Tensions between the Mt. Healthy City Schools administration and the state commission tasked with pulling the district out of a financial crisis boiled over Thursday night during a regularly scheduled meeting.
The state commission has assumed much of the responsibilities of Mt. Healthy's Board of Education since the district was put in fiscal emergency in early 2024. The state auditor assigned the designation after the district's previous treasurer discovered a financial forecasting error leading to a projected budget deficit of $10.8 million. The school system took out a close to $11 million loan from the state of Ohio before the 2024-2025 academic year so it could continue operating.
Since then, Mt. Healthy has made steep cuts to its budget, laying off more than 100 employees and cutting a wide range of student programs in order to close the gap.
During Thursday's meeting, Mt. Healthy's administration brought forward a list of mostly transportation services that it was willing to cut next year, which totaled just over $1.5 million.
Additionally, Mt. Healthy told the commission that the state had approved its request Wednesday to alter its loan repayment plan, changing it from a 2-year repayment with more than $5 million due each year, to a scaled 8-year repayment plan requiring the district to pay less than $500,000 in the first year and higher amounts in the following years.
The district says, when combined with cuts to transportation, the 8-year repayment plan would bring Mt. Healthy out of its deficit in the next fiscal year, though it would still fall back into a much smaller deficit in the years after.
Mt. Healthy's administration appeared optimistic after presenting its plan to the commission, but things quickly changed after the commission decided not to accept the new recommendations because the school district couldn't immediately provide proof it had ended some of its contracts with its transportation provider.
The commission called Mt. Healthy's financial recovery plan "insufficient" and instead recommended that the school system not renew contracts for several of its administrative staff.
Mt. Healthy's superintendent Valerie Hawkins was quick to oppose the notion, saying she would not follow through on the commission's recommendation.
"It won't matter, they'll have a contract June 1," Hawkins told commission chair Kim Richard.
"So you don't care?" Richard responded.
"I do not." Hawkins said. "You're not doing what's best for the students of Mt. Healthy City Schools."
Hawkins continued to scold the state commission, claiming its members were not interested in helping the district recover and had little concern about how millions of dollars in budget cuts would impact students.
"You need to listen to us and everyone here about what we're recommending, and you're not," she said.
Richard stood by the commission's recommendation and told Hawkins district leaders would need to provide a more thorough financial recovery plan soon if they wanted to avoid laying off more staff.
Mt. Healthy teachers, administrators, and school board members in attendance applauded Hawkins' dissent and expressed frustration over what they felt was the commission's callous approach to cuts impacting students.
After the meeting, Mt. Healthy Board of Education member Will Carter told WVXU he thinks the commission is disconnected from the challenges the school district's teachers and students are facing with larger class sizes and shrinking resources.
"What you just heard was a proposal that would actually make our schools unsafe," he said.
Carter says Mt. Healthy can't possibly make enough budget cuts to satisfy the commission and the requirements put on them by the state. He now wants the state to intervene to alleviate the financial crisis by turning the school's loan into a grant, essentially forgiving the debt. If nothing else is done, he says Mt. Healthy students will continue to suffer the consequences.
The Mt. Healthy Schools Board and the state commission both plan to hold special meetings next week.
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