MANSFIELD — No one enjoys a reduction in force, but if there has to be one, getting through it quickly is the best case scenario.
The Mansfield City School board voted Tuesday to approve the first resolution needed to enact a reduction in force ahead of the 2025-2026 school year.
“What they did tonight was just a procedural motion that they have to put in place, officially notify (the Mansfield School Employees Association) on or before April 1 of the district’s intent to implement a RIF,” said Brad Strong, MSEA president.
Last week, the board voted to approve a deficit reduction plan to submit to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. The plan outlined steps the board can take to eliminate its operating deficit, but further votes are needed to actually enact the changes.
That plan called for a RIF of 29 certified positions and seven classified positions next school year.
Strong said the deadline to complete the RIF process is May 1, but he hopes to have positions finalized by April 17 so staff members know whether their job is secure by Easter break.
“The sooner we get this process done, the better off we will be,” he said. “We’re working very hard at making sure all that stuff happens as expeditiously as we can.”
What happens next?
Strong said the first step in the RIF process is identifying which positions will be cut.
“That’s going on right now. We meet every Wednesday and we work on that list,” he said. “Administration makes those decisions. We don’t decide the positions.”
After the list is finalized, staff members in those positions will have the chance to “bump” those with less seniority and take on a new position in the district.
Seniority is the primary factor in “bumping” rights, though evaluations and certifications also play a role. Displaced staff can only bump someone out of a role if they have the certification necessary to fill it.
After bumping is complete, those without a position will lose their jobs.
Strong has been through multiple RIFs during his career with Mansfield City Schools.
“RIFs suck,” he said. “The good thing is, there’s a lot of districts that are hiring right now, so I don’t think a lot of those people who want to go back into work will be sitting without jobs for very long.”
The board’s deficit reduction plan also called for eliminating 19 other positions through retirement-based attrition. Strong said if additional staff members chose to retire or resign, it may free up more open positions and result in fewer people losing their jobs.
The union leader said teachers’ jobs are secure through the end of August. Support staff’s positions are secure for 90 days after board notification of a RIF, which Strong said will likely come this week.
Administrators are not represented by the union and aren’t terminated through a RIF process. The board did not discuss or vote on any administrative cuts Tuesday, but the plan voted on by the board calls for the elimination of 14 administrative positions.
Board president Chris Elswick said its possible administrative cuts could begin before the end of the fiscal year in July.
“We are going to talk about that,” Elswick said after Tuesday’s meeting.
“We have identified people that we don’t need, people whose work can be absorbed by other people, and then you want to let them stay till the end of July? I find that very counter-productive to what we’re trying to do.”
Mansfield City School’s most recent five-year forecast, submitted in November, projected an operating deficit of $3.9 million for the 2024-2025 school year. It also projected the district would run out of operating funds before the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
As a result, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce required Mansfield City Schools to submit a deficit reduction plan by Feb. 28. It’s the second such plan the state has required of the district in the last eight months.
If implemented fully, the proposed plan is projected to reduce district costs by $5.3 million next school year and about $7.2 million each in the next three school years.
Treasurer Tammy Hamilla said the reason next year’s projected savings are lower is because the district will have to pay out certain costs associated with retirements and staff cuts.
These costs include severance payments, unused vacation days and the district’s share of unemployment compensation for employees who lose their job and aren’t able to find a new one.
Proposed administrative cuts include:
- Eliminating the Human Resources department, which consists of four people, and outsourcing the department’s work.
- Eliminating the Academic Services department, which consists of two people. Richland Source asked for clarity on which positions these are and did not receive an answer.
- Eliminating two positions in the special education and pupil services department, including a behavior analyst and executive assistant.
- The transportation director will be reduced to a 3-day-per-week job, contracted through the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center.
- Eliminating one position in the treasurer’s department.
- Eliminating a central registration position and a floating principal position.
- Eliminating and rehiring assessment coordinator through a contract with the North Central Ohio Educational Service Center.
- Rehiring the director of school improvement on a three-day-a-week contract. This position would not be eligible for insurance.
