Westerville schools outline $20 million in potential cuts if November levy fails

Westerville City Schools officials told the school board on Sept. 22 they are projecting a multi-year operating deficit and recommended a set of reductions that would be implemented if voters do not approve a proposed 0.75% earned-income tax on Nov. 4. The district presented a target reduction of about $20,000,000 to close projected gaps in fiscal years 2026–2028.

District finance staff said the forecast reflects continuing declines in the state share of school funding, flat local property tax revenue and rising expenses. “This forecast is developed based on the best information that we have available to us today,” Nicole Marshall, district finance staff, told the board during the presentation. Marshall said the district is projecting the general fund deficit to widen in coming years and that the $20 million figure represents a planning target, not a final budget.

The proposed reduction measures the administration presented to the board include changes across several program and staffing categories. The district recommended raising participation fees for extracurricular activities and athletics, scaling back transportation service, and making significant staffing reductions across elementary, middle and high school programs if the levy fails.

Why it matters: the board said the proposed earned-income tax would generate about $24.3 million if approved, and without that revenue the district would need to balance its budget through expense reductions and reserves. Board members and district leaders repeatedly emphasized that many of the recommended cuts would reduce student programming and would take years to restore if implemented.

Key details from the presentation - Forecast and scale: The district reported roughly 14,600 students and an operating budget near $229 million. Marshall said the district’s state funding share has declined markedly since 2021 and that a combination of legislative changes and updated local wealth factors has shifted more cost to local taxpayers. She described the fiscal outlook as “unstable” because the state formula and federal funding amounts remain uncertain. - Target reduction: District staff said they are planning for about $20 million in reductions if the Nov. 4 ballot issue fails. The board approved a resolution late in the meeting to adopt the reduction list as a planning framework to use if the ballot issue is not successful. - Pay-to-participate fees: To reduce the district’s supplemental pay and transportation subsidy for activities, the administration proposed increasing fees. The recommendation includes a $350 per-sport middle-school fee and a $500 per-sport high-school fee, with no family cap under the proposal, and a proposed club fee of $25 at middle school and $50 at high school. Staff estimated the increased fees would reduce the shortfall by roughly $1.3 million, with the caveat that revenue estimates are preliminary. - Transportation changes: The district proposed expanding non-transport zones and increasing distances between bus stops, a change staff said would eliminate a minimum of 14 bus routes from the current 96. Officials noted state code does not require districts to transport high-school students, but the administration said removing high school transportation was not recommended because of the district’s 52-square-mile geography. - Elementary-level reductions: The proposal includes up to 44 positions in specialists if the district moves ahead with deep reductions at the elementary level. In an extreme scenario staff proposed eliminating art, music, physical education and library media specialists at elementary schools and shortening the student day to preserve teacher planning time. District staff repeatedly said that these specialists are not legally required at elementary grade levels, but noted such cuts would have major effects on student experience. - Magnet program consolidation: The district recommended evaluating its two elementary magnet sites (Emerson and Hanby) for possible consolidation. The two programs together enroll about 625 students; consolidation could reduce facility and administrative costs but would shrink total magnet seats and require shifting students back to home schools. - Middle- and high-school programming: At middle school, administrators proposed options that could eliminate sixth-grade teaming, reduce elective offerings (art, music, world language) and shorten the school day to maintain teacher planning time. For high schools, the district said that legal graduation requirements limit reductions in core staffing, but recommended eliminating some electives, reducing AP/College Credit Plus (CCP) and library media specialists, and potentially phasing out the International Baccalaureate program over time (the district noted legal protections that require allowing enrolled juniors to finish a two-year IB diploma sequence). - Other district-level cuts: Staff said they would consider reductions in gifted services, specialized learning program staff, curriculum and instruction positions, technology support, human resources and fiscal personnel, custodial and maintenance staffing, and elimination of summer-school programming that is not required by law.

Public comment and community reaction Students, parents and educators spoke during the public-comment portion; many urged the board and voters to approve the levy and warned of the losses that would follow if the measures were implemented. Student speaker Paige Staman said AP and IB courses, extracurriculars and clubs “don’t just occupy our time, they shape our futures.” Todd Lotz, president of the Minerva Park Middle School PTSA, said cuts to services including mental-health supports would harm students who rely on school-based resources. English-learner advocate Samira Mohammed told the board that EL services are essential and urged voters to back the levy to preserve those supports.

What the board decided and next steps The board voted to approve the district’s list of proposed reduction measures as a planning framework to use if voters do not approve the Nov. 4 earned-income tax proposal. The approval is procedural: it allows staff to plan and to present specific implementation steps later if the ballot issue fails. District leaders said if the levy passes they would not implement the recommended reductions; if it fails, staff plan to phase reductions for implementation in the 2026–27 school year and rely on attrition where possible.

Uncertainties and limits District leaders repeatedly framed the figures as estimates. Marshall noted that the forecast excludes non-general funds and that state payments are updated repeatedly; she said the district used an Ohio Department of Education and Workforce calculator for preliminary estimates and does not yet have final payment reports. Staff also said some potential savings hinge on retirements and resignations that cannot be predicted.

Ending note Board members and members of the public said the stakes are high: restorations of programs cut during prior levy failures took many years, and cutting programming now could have long-term effects on recruitment, extracurricular participation and student supports. The board will continue work sessions and outreach before the Nov. 4 ballot and expects to return to specific implementation planning only if the levy is not approved.