Schools May Get $2.9 Million in State Funding Restored (OH)

June 13, 2011

The Dublin City School District could recover $2.9 million in state funding if money the Ohio Senate restored stands in the biennial budget of Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

It’s a bit of good news, said Dublin Schools Treasurer Steve Osborne, but the district still stands to lose about $4 million in funding in the next school year alone.

The district had faced a two-year loss of $13.7 million in funding reductions in the governor’s two-year budget.

The cuts, representing a combination of state foundation funding, tangible personal property tax and stimulus funding, represented about 8 percent of the district’s total budget.

The $2.9 million the Senate proposes to return includes $2.1 million in fiscal year 2012 and $800,000 in fiscal year 2013.

The money the Ohio Senate restored followed a May 11 forum at Dublin Coffman High School attended by state legislators, some of whom pledged to restore some of Kasich’s cuts made to public educations and other parts of the state budget to shore up an estimated $8 billion deficit.

“We certainly appreciate the efforts of the senate,” particular Ohio Sen. Jim Hughes (R-16), Osborne said.

But the additional money is not a certainty.

Now, the governor’s budget bill, having been independently been reviewed by the Ohio House and Senate, goes to conference committee comprised of members from the House and Senate where changes in either direction are a possibility.

A permanent operating budget must be in place by July 1.

District officials and parents had voiced concern about the governor’s “Robin Hood&qu ot; approach to school funding, rewarding poorer performing districts with a greater share of the purse while penalizing the higher performing, and wealthier districts.

The Senate seemed to respond to those concerns. Sixteen Franklin County school districts received additional funding above what was originally included in the budget House members previously adopted.

Of those 16, only two other districts, Upper Arlington and New Albany, both generally considered to be wealthy districts like Dublin, received a greater percentage of additional funding.