Today begins a five-part series called “Funding the Future,” which examines the financial picture of the Mansfield City Schools.
Here is how the series will unfold. Stories will publish each day at 10 a.m.:
Monday: An overview with the recent financial history in the district.
Tuesday: How MCS found its way into — and out of — fiscal oversight
Wednesday: MCS enrollment declines, deficit-spending continues
Thursday: Five things you may not know about MCS finances
Friday: How can you get involved in the effort?
MANSFIELD — Teacher cuts. A multi-million dollar operating deficit. The looming threat of state financial oversight.
Sound familiar?
Last month, the Mansfield City Schools board of education approved a plan to cut $5.3 million from next year’s operating budget.
The plan is designed to rein in deficit spending and avoid possible fiscal oversight by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
It calls for the elimination of 14 administrative positions, plus more than 60 teaching and support staff roles through attrition and a reduction in force.
The school district was required to submit the plan to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce due to its projected operating deficits.
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 if no changes were made. It also projected the district would run out of operating funds before the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
But even if the plan submitted to the state last month is fully implemented, the district is only expected to operate in the black through the 2026-2027 school year, according to its own projections in that plan.
How did we get here?
This plan was the second the district was required to submit in the last nine months. The first one was approved by the school board in July 2024.
At the time, then-treasurer Barb Donohue told Richland Source the district’s deficit reduction plan included cuts already approved by the school board — including $1.2 million in budget cuts, two terminated service contracts and the closure of the Tyger Digital Academy.
That proposal was accepted by the ODEW in August.
But multiple officials, including board president Chris Elswick and Dorthy Pietrykowski, an ODEW fiscal consultant, later said the plan was not fully implemented.
Supt. Stan Jefferson and Treasurer Tammy Hamilla did not respond to a request for comment on which aspects of the plan weren’t implemented and why. Hamilla was not employed with the district until about five months after the first plan was approved.
After the first deficit reduction plan wasn’t “fully implemented,’ the state education department could have placed Mansfield City Schools under official oversight.
“While this is cause for fiscal caution, the Department has held off on a declaration because of progress made with the current written plan over the last two months which, at this time, fully eliminates the projected FY26 deficit,” Pietrykowski wrote to district officials in a Feb. 7 email, obtained by Richland Source through a public records request.
A review of the district’s annual financials found that Mansfield City Schools has spent more than it has taken in during four of the last five fiscal years, despite receiving nearly $23 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
Meanwhile, the district consistently spends more per pupil than “similar” school districts — defined by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce as other average-sized, urban, high poverty school districts.
Mansfield City has also experienced significant turnover in the treasurer’s office during the last 15 months.
Tacy Courtright, the district’s treasurer since 2020, left midway through 2023-2024 the school year. She received more than $25,000 as part of a separation agreement with the district.
The district had three interim treasurers in 2024 — Judy Forney, Barb Donohue and Jennifer Hedrick. Hamilla was hired in December and began her duties on Jan.1, 2025.
Mansfield City Schools has a history of financial trouble
Mansfield City School’s financial woes aren’t new. In fact, the school system has spent the better part of the last two decades on the state’s radar for less-than-stellar financial projections.
The district was under state fiscal oversight from 2006 through 2016. It was a tough time for the Mansfield City Schools, characterized by building closures, budget cuts, large reductions in force and at times, polarizing and controversial leadership.
External factors impacted the city and its economy — from the Great Recession to the closure of a General Motors plant that employed hundreds of Mansfield residents. Mansfield City Schools faced continued declining enrollment, exacerbated by the introduction and expansion of Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program.
Nevertheless, the district managed to keep financial emergency at bay. Then came the November 2012 election, when voters rejected a renewal levy responsible for $4 million in annual revenue for the district.
By 2013, Mansfield City Schools was in fiscal emergency — the most serious phase of state oversight.
It took three years to get the district’s finances back on track. Now, less than 10 years later, deficit spending has once again placed Mansfield City Schools on the state’s radar.
Over the next few days, Richland Source will be publishing a series of articles on the fiscal history and current state of Mansfield City Schools.
While working on this series, Richland Source examined dozens of reports from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and the Auditor of State’s office. This reporting has also been informed by interviews with school staff, board members and information obtained from the district via public records request.
The series explores the district’s past financial oversight and examines the district’s current financial status and challenges. It breaks down how the district is funded, how those funds are spent and how Mansfield City Schools compares to similar districts around the state.
It will conclude by providing insights on how residents can make their voices heard and become part of the solution.
Public schools are just that — public. They exist for the public. They’re funded by the public. Their futures are determined by the members of the public who choose to stay informed and stay involved.
Our goal is that this coverage empowers the public to make Mansfield City Schools the best it can be.
(Coming tomorrow: A decade of distress — How MCS found its way into — and out of — fiscal oversight.)