Hamilton superintendent urges one‑time cuts to eliminate multimillion‑dollar deficit, schedules Dec. 19 special meeting

Andrea Blevins, superintendent of Hamilton City Schools, said on Dec. 11 that the district faces a multi‑million dollar budget shortfall driven by state funding changes and enrollment choices and urged the board to approve a one‑time set of reductions to stabilize finances.

"My recommended strategy is to try to cut that deficit…as close to 0 as possible," Blevins said, arguing that smaller, repeated cuts would force the district to return to the same decisions year after year. She told board members and the public the most recent version of the Fair School Funding changes increased the district's projected shortfall from about $1 million to nearly $5 million this year and, without corrective action, that gap could grow in future forecasts.

Why it matters: Blevins and staff said adjustments to the state formula have halted planned input increases, and other policy shifts—cited in…