Board Approves $3.2 Million in Cuts, Fees

The target has been set at $3.2 million in cuts and new revenue for the Twinsburg City Schools' administration to make for the next school year.

“By the April 18 board meeting we will have defined what these cuts will look like,” Superintendent Kathryn Powers said.

Powers now has an official target in which to cut expenses and increase revenue through the collection of fees by approximately $3.2 million for the 2012-13 school year. Changes will include adjustments in areas outlined at the reductions options planning meeting on Jan. 25.

“Regardless of the final decisions, there will be actions taken that will be challenging, this will not be easy,” Board President Ron Stuver said.

Stuver said the district can't cut it's way out of this "financial storm."

“There is one significant factor we can’t control, which is state funding,” he said.

The argument of state funding for the district came to the forefront after an exchange of letters to the editor in the Twinsburg Bulletin.

In the Jan. 12 issue, John Cairns, a social studies teacher at , wrote a letter saying that no one in Twinsburg is to blame for the financial problems and that they originated in Columbus.

"The problem was created in Columbus, not in Twinsburg," Cairns wrote in his letter to the Twinsburg Bulletin.

Two weeks later, in the Jan. 26 issue, Rep. Lynn Slaby wrote a letter of his own, suggesting the financial problem may be closer to home than people realize. Slaby noted much of the districts expenses was because of staffing.

"I am always willing to work with educators to find ways to turn the economy and education system around," Slaby wrote in the Twinsburg Bulletin. "However, it seems that Twinsburg schools' financial issues might be a spending problem, not a revenue problem -- and Columbus should not be blamed for that."

Stuver addressed this issue at Wednesday night's meeting.

“Mr. Cairns letter was appropriate and I do not think the response back to that was appropriate,” Stuver said.

Stuver has since talked the issue over with Slaby, saying the state representative apologized for the remarks and wants to sit down with Stuver and the local media to better address the district's financial issues.