Area schools stand to lose in excess of $1.43 million in state funding as a result of statewide budget reductions announced Tuesday by Gov. Mike DeWine.
Public school operating funds are being cut by approximately 2 percent statewide to help account for a total of $775 million that is set to be reduced from the state budget for the remainder of the 2020 Fiscal Year.
According to information from the Ohio Office of Management and Budget, Riverside Local Schools stands to see a reduction totaling $99,946; West Liberty-Salem is forecast to have $200,183 cut from its state funding; Indian Lake forecasts a reduction totaling $361,747; cuts to operating expenditures for Bellefontaine City Schools total $380,361; and Benjamin Logan will see state cuts totaling $389,417.
“The $380,000 reduction is no small amount for Bellefontaine City Schools and it will take a lot of thought, discussion and tough decisions to deal with the cuts,” Bellefontaine Superintendent Brad Hall wrote in an e-mail.
Hall pointed out that annual budgets for schools are spent during the academic year leaving, “very little room for savings this fiscal year,” he said, adding that those reductions will have to be carried forward into next school year.
“Since the largest portion of any district’s budget is personnel, we will need to look at staff and analyze where there are areas where we might be able to be more efficient. We remain committed to providing Bellefontaine students with the best possible education, and we will continue to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” the superintendent concluded.