MADISON TOWNSHIP — The Madison Local Schools board of education will likely vote next week to close Mifflin Elementary School and cut at least 26 jobs districtwide.
The school board met Tuesday, along with with Supt. Rob Peterson and Treasurer Bradd Stevens, to discuss the district’s financial future after residents rejected a proposed income tax levy last week.
They agreed to formally vote on several cost-cutting measures at the next meeting on Nov. 19.
School officials said the final positions haven’t been determined, cuts will impact teachers, administrative and support staff from the elementary up through the high school.
“I can’t see cutting any less than that (26 positions),” Peterson said. “I could see, based on our financial position, that it could be more than that. I wouldn’t think it would be significantly more than that.”
Stevens said the reductions should result in around $2 million in savings.
The board will also vote on implementing pay-to-participate fees for athletics and clubs, and whether to sell district-owned property at 690 Ashland Road, where the former Madison Junior High School once sat.
According to Stevens, the district only uses the property for its adult education program. Students in the commercial driver’s license (CDL) program practice in the parking lot.
Peterson said the district hasn’t sold the property in the past in support of the local youth soccer leagues that use the fields — but holding on to the property is no longer an option.
“We’re kind of at a disadvantage in the Madison area because we don’t have any park out here (with soccer fields) that our youth organizations have access to,” he said.
Stevens said the district had the seven-acre property appraised in April and it was valued at $420,000.
District insurance costs up 18 percent for next year
Last week’s levy failure isn’t the only recent financial blow to the district.
Richland County Commissioners recently voted to double the current state-funded 2.5 percent owner-occupancy credits for homeowners, starting next year.
That means Madison Local Schools will receive about $168,416.83 less in property tax collections next year.
The district also saw its insurance costs for 2026 increase by nearly 18 percent.
The school board voted at its last regular meeting to change its third-party administrator, which processes claims on behalf of the district’s self-funded plan.
According to Stevens, the district’s current provider, Medical Mutual, quoted the district at $12.8 million for 2026. So the board voted to go with Jefferson Health Plan, which quoted the district $11.7 million.
But that’s still a higher cost than Stevens was expecting. In the district’s financial projections, he’d budgeted for a 13-percent hike.
Stevens has repeatedly said the insurance costs are “bankrupting” the district. School officials at Mansfield City Schools and Lexington have also cited health insurance as an increasing financial drain.
Stevens said the district is implementing prescription management starting next school year to curtail costs.
Prescription management policies often include capping how many days’ worth of medication an employee can receive during a refill. They also often include “step therapy,” which requires employees to try a lower cost (often generic) prescription drug before they can use insurance to pay for brand-name versions.
Stevens said that can be helpful because medications advertised on TV often have generic alternatives that are significantly less expensive.
“I think the GLP-1s is probably what’s really driving (increased prescription drug costs),” Stevens said at the October board meeting.
“There have been instances where physicians have prescribed GLP-1s to people just for weight loss and it was meant for diabetes,” he added. “By the end of June, the district had spent over $300,000 just on GLP-1 medications.”
Board members will continue discussing future levy possibilities
District officials also discussed how to approach a future levy attempt, debating whether it’s best to put an income tax levy back on the ballot in May or November.
Board members discussed whether or not to put the removal of a 7.5 mill property tax back on the table. One board member, Mary Kotterman, suggested it “didn’t seem to matter” to voters during last week’s election.
Several school officials said that might be a moot point if a measure to eliminate property taxes entirely makes it onto the ballot in 2026.
In the end, no decisions were made regarding a future levy, but board members decided to continue holding work sessions to discuss next steps.