Coventry school district looks to make cuts if levy doesn’t pass
Coventry is asking for a 9.91-mill renewal of its five-year emergency tax levy, originally passed in 2003, that would generate about
The levy was renewed in 2008 and 2013. Another renewal was on the ballot in May, but it didn't pass.
Blough said it's the final chance the district has to pass the levy before it would have to start making cuts. Funding from the last renewal runs out at the beginning of 2019.
"Every time the renewal goes down between now and the end of next year, we would have to reduce more, reduce more, reduce more," Blough said.
If the levy renewal fails in November, proposed reductions beginning in January, include paring back to state minimum busing, eliminating spring sports and field trips and increasing fees for things like lunch and sports.
If the levy doesn't pass in May, proposed cuts include a reduction of staff and elimination of all sports, most band and choir programs and elementary recess.
And if the levy doesn't pass by next November, Blough said Coventry would have to begin looking into consolidation with a surrounding school district. Chaboudy proposed Akron or Barberton.
"It would practically devastate the district, to be honest, in the long run," Blough said. "With such a dramatic reduction in funding it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for the district to remain open."
Fiscal watch
This is the latest chapter of the district's financial woes.
Coventry was on fiscal watch for nearly 20 years -- a state record -- before the state placed it in fiscal emergency in 2015.
Blough said passage of the levy would allow the district to maintain current school operations, but it would also help pull the district out of fiscal emergency and generate a positive five-year forecast.
"Hopefully the renewal is the first step in getting out of fiscal emergency ... But even if we pass it, it's not going to mean we're completely out of the woods," Blough said. "We still have to maintain a tight, frugal budget."
It's not Coventry's first time staring down consolidation, either. Blough said when she began working in the district 23 years ago, right around the time it was first placed on fiscal watch, the district was talking about the possibility of merging with Akron schools.
Open enrollment
Open enrollment has repeatedly been a contentious issue in the district.
In July of last year, Auditor of State
The Coventry school district developed a committee to conduct its own audit per the State Auditor's recommendations, and the district's findings were vastly different. Blough said Coventry's committee dove deeper into the data and found that open enrollment actually nets a profit of about
Coventry's audit resulted in a pointed letter from Yost to the
"It defies common sense to believe that any school district can increase its enrollment by 58 percent -- as Coventry has done by accepting so many out-of-district students -- without adding costly teachers, classrooms, bus trips and other services. Yet this is essentially what Coventry is arguing," Yost wrote. "...
Many voters who rejected the renewal levy in the past say they stand with Yost's findings. Members of the
"This can only be addressed with the willingness to face fiscal facts ... [The auditors] are the experts. Obviously our school people aren't the experts, because we wound up in debt," Reed said. "We're against this levy until changes are made in the board and changes are made in the business model."
But if open enrollment opponents want a decrease, persistence might just be the key. Blough said controversy over the subject has played a part in decreasing open enrollment at the school by about 100 students in just two years, with kids leaving because of uncertainty over policy changes at the school.
As Blough moves into her new role as superintendent, those numbers might keep dropping. Regardless of whether the levy passes, Blough said she plans on looking at decreasing open enrollment numbers to achieve smaller class sizes.
"It's a goal for me to get to a point where we can manage open enrollment so it's in the best interest both academically and financially for the school system," Blough said.
"For the past few years, everything has been about finances for Coventry schools. Trying to get out of deficit has really consumed our work and focus, which I completely understand, but we kind of have to make a shift in that priority and focus and ensure that we are also thinking about the academic side of things, because that's really what we're here for."
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