Parma City schools forecast shortfalls as state aid falls; board urged to prepare for levy and levy-law changes

Parma City School District trustees heard a detailed review of the district's five-year financial forecast on Oct. 9, 2025, and were told the district's calculated state aid will drop sharply in FY26. Chris Moore, a K-12 financial consultant, said the district's calculated state funding fell from about $25.7 million in FY25 to roughly $16.9 million in the FY26 estimate included in the district packet.

Moore told the board the drop came largely from three inputs the state's Fair School Funding calculations use: Parma's 2024 property reappraisal (assessed value rising from about $2.6 billion to $3.352 billion), an increase in federally adjusted gross income used in the model, and a declining average daily membership (ADM). "If your property value and your federally adjusted gross income go up and your enrollment is going down, all three of those exacerbate what would be considered your local capacity per pupil," Moore said, describing how the combination reduced state basic aid to the district.

Moore also explained that the state's base-cost inputs remain frozen at FY22 levels in the current biennial budget language, meaning the state's computed per‑pupil base cost did not rise with local wage and benefit realities. He contrasted the state's FY22 frozen teacher-salary input with Parma's actual FY24 average classroom-teacher salary of $84,004: "If they moved those average salaries up to fiscal year 24 level, we wouldn't have your drop that you saw from '25 to '26," he said.

Moore highlighted additional technical points trustees asked about: the district's Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA) factor fell under House Bill 96 language (the DPIA factor cited in the presentation fell from 9.725 to 8.5 for the district), and the legislature has left the biennial budget potentially open to further override activity through late 2026. "We're still working on House Bill 96," Moore said, and noted the uncertain schedule could affect the district's planning.

Trustees asked about local responses and timing for levy work. Superintendent S.J. Hunt and district staff summarized grassroots preparations: yard-sign installs, a literature drop, a town-hall meeting planned for Oct. 20 and other outreach. Trustees also discussed potential operational responses; Moore and district staff said there are limited internal options that reliably replace tens of millions of dollars from levies or state aid. Moore warned the district could reach a negative ending cash balance in FY29 in the forecast if additional revenue is not approved, noting the district is "about $10,000 away from the temporary transition aid guarantee" in the model and that the district's ending cash balance is forecast to go negative beginning in 2029 under current assumptions.

Board members raised the coming loss of emergency-levy flexibility under proposed statutes and the 20‑mill floor rule that affects eligibility for state foundation funding. Moore said emergency levies that expire will likely have to be replaced with fixed-sum levies, and that the 20‑mill floor adopted in 1977 means districts must collect at least 20 mills to remain eligible for state foundation funding. He told trustees that Parma's three emergency levies currently on the books produce about $40 million and expire in 2030, 2031 and 2034, which would require long-range planning.

What trustees decided: the board received and discussed the five-year forecast and continued planning for the district's levy campaign and community outreach. The board did not adopt any new revenue measure at the meeting; it passed routine appropriations and approvals later in the session (see "Votes at a glance" for a list of routine resolutions approved). The superintendent and treasurer said they would continue to refine assumptions and update the board as legislative actions and enrollment counts arrive.

Because the forecast depends on still-unsettled state budget actions and local property-tax law proposals, the district's next steps are to monitor legislative developments, update enrollment and tax data, and continue outreach for levies already planned for the ballot.