MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Schools is in its strongest financial position in years, treasurer Tammy Hamilla said Tuesday night.
At the close of its fiscal year on June 30, the school system had a cash balance of approximately $4.95 million.
That’s the equivalent of 36 days’ worth of operating expenses.
“It’s fantastic,” said Hamilla, who began working for the district at the beginning of 2025. “It’s been a lot of hard work.”
Hamilla said the Auditor of State recommends school districts carry a true cash balance of between 30 and 90 days’ worth of operating expenses. She predicts the district will end next fiscal year with 69 days of cash on hand.
It’s a far cry from time last year, the district had less than 10 days’ worth of operating expenses in the bank, according to a report from the Ohio Department of Education.
At that point, the district had recently gone through a staff reduction that led to the elimination of more than a dozen administrative positions, plus more than 60 teaching and support staff roles through attrition and a reduction in force.
Hamilla called the cuts painful, but necessary.
After those cuts, the district was projected to end Fiscal Year 2026 with a balance of $1.2 million.
“We’ve done a lot. It started with our with our budget cuts, but that wasn’t enough to get us there,” Hamilla said. “Then we stumbled into the whole TeamCare (health insurance option), which was really a Godsend to this district.”
The district began offering its employee health insurance through TeamCare, a health insurance affiliated with the Teamsters union, in January. At the time, district officials said switching its employee health insurance would save Mansfield City Schools around $4 million a year.
“The insurance thing actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it saved the district a lot of money, but it’s very, very, very good insurance,” Hamilla said.
“We’re still working. We’re not done yet. We’ll keep looking for ways to save money.”
Board approves online instruction plan for snow day make up
The board also approved an online instruction plan for making up hours due to snow days or other unanticipated school closures.
School districts are not required to make up calamity days online, but they are required by the state to have an approved plan for doing so, according to director of technology Fayette Gahr.
“I’m sure you guys are all aware of blizzard bags. This kind of replaces the blizzard bags. They don’t allow those anymore,” Gahr told the board.
The district could opt to have up to three districtwide online learning days if it exceeds the seven calamity days allowed during the school year.
Gahr said the online learning days would be similar to how students learned from home during the pandemic.
Teachers would be online and able to interact with students, parents and guardians in real time via Google Classroom, telephone (school phone numbers) and email. Staff would be required to take attendance and notify families of absences.
The plan states that students and families will be notified in advance if the district will use online instruction day via the district’s Bright Arrow notification system. Notifications will also be posted on district social media pages, the Mansfield City Schools Tyger App, via digital newsletters and via the Tyger Fireside Chat.
Wellness team
The board voted to approve an agreement with the Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board and Catalyst Life Services to implement a wellness team for the 2026-2027 school year.
The team will be made up of two licensed clinicians and an assigned supervisor. The team will be on site an average of 20 hours per week, at a maximum of 720 hours over the course of the school year.
Catalyst will invoice the district at a rate of $75 per hour for the Wellness Team’s time at the school, at a maximum of $54,000 over the course of the school year.
The team will educate students on topics like stress management, time management, managing test anxiety and signs of depression.
The team will also provide pre-crisis and crisis intervention for students and staff and small group support as needed.
Wellness team members will also be able to provide students with “individual, brief, solution-focused wellness meetings” and if, necessary, work with families to discuss a student’s need for ongoing counseling and explore options.
Superintendent Stan Jefferson said the district has already been working with Catalyst to provide mental health support in all district buildings.
The board also:
- Approved various personnel items, including the reassignment of Kathy Phelps to middle school dean of students.
- Approved a salary schedule for its safety services personnel, starting at $16.75 an hour for regular employees and $18.40 for the head of security.
- Voted to appoint facilities director Robert Booth as OFCC project manager for the potential construction of a new elementary school.
