Stuver, Slaby Discuss State Problems on the District Level

It all started with a letter.

, a teacher wrote a letter blaming the district’s financial woes entirely on the state.

Rep. Lynn Slaby responded, saying that wasn’t a fair assesment and said it could be a school spending problem. The district wasn't very pleased with the comment from Slaby, one that he has since apologized for. Now the issue is water under the bridge.

But it does bring to the surface a real problem: The state is trying to cut a nearly $8 billion dollar deficit and the Twinsburg school district is staring at a financial shortfall in the next few years.

Last week board president Ron Stuver invited Slaby to sit down with the media to discuss how the situation came about and how the district can cope.

Losing the TPP

Last year’s state budget accelerated the reduction of the Tangible Personal Property tax (TPP), which was a major part of the district’s funding from the state. TPP was a local business tax that stayed locally. It was a heavier tax on manufacturing businesses. When in was eliminated in 2005, it was replaced with the Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) tax to reduce the burden on manufacturers. However, the CAT tax was spread over all businesses and goes back to the state, who determines where it gets spread out. Once the economy got worse, it got smaller.

“What the state gives us in state basic aide is only nine percent of what we need,” Stuver said. Most of the money to support students either comes from Twinsburg tax dollars and what is left of the TPP.

Stuver said he hopes the state might be able to freeze the phase out from the TPP, which would be a huge help. But Slaby said he doesn’t see that happening.

“Unfortunately, in anticipation of Senate Bill 5 passing, the Finance Committee said, “OK, we can accelerate the TPP phase out, because we’re going to give communities tools to negotiate contracts, which hopefully would save them enough money,” Slaby said.

Slaby said the state “miscalculated” the backlash of SB5 and how it would affect the loss of the TPP and the ability to negotiate.

For Slaby, making cuts that affect districts was a choice that had to be made.

“With an $8 billion deficit staring us in the face, everyone is going to suffer,” Slaby said. He followed by saying the state hasn’t done a good job of finding alternatives to fund school districts.

Legislators in Ohio are aware of all the financial issues facing schools, but there is no perfect solution to help so many diverse districts in the state, Slaby said, but the current model doesn’t really work for any of them.

The problem? He doesn’t know where any new amount of money would come from.

“I would have to support somebody else’s cut to support more dollar relief to school districts,” Slaby said. “And I honestly don’t know where I would cut it. It might not even trickle down all the way to Twinsburg to ultimately solve their problem.”

Another issue is state mandates for districts in certain areas, which Slaby said ultimately is a tax. One mandate possibly coming down the line would focus more on the lower performing districts, leaving the high performing agencies on their own.

“Don’t leave higher performing school districts behind,” Superintendent Kathryn Powers said, a sentiment Slaby agreed with.

“If you mandate something, it’s a tax and someone’s got to pay for it,” Slaby said.

SB5 and teacher salaries

While both Stuver and Slaby agreed it wasn’t a perfect bill, they said over some of its costs.

“It wouldn’t have fixed our financial problems, but it would have helped,” Stuver said.

The biggest thing SB5 would have done was removed “fringe benefits” from the bargaining table. That would allow municipalities to not negotiate what tax payers were paying for public employee health care concessions and pensions, which were a big financial burden on the community, Slaby said.

And while money is sparse at the state, municpal and district levels, Slaby said Twinsburg has “done an outstanding job of using shared services.” The district shares field maintenance equipment with Aurora, sharing salt with the city, and using a state consortium to purchase important items at lower prices.

“The problem is when 85 percent of their budget goes to salaries, all these shared services have a very small impact,” Slaby said, which is typical around the state of Ohio.

When it comes to the issue of school spending, the topic always turns to how much a district spends on its staff. Twinsburg spends about 85 percent of it’s general fund on teacher salaries. But unlike some school districts, they also have a permenant improvements fund, which pays for improvements and certain supplies in the district. Since the finances are spread out over two funds, the percent it pays teachers seems higher compared to other schools.

School officials are currently negotiating with the district’s support staff, who’s three-year contract expired in December. Stuver said it wouldn’t be fair to comment on those negotiations.

“It’s going to take us a while, but we’ll work through it,” Stuver said.

The district’s teachers are in year two of a three year contract. While administrators are not negotiating with them, they have had some “informal discussions” which Stuver said have been “challenging.”

Powers meets with the union leaders on a monthly basis, talking about all the issues in the district and keeping the lines of communication open.

“With the operational changes we’re keeping the union close to us so they’re hearing first-hand what we’re thinking,” Powers said. She said they should have a general idea of how many employees will be affected in next year’s changes by Wednesday’s board meeting, but no specific names are known.

“I personally think teachers are great assets to the community and I wouldn’t want to underpay them because I want good people to teach our kids,” Stuver said, noting, however, that it’s ultimately about what the district can afford, and cuts will be necessary.

Asking for new money

Some residents have asked the district why they don’t go to the community for funding before making cuts to a stellar school district. Stuver said they would have to bring in $9.8 million to replace the loss of the TPP, and he knows it wouldn’t pass.

“We can’t tax our way out of this,” Stuver said. “We can’t put a tax big enough on the ballot and pass it. It would be a double-digit millage.”

If the district puts a levy on the ballot, which they are taking a hard look at for November, it would not be to retract any cuts or fees implemented this spring. While it hasn’t been approved yet, the district will likely ask the community for a new levy.

“If we put a levy out there, it will be to ensure we don’t have to make more cuts,” Stuver said.

“The message that we do not like is we’re telling people, “We’re reducing your services, we’re going to make you pay more for them, and we’re going to hit you with some fees too,’” Stuver said. “That’s just like the triple whammy.”

And all this is to just keep the district’s head above water.

A community divided

Stuver said there are different types of people in Twinsburg when it comes to the schools, and particularly, a school levy. There are those who will support the district in any situation and vote yes every time and those that “no matter how grim the circumstance” will vote no. Then there’s the majority, who go through daily life not really thinking much about these issues---that is until things get tough.

“Some people don’t get concerned until changes start to happen,” Stuver said.

“A balanced approach is required so people know we’re spending our money wisely and prudently,” he said.

For the people that don’t think this is a problem in other districts, Stuver knows better.

“We’ve been nothing but honest with the community; it’s not just a Twinsburg thing,” Stuver said. Many other surrounding districts are facing the same problem. Stuver said he is just trying to push the line when the district runs out of money as far as he can.

A brighter future

It wasn't all about financial gloom and doom. Both Slaby and Stuver are trying to have a bright outook about the state and the school district.

“It might happen a lot slower than anyone would hope for, but I’m truly optimistic that we’re going to see a better day in Ohio,” Slaby said.

“We’re going to be making some tough decisions, but we’re going to get through this, and we’re going to remain a quality district,” Stuver said.