North Hills and Reno elementary buildings will be cut from Marietta City Schools next school year and a reduction in school employees will soon follow.
Marietta school board members voted 5-0 Monday to approve the school closings and must now decide where to make further cuts to reduce a projected deficit.
"The staffing plan is our next major step," school board President Jeffrey Welch said Monday. "There will be cuts in teachers, administrative staff and classified staff."
Neither Welch nor Marietta Superintendent Greg Backus would estimate the number of employees who would lose their jobs. Backus said the district would move as quickly as possible to notify the affected teachers within the upcoming months.
"We still need to go through the contracts and negotiate," Backus said. The superintendent said the district will try to reduce the cuts through some retirements, but he was doubtful there would be enough retirements to cover all the job cuts.
School board members went into executive session after Monday's vote to discuss the personnel issues and the selling of property. Backus said it is likely the board will sell the former Fairview and Oak Grove schools that were closed years ago. But nothing has been decided on what to do with the buildings or property at North Hills and Reno schools.
The cuts in school buildings and employees are part of the district's five-year plan to avoid a projected $7.7 million deficit in 2007.
Monday's special board meeting to vote on the plan drew about 100 citizens to the high school auditorium and lasted barely 15 minutes. Only three citizens chose to speak, and board members held little discussion to the issue that has been debated since the plan's public release two months ago.
The board's vote Monday came as a letdown to many Reno parents hoping for a compromise or delay to the closing of their community's school.
"I'm disappointed," Reno parent Steve Bober said. "The least they could have done was express their opinion and explain why they voted the way they did."
Bober worked with other parents to present an alternate plan that proposed placing a tax levy on the ballot to keep all six Marietta elementaries running. Reno parent Paul Ornosky assisted with crafting the alternate plan.
"We thought we had a chance to change something," Ornosky said. "I agree with everything else in the plan, but they should have held off on the school closings."
School board members are holding off on pursuing construction of new schools. An amendment was placed to the five-year plan to delay a committal to seek a bond issue toward building three new elementaries with help from the state.
"With the amendment, we're not locked into the number of three new schools," Rosendale said. "I don't think we've done enough there to decide that."
He said the amendment will allow school officials and community members more time to discuss the number of new or renovated schools.
The district's five-year plan called for three elementaries to replace the existing six, but other options need to be explored, school board members said. Other options that the state may agree to help fund include building two new elementaries and renovating Washington School or scraping the middle school and building kindergarten through eighth-grade schools.
Welch said the board will likely ask for an extension with the Ohio School Facilities Commission program. Marietta's deadline to commit to a plan is in November, but schools can ask for a year extension. State funds would help pay 39 percent of a building project if a plan is agreed upon with the state and voters pass 61 percent of the funds.
"We're not done, we're just getting started," Welch said. "I see this in two parts: One, becoming fiscally responsible, and, two, looking forward on how to improve our facilities. Business as usual isn't going to do it."
Welch said further cuts or increases in revenue will need to be made to keep the district financially solvent. School officials say Monday's approved five-year plan only delays the district's forecasted deficits by two years.
Welch said he hopes to see community involvement remain high as the district tries to move forward.
"The focus has been on the negative (of the plan), but on an individual basis I've heard a tremendous amount of support," Welch said. "Even for those who the vote didn't go their way, we still need those people involved."
The public's next chance to be involved will be March 17. The board plans to meet for a workshop session to discuss future procedures in conjunction with Monday's approved five-year plan.
VIEWS FROM SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS
"Change is difficult, but we have been put in a position that we have to do
what's best for the entire district. Anytime we deal with our children it's
emotional, and it should be."
- Peg Littler
"The public wants us to run a tight ship. This has scratched the surface on
how we can tighten our finances."
- Mark Mason
"This saves a big amount of money on an annualized basis. It's the right
thing to do for the district's children and the taxpayers."
- Dan Rosendale
"This is what is good for the district as a whole. When you look at our
fiscal state, we had to do something to move forward."
- Kenneth Schilling
"I see this in two parts: One, becoming fiscally responsible and, two,
looking forward on how to improve our facilities. Business as usual isn't
going to do it."
- Jeffrey Welch