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Local schools called 'victim of success'
(by Sue Hoffman - October 22, 2008)
Local schools called 'victim of success'
By SUE HOFFMAN
The new $40 million Kenston High School, which opened in August 2006, is being financed through a bond issue passed by the community in 2002. The 228,000-square-foot facility, located on 60 acres at Bainbridge and Snyder roads, features a 745-seat auditorium, two gymnasiums, weight room and media center, along with 60 classrooms.
At the time of its opening, bond issue co-chairs Deborah Grimm and Jeffrey Weemhoff said the new school filled the needs of the community but did not use extravagant building materials and remained within budget. District Treasurer Linda Hein said refinancing of other bonds helped save taxpayer dollars for the project.
A new high school in Ashtabula also opened in the fall of 2006, state Sen. Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chester, said last week at a school-funding forum at Kenston High School. Unlike Kenston's new facility, Lakeside High School was funded 80 percent by the State of Ohio, he said, and includes a hydraulic orchestra pit that rises from the floor.
School officials often point out that little has been done to fix school funding since the DeRolph decision of 1997, in which the Ohio Supreme Court ruled the school-funding system unconstitutional. However, the legislature has taken steps to fix the system, Mr. Grendell said.
"The bottom line was that DeRolph was not about us. It was about the other side of the spectrum," he said. More money has gone to Perry County, where Nathan DeRolph attended school, as well as Appalachia and the Cleveland and Columbus public schools, he said.
"We have been the victim of our own success," Mr. Grendell said, referring to the different allocation of funds for "high-wealth" and "low-wealth school" districts.
Mr. Grendell was one of several speakers to discuss funding issues at the forum, which was sponsored by the Kenston Citizens Advisory Committee. Others included state Rep. Matthew J. Dolan, R-Russell, Geauga County Auditor Tracy Jemison and citizens advisory committee vice chairman Dennis Lehman, of Bainbridge.
In introducing the speakers, advisory committee chairman Paul O'Connor said his committee has the responsibility of seeking input on issues from the community and bringing it to the attention of the school board and administration. One of the main issues is school funding, he said.
When it comes to funding, Mr. Dolan agreed with Mr. Grendell that high- and low-wealth school districts are treated differently. "This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue," he said. "It's going to take both sides coming together."
Currently, the state spends $10.3 billion on public education, Mr. Dolan said. If that money were divided equally among all 611 school districts, using the state funding formula of $5,732 per student, there wouldn't be enough money for special education, professional development and other educational costs.
The Kenston School District spends $10,000 per student and has an excellent rating, Mr. Dolan said.
In the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, which is on academic watch, over $11,000 is spent per student.
Mr. Lehman discussed that disparity. "The tax liability for 2006 for Kenston was $38 million. We received $4,150,000 in state foundation aid, which amounts to 11 cents for every dollar in taxes paid to the state. Conversely, Cleveland schools received over $429 million, and their tax liability was only $128 million, amounting to $3.35 received for every dollar of tax liability to the state."
Unfunded mandates are another concern for the Kenston district, Mr. Lehman said. Special-education costs, for example, totaled $4.2 million in fiscal 2008, compared to $2 million 10 years ago.
The increasing financial burden on higher-wealth school districts also was addressed by Mr. Jemison. In the 1996-1997 school year, 66.5 percent of the funding of the Kenston School District was paid by local taxpayers, and 33.5 percent was paid by the state, he said. In the 2006-2007 school year, 86.8 percent was paid by local taxpayers, and 13.2 percent was paid by the state.
Mr. Jemison projected that the state will pay $1,232 per student this year, based on a multi-step formula and an average daily enrollment of 3,079 students in Kenston.
The county auditor also discussed the state phase-out of personal-property, or inventory, taxes to attract business to Ohio. The tax will be completely phased out in 2009. In 2005, Kenston received $21.2 million in real estate taxes and $4.2 million in personal property taxes.
School districts are being compensated by the state for the loss of personal-property taxes from the commercial-activity tax, he said. But he added, "At this time, the CAT tax is not a permanent replacement for the loss of personal property taxes." In fact, current law has the CAT tax phasing out starting in 2011.
"We need to make that a locally controlled tax," said Mr. Grendell.
"We now earmark 70 percent of the CAT tax to go to education," Mr. Dolan said.
Both Mr. Grendell and Mr. Dolan talked about the need to eliminate unfunded mandates.
The state should give school systems that are rated as excellent more flexibility and free them from some of the mandates, Mr. Dolan said. He said taxpayers' request for such flexibility could make a difference.
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