Facing major funding cuts in the proposed state budget, Columbus City Schools' Superintendent Angela Chapman spoke to the House Education Committee on Tuesday.
Chapman told WOSU on Wednesday that she wanted the committee to know that CCS has been making steady progress and losing state dollars will have a negative impact.
"There's a lot of great work that's happening in Columbus City schools," Chapman told WOSU. "If we lose our state funding to the tune of over $45 million, that will impact our academic programming, our services, and it will have a significant impact on the entire organization and our community."
Under the state's new proposed school funding formula, Columbus City Schools will lose more than $45 million over the next two school years. The possible funding cuts comes as Columbus City Schools sees an increase in enrollment by about 2,000 students, for a total student body of about 47,000.
Chapman said if the district does lose what amounts to about half of its state funding, "we would have to take a hard look at how we allocate our resources."
She said that could include anything from staff layoffs to cuts to programs, wraparound services and after school activities, to impacts to transportation.
District treasurer Ryan Cook said under the new funding formula, Columbus would eventually have to go to the taxpayers to fill the gap of missing money.
"We're going to see an increase in asks to the community. No we're not talking about that now. There have been no discussions about levies," Cook assured. "We're very much just paying attention to the introduction of this budget bill and seeing how it flows through the legislative process."
Voters approved a roughly $100 million levy in Nov. 2023, which included about $38 million for operating costs. Chapman has already said that a significant loss in state funding would "essentially wipe out" the operating portion of the levy.
Chapman and Cook stressed that until the state budget is passed, they are focused on advocacy and having conversations with state lawmakers. They encourage district families and concerned citizens to make their voices heard. Chapman said residents can submit written testimony or speak to the House Finance Committee or write directly to the legislature.
Cook said he was "astonished" when he first heard about the possible funding cuts.
"When you look at the impact to our district, coming on the heels of the fiscal cliff with all of the ESSER (federal pandemic) funds, the wraparound supports that students have needed and has been such a critical issue, it was astonishing to see," Cook said. "But I think more importantly, those dollars translate right into the classroom. So, that was a difficult pill to swallow."
