Twinsburg Schools Could Lay Off 70 Staff Members to Ease Deficit

Keeping the financially sound could mean cutting about 70 (combined certified and classified) staff members, busing and implementing pay-to-participate, said Superintendent Kathryn Powers at a public forum on Tuesday.

The forum was held to inform taxpayers about the district's financial situation and of possible cuts that could be made. The purpose was also to get input from residents about what programs they think could stay or go.

Close to 200 people came, and it's safe to say that no one was excited about the potential district changes.

The district is spending more than its earning, Powers said, which means it is deficit spending by approximately $5.2 million.

The district is looking to make up that money by shaving $6 million from expenditures, the bulk of which is staff.

The district asked the audience to evaluate each item in a list of 46 possible cuts on whether they liked the idea, were neutral, or hated it.

Here is a portion of the items they were asked to rate:

• Lay off three people in administrative positions
• Lay off 29 classified staff, which includes janitors, custodians, mechanics, paraprofessionals, assistants, secretaries and bus drivers
• Lay off 40 teachers
• Restructure the high school to reduce graduation requirements from 24 credits to 21
• Offer six high school blocks rather than eight
• Shorten the high school student's day
• Reconfigure the middle school schedule
• Eliminate art, computers and language at middle school
• Reducing paper costs and increasing the use of technology
• Review and revise the transportation usage fee schedule for groups outside the district using buses
• Hold detention at one school instead of two
• Assess student fees for consumable items such as workbooks, testing supplies and technology
• Reduce building operating budgets by 10 percent
• Implement either a flat fee or percentage of cost of pay-to-participate
• Minimize high school and middle school busing
• Eliminate high school busing
• Go to the state minimum of busing which only provides rides for children who live more than two miles from school
• Make bids on private transportation
• Eliminate field trips
• Reduce classified staff overtime by two-thirds (the district had $300,000 in overtime last year)
• Revisit contracts through collective bargaining

There is also the option of asking taxpayers to pass a 4.9-mill levy in 2012 which would generate $4.1 million and cost the owner of a $100,000 home roughly $150 per year. Passing the levy on top of the cuts would give the district more of a financial cushion, said Mike Lenzo, district assistant superintendent.

Several audience members asked questions about changes at the high school, wondering if a shorter school day meant less education. Powers said the obvious answer was yes, but students would also need less credits to graduate.

Other people were worried about having children walk to school when the city doesn't have sidewalks, while others asked for more information overall before they made their votes on the evaluation list. One resident said it's time for the teachers to "settle down and start sacrificing."

"These decisions are not easy for us and we don't like making them," Powers said. "But we have to do something."

Another meeting will be held Jan. 11.