RAVENNA, Ohio — As the new academic year approaches for Ravenna City Schools, families with children in the district will need to get used to some major changes after the state of Ohio placed the Portage County school system in the "fiscal caution" category earlier this summer.
According to the Ohio Auditor's website, fiscal caution is the first of three increasingly severe categories that alert school districts of potential financial distress. Fiscal watch, followed by the most severe stage of fiscal emergency, are the other two categories.
FAILURE TO PASS LEVIES
"Ravenna School District has not passed an operating levy since 2005," Interim Superintendent Ben Ribelin wrote in an email to 3News. "As costs have risen and our revenue has not changed, it has led to a projected deficit."
Earlier this month, the district posted a letter on its Facebook page that projected deficits of $3,143,154 for fiscal year 2025 and $7,010,642 in fiscal year 2026. According to Ribelin, who is a 1995 graduate of the district, Ravenna Schools has had funding measures on the ballot during the last three elections. They all failed.
"We have done a lot of work over the last couple of years to right size the district and lower our expenditures so that we do not exceed our revenue," Ribelin added.
BUDGET CUTS
Spending cuts will impact busing for the 2024-25 school year. High school students will no longer be bused to and from school, while the walking distance for grades K-8 will increase from a quarter-mile to a half-mile. Students with special needs who have transportation requirements specified in their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are not impacted.
"RSD has a responsibility to educate our students. We have to live within our means and cannot sacrifice education," Ribelin wrote. "We have done our very best to find ways to stay fiscally responsible and unfortunately, transportation was our next step."
The district's social media post informing families of the change currently has nearly 200 comments. Some people expressed frustration, while others advocated for the community to pass school levies to help the district and its close to 2,000 students.
According to Ribelin, the district has placed an emergency tax levy worth $3.25 million on this November's ballot. The cost to individual taxpayers is being determined.
Additional cuts this academic year include the loss of seven teachers and three classified positions (school employees that do not need certification or licensure), the district not filling 16 vacant teaching positions, eliminating an administrative position, and reducing extracurricular activities.
RAVENNA IS NOT ALONE
Ravenna is not the only Northeast Ohio school district flagged by the state. According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the Mogadore Local School District in Summit and Portage counties has been under fiscal caution since June of 2023. Mogadore announced earlier this summer that the district is going to state-minimum busing requirements this school year.
The same report also indicated the Springfield Local School District in Summit County has been in fiscal watch since September of 2021.
