CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Metropolitan School District has been tasked with creating a "financial recovery plan" should the district's levy, also known as Issue 68, on the November ballot not pass.
The plan is required by the Ohio Department of Education for all schools who at the end of the previous academic year were "unable to forecast a positive fund balance for the 2020-2021 school year" that is not dependent on a levy's passing. It's a grouping denoted as "fiscal caution."
The plan is a "theoretical exercise" to demonstrate how the district will balance the budget if the levy were to fail. While the hope is that it will pass, CMSD CEO Eric Gordon said in a statement released Tuesday, that if it does fail, it will have grave implications.
"Should the levy fail, the cuts will be very deep and will impact all levels of the system. The cuts would fall into three categories: a significant number of additional school closures, deep programmatic cuts, and a significant reduction of our workforce at all levels of the organization," the press released read.
The "financial recovery plan" was presented to the Board of Education on during a public meeting Tuesday evening.
The levy, which is a 15-mill renewal and a 5-mill increase, will be used to cover the district’s operating budget for 10 years. For more information on Issue 68, click here.
