By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
The end of the school year means it’s time to update the five-year forecast, and it was grim reading for the Crestline school board. Treasurer Bradd Stevens, reluctantly, gave a less than optimistic report about the state of the school’s finances.
The crux of the matter is that, if finances remain the same, in 2016 the district will be looking at a $500,000 deficit. By 2018, that number could be as high as $1.2 million. Stevens stated that according to the Ohio Revised Code, operating at this kind of a loss is simply not an option.
That news led to a lengthy discussion of what needs to be done. There was concern shown from both the administration and a large number of community members present at the meeting. Stevens stated simply that revenues needed to be boosted and that expenses had to be cut.
Stevens’ suggestion for boosting revenues was to go on the ballot in November for an earned income tax of .75 percent. Such a levy, if passed, would raise roughly $500,000 per year and would go a long way towards eliminating that sizable deficit but not completely.
Stevens outlined another problem with this solution, it will raise the money on paper, but in reality it would be two years before the district would be collecting at 100 percent.
It was during the discussion of the suggested levy that some disgruntlement was presented by the community. There were several calls from parents about the need to really “sell” this levy to the district.
During the public participation, parent Aaron Cox gave an unflattering account of some of the experiences his children have had this year. Cox claimed that his younger son has been consistently bullied, and his older son was stabbed with a pencil. He also made the claim that 23 fights have taken place to date in the district.
Superintendent Noreen Mullens corrected Cox on this point, saying the number was not 23 fights, but 23 incidents in which the police have been called to the school grounds. The number is half of what it was at the same point last year.
The discussion segued to the negative open enrollment rates in the district. Each student that open enrolls out takes with him or her $5,800 per year that the state grants to his or her new school. Crestline would of course receive $5,800 for each student that enrolls in, but the district is operating at an open enrollment deficit.
None of the administration had solid numbers on this front, but the consensus was that a great deal of money was leaving the district in this fashion.