Ohio’s Governor has released his budget plan for the 2016 and 2017 financial years, proposing changes to public school funding that could result in Revere losing over $400,000.

These changes to the budget are a part of the process in which Ohio Governor John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly approve state funds every two years. Schools in Ohio gain funding from both local and state taxes. The local funds come from various means including property taxes and levies. To determine the amount given to school districts by the state, the state uses a formula that evaluates a district’s ability to meet its own needs. This formula compares the total property value of a district to the number of students in the district and the income of district residents compared to Ohio’s median income.

For the 2016 and 2017 financial years, the Governor’s proposed plan adds approximately $700,000,000 to the amount given to schools in the previous budget. The plan also reduces “guarantees,” which have been given to schools that should have lost money according to the state’s formula. Jim Lynch, a Special Advisor for Communications for the offices of Governor Kasich explained the reasoning behind reducing these “guarantees.”

“The Governor proposes to begin reining in ‘guarantees’ by no more than one percent of a district’s overall state and local resources. Such a modest reduction should be easily manageable for all districts, especially given that most of the districts receiving ‘guarantees’ are those with greater resources,” Lynch said.

According to Lynch, the added funding, in conjunction with the reduction of “guarantees,” will allow the state to more appropriately divert funding to school districts that need the money most.

These changes will take away $414,000 from Revere’s state funding over the next two school years. Interim Superintendent Dr. Joseph Madak commented on the changes in state funding and their potential effects on Revere.

“I do not have any issue with the fact that these low-wealth districts need the money. I just hope that the money middle-of-the-road and wealthier districts [will] lose doesn’t compromise the education they are providing their students,” Madak said.

David Forrest, Revere’s Treasurer and CFO, also commented on the effects that the proposed budget plan would have on the district.

“[The administration has] intentionally built up a reserve, so the immediate impact to the district will not be noticeable to our students and staff. What [the changes] will affect is the levy cycle, [which is] the amount of time from when [the district] asks for a levy for new operating money until the next point of time when you ask for money again,” Forrest said.

Forrest also explained how the administration planned to cut costs to compensate for the reduced state funding.

“[The administration has considered] a combination of strategies. [For example], as staff [retires], [we] may look at replacing all but one teacher. [There may also be savings associated with] the availability of electronic curriculum versus paying for textbooks. We’ve [also] done things like improve our energy efficiency by putting in more efficient boilers,” Forrest said.

Forrest remained optimistic about the ability of Revere to cope with the proposed changes to the budget.

“When [the school district] has in one year $200,000 being lost, I believe that it’s achievable that through good fiscal management [the district] can work to recover that loss,” Forrest said.

Madak explained some actions that Revere will take to affect the state’s decision making process.

“School superintendents from six area schools, to include Revere, who are big losers in Governor Kasich’s budget proposal, are meeting to explore what we can do collectively to impact this budget development process,” Madak said.

Madak also explained Revere’s membership in the Alliance for High Quality Education.

“Revere Schools is a member of the Alliance for High Quality Education. This Alliance is composed of school districts statewide who stand to be the biggest losers under this budget proposal. The Alliance is also preparing to bring to bear its collective influence on the budget development process,” Madak said.

Deliberations over the governor’s proposed budget plan are still ongoing and a final plan may not be completed until June.