PARMA, Ohio — Students in the Parma City School District return to the classroom on Tuesday, Sept. 3 -- and as the school year gets underway, 3News sat down with Superintendent Charles Smialek to discuss the year ahead.
Smialek said some students will notice changes at their schools on the first day of classes, as the district has been busy with construction projects throughout the summer.
"We invested $5.2 million this summer into modernizing playgrounds, fixing some air conditioning units that had become outdated, some roofs and we have some new parking lots," said Smialek. "So, nothing terribly exciting, but at the same time, pieces of daily life that make a difference for our students and our teachers."
Also new in the district this year are free lunches for all students. It follows a federal expansion of the program, making more districts eligible.
"It really lessens the tape parents have to jump through: the forms, the paperwork," Smialek said. "So, now we think it's really an equalizing factor and we're excited that our students will be able to have full stomachs as they enter their learning experiences."
As students head back to the classroom, the district is working through an uncertain financial future. Parma City School District's five-year forecast shows a looming deficit, but Smialek said he is optimistic, at least in the short-term. This comes despite the district withdrawing a levy from the upcoming fall ballot.
"It's still money that we need, but we also were sympathetic to what we're hearing throughout the community in terms of the sticker shock of the property reappraisals," said Smialek. "We are going to receive approximately $3.5 million is the estimate from the county and that is additional funding that will help us to really stave off that deficit. We had closed the deficit in 2027 to right around $6 million, so when you plug that $3.5 million all the way through fiscal year 2025, 2026, it'll be close. I mean we're not going to have a tremendous surplus in 2027, but I think we can get through still in green numbers."
Parma City School District has failed to pass a bond issue or levy six times in the past 13 years. Smialek said ultimately the district is trying to avoid making huge changes for students' classroom experience. He said despite whatever is going on in the district on a broader scale, his driving focus is on protecting the relationship between students and teachers.
"We have not passed new operating money since 2011, which really is a stretch," Smialek said. "We've really done everything we can to make sure we can avoid what we call sort of nuclear options of class sizes of 30 or 32. We don't want to send high school students home after five periods. We've done everything we can to shrink our central office."
Smialek noted when personnel changes are made the district looks to see if something can be cut and whether more responsibility can be distributed among others; but, as those cuts are made, burnout can come into play.
"We do have a fear of burnout. We've seen the national studies of folks that go into teaching want to leave it within five years. We try to be as supportive as possible," said Smialek. "We really want them to feel supported. We want them to feel like this is a team effort."
When it comes to the upcoming school year, Smialek said he is most excited to see the wide variety of opportunities available to students in the district.
"I'm really most excited about the programs that we've added that continue to expand. We've always said that we're large enough in Parma to be a one-stop shop," said Smialek. "We started a gifted school a year ago and that's expanding. We started A.C.E.S., which is a school for students with autism, several years ago and that continues to expand. So, we're excited. Yes, we have challenges financially, but we're always looking to really tailor unique offerings to student needs and we're excited that those are growing."
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