal property tax and the failure of a 3-mill permanent improvement levy in 2013.
He estimated that the district would have collected an additional $13 million over the last six years if values hadn’t fallen, the tangible tax were still in place and the levy had been approved.
The district’s five-year forecast predicts deficit spending this school year, with $53 million in expenses outpacing revenue by $712,364.
The shortfall increases to $2.38 million in 2021.
The district also will have a projected cash carryover of $2.8 million after this school year or 5 percent of its overall budget. If nothing changes, the projected carryover would drop to $1.7 million at the end of next school year and be completely depleted the following year.
The average carryover for Summit County districts is 31 percent, Nichols said. Good financial practices call for a carryover of at least 25 percent, or roughly three months of expenses.
To view the superintendent’s financial presentation to the board, go to: http://tinyurl.com/kmcbn25.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ .