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Thursday, 16 July 2009 |
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 By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — After lawmakers approved Gov. Ted Strickland’s two-year state budget earlier this week, local school officials learned they will be receiving less in their coffers.
According to the budget numbers released by the Ohio Department of Education, St. Marys City Schools will have its state share sliced by 0.62 percent for the 2009-10 year — the first year of the budget — and decreased by 1.01 percent for the 2010-11 school year.
“It’s not very surprising,” St. Marys Superintendent Mary Riepenhoff said. “We had an idea of how much it would be when the preliminary budget was released earlier this year.”
Although the district will have its budget decreased, the district is also receiving federal funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — an amount that will total more than $700,000.
“The budget will be cut, but the stimulus funds we receive will help, especially with special needs,” Riepenhoff said.
The Minster and New Bremen school districts will see the biggest decrease — with both districts seeing a 1 percent decrease in the first year of the budget and a 2 percent decrease in the second year.
“We’re sad that our educational budget will be reduced, but we do understand Ohio’s income tax and sales taxes are coming in at a lower rate,” New Bremen Superintendent Ann Harvey said. “It’s a realistic budget and one New Bremen can live with.”
Harvey said the district started looking at ways to tighten its budget when the preliminary numbers debuted earlier this year.
“We’ve been proactive in looking at budget cuts since the spring,” she said.
Harvey also acknowledged Strickland’s effort in paying attention to school.
“The legislators and governor made an effort to make education a priority,” she said.
“They’ve acknowledged the importance of education in Ohio’s future.”
The New Knoxville School District will see its state share reduced by 0.55 percent in 2009-10 and by 0.83 percent in 2010-11.
New Knoxville Superintendent Kim Waterman said her district also looked at making cuts earlier this year.
“When they first started talking about the funding for schools, we saw it was either going to be fortunate or cut pretty far,” Waterman said, noting she had seen a 2.5 percent decrease at one point in the preliminary numbers.
“We were already planning to take a look at what we can do. We can take a look and see what our budget is and see what we can do. Hopefully, it will be able to work.”
She was also not too happy with the decrease.
“The decrease is definitely disappointing,” Waterman said.
Also in Auglaize County, Wapakoneta City Schools will see a 0.39 percent decrease in the first year of the budget and a 0.38 percent decrease in the second year. The Waynesfield-Goshen Local School District was the only area district to see an increase. The district’s state share will dip by 0.46 percent in 2009-10, but will be increased 2.15 percent in 2010-11. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 September 2009 )
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