At this time, there is no recommendation to go back on the ballot in May of 2025. While the Treasurer is running some scenarios for the Board of Education, it is likely that the District would have to ask the community for more money than before.

The District’s immediate response was to pause hiring on open positions unless there was an urgent need. We are conducting an intense review of all expenditures in all departments.

Currently, the District is deficit spending and needs to reduce the budget by $8.5 million per year. Our emergency relief funds from COVID have ended and the failure to pass the emergency operating levy in November means that we are spending more than we are bringing in. Additionally, the state has determined that local capacity is such that they can reduce their portion of funding, meaning we are getting less money from the State of Ohio.

We do not take staff reductions lightly. The failure to pass the levy is causing us to have some uncomfortable conversations. However, we will follow negotiated agreements and try to maximize efficiencies and look at student impact when making any decisions related to eliminating staff. 

We consider several factors when reviewing programs and services. Is there redundancy that can be absorbed, is there room to negotiate contracts, and most importantly, what is the usage and impact on our students and staff? We are required by law to provide certain programs and services (unavoidable expenses.)

Students rely on sports and extracurricular activities for growth, college scholarships and much more. We are looking at several different scenarios and the costs associated with them. Factors like coaching fees, transportation, facility usage and student impact are some of the lenses we use when deciding if and what to eliminate.

Yes. This is going to be a situation where many will feel the impact. We have wonderful staff in the District and our students are achieving great things. However, we asked the community to support the levy and the response we received was that at this time, they could not justify the cost increase. Therefore, we are faced with the difficult decision to make expenditure reductions.

The safety of our staff and students is our number one priority and something we do not take lightly. While no decisions have been made, we are considering eliminating the two School Resource Officers at the high school level. Our 14 safety and security personnel are the first point of contact for our students and staff. We would continue to work closely with the Reynoldsburg Police Department.