The Akron Board of Education is on the clock, again, to secure state money to build the city’s final high school.
“Since our last joint school board/City Council meeting in June, we have $4 million less that the state will fund because of projected enrollment losses … the board needs to decide in early October, which is now, where to build the final project with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission,” Superintendent David James told board and council members on Monday during a presentation at the Austen BioInnovation Institute.
James shared a new sixth option (along with the same five presented in June) for moving forward. The sixth option would leave the city with six of its existing seven high schools — Buchtel, East, Ellet, Firestone and North would remain intact, provided they have no enrollment changes, and a new community learning center that consolidates Garfield and Kenmore would be built at the Garfield site.
That option would also include combining middle school students from Kent and Innes at the Innes site and elementary school students at Bettes and Harris at the Harris site.
The other five options configure the city’s current seven high schools as follows:
• Consolidate Buchtel and Kenmore. Move North to Jennings. Leave East, Ellet, Garfield and Firestone intact.
• Consolidate Buchtel and Firestone. Move North to Jennings and Kenmore to Innes. Leave East, Ellet and Garfield intact.
• Consolidate East and North. Combine Buchtel and Firestone. Move Kenmore to Innes. Leave Garfield and Ellet intact.
• Consolidate Buchtel and Kenmore. Combine East and North. Leave Ellet, Firestone and Garfield intact.
• Consolidate Garfield and Kenmore. Combine East and North. Leave Buchtel, Ellet and Firestone intact.
The new sixth option could save the district $3.1 million per year, based on projections from district Treasurer Ryan Pendleton.
Pendleton warned that if the district maintains its current footprint, the board will need to start discussions about placing both an operating and a permanent improvement levy on the ballot in 2018 or 2019. He said that even with the passage of the levies (which together would bring in an about $21 million a year and cost a taxpayer — with a home value of $62,000— $215 per year), cuts would have to be made to avoid operating shortfalls.
“We are in deficit spending with a healthy balance,” Pendleton said. “Shrinking our capacity is what will save us money and keep us from adding a levy.”
Action requested
Both school board and City Council members echoed that a decision needs to be made that will keep a levy off the ballot for as long as possible.
City Council President Marilyn Keith urged the board, council and about 30 people in the audience to stay focused on what is best for the students.
“Maybe we’re not getting our way, but are we taking care of students and keeping them in school?” Keith asked, rhetorically.
School Board President Bruce Alexander shared Keith’s perspective. He said he doesn’t believe educational programs should be sacrificed to pay for building space that is not needed.
“We all have to remember that it’s all about the kids,” Alexander said. “We have the capacity we need. We have to be good stewards of our finances and we have to have quality programming for our students.”
The district and city entered into a partnership with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission in 2002 to rebuild and remodel the city’s school buildings. The project is funded in part by a 0.25 percent increase to the city income tax that voters approved in 2003.
If the board fails to make a decision for approval at the commission’s final meeting this year on Oct. 27, it risks losing the state money that is on the table for the construction project — about $21 million. The contribution from the state shrank in July, after a new 2021-2022 enrollment projection was released by the state showed fewer students.
The state, which provides 59 percent of the funding, has said it will not fund any more elementary or middle school buildings because the district has overbuilt its capacity for those students. The district currently has the capacity for 30,442 students, with an enrollment of 20,444.
“There’s only so much you can do. We would need to build the new building first and then monitor enrollment,” James said. “We have to quickly make a decision in using the state money, or it might not be there.”
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.