MANSFIELD — Administrators at Mansfield City Schools say the district will continue to look for cost-saving measures after releasing its most recent five-year forecast.
Treasurer Tacy Courtright briefed the school board on the November forecast Monday morning. The forecast predicts that overall expenditures will continue to rise from a projected $51.2 million in fiscal year 2023 to $59.2 million in fiscal year 2027.
The district’s operating deficit is projected to grow from $780,879 in FY 2023 to $10.5 million in FY 2027.
Courtright said the deficit is projected to increase significantly in FY 2025 because school districts are required to finish spending their federal COVID-19 relief funds in FY 2024.
Mansfield City has been using COVID relief money (also known as ESSER) to pay for counselors and school nurses. In FY 2025, those salaries and benefits will be reintroduced into the general fund budget.
Courtright said the district is using most of its remaining ESSER funding on one-time expenses or items that would typically be purchased from its permanent improvement fund, like curriculum and Chromebooks.
Meanwhile, the district’s end-of-the-fiscal-year cash balance and unreserved fund balances are projected to remain positive through FY 2025.
School treasurers often caution the public to take fiv- year forecasts with a grain of salt, as they represent predictions for a single moment in time. Ohio schools receive a substantial portion of their operating revenue from the state budget, which is determined by the state legislature every two years.
“A lot of things can happen, especially when you’re going out two or three years,” Courtright said.
Courtright projected higher state funding levels due to the passage of the Fair School Funding Plan last year. She said she chose to make “pretty conservative” estimates about real estate tax revenue, due to external factors like inflation, a cooling market and the recent midterm elections.
The Ohio Department of Education requires school districts to submit a five-year forecast twice annually. These forecasts provide a snapshot of a district’s general operating expenses. They do not include revenue and expenditures for separate funds like athletics, food service or permanent improvement. PI funds are used for capital improvement projects such as the maintenance, repair or construction of school property and some equipment items designed to last five years or more.
Courtright said one way the district administration hopes to save money in the years to come is through attrition.
“We’re not talking any RIFs (reduction in force), we’re just talking ‘What can we do internally to try to streamline those processes through the normal attrition of people leaving and retiring?'” she said.
“We have a lot of people who are older, so as we have people retire, we will definitely have to look at whether those (employees) get replaced. If we do replace them, we’ll likely be able to younger staff person so we’ll have a cost savings there.”
Courtright said costs for benefits are higher than she would like, but the district is working with a new broker in an effort to reduce that cost. The district also has a benefit committee with representatives from the staff union, bus driver union, administration and school board that meets every other month to discuss the district’s options.
Courtright said she doesn’t think there will be cuts to benefits; rather, the district is trying to save money by comparing providers and trying to get better rates.
Supt. Stan Jefferson said districts typically look at salaries and benefits when there is a need to cut costs. He believes Mansfield City Schools will have to approach its finances more holistically, looking for cost savings in all areas of the budget.
“We have to continue to look at ways that we can be very good stewards,” he said.
“It will involve us really analyzing our budget. We must truly take a look at all of our expenditures. I think we will find out that there are areas that we can do some cost savings.”
Jefferson noted that school districts across the country are dealing with rising costs. Repairs and supplies cost more than they did before the pandemic. Discussions on cost savings in the district are ongoing and will continue, bolstered by the insight the five-year forecast provides.
“We will address it as a district,” he said.
The board of education also took the following actions Monday:
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Approved the five-year forecast
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Approved a memorandum of understanding with College Now of Greater Cleveland for its GEAR UP program
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Approved a quote from Guenther Mechanical to remove and replace a failed boiler at John Sherman Elementary for $39,526.
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Approved various personnel actions, including 16 substitute teacher contracts for positions that could not be filled by a permanent employee.
