Letter to the Editor: Superintendent Powers Adresses Budget Cuts

Dear Twinsburg Schools Community:

Recently, the Ohio Department of Education released a draft ranking list of school districts and school buildings in Ohio.  This ranking is based on the Performance Index score which is tabulated using students’ results on the Ohio Achievement Tests and the Ohio Graduation Tests.  The purpose for the ranking will be to provide parents and taxpayers a new way to evaluate how local schools are performing while allowing educators to compare their performance against their peers.  A first glimpse of the draft ranking list indicates that our Twinsburg students achieve at a very high degree of success as our school district ranked 65^th out of 613 school districts in Ohio.  This means that the ranked in the top 11% of all school districts in the state!

We have much to be proud of in the Twinsburg City School District.  We celebrate the success of our students but at the same time, we are cognizant of the challenges our District faces. Perhaps the greatest is the financial challenge which is occurring due to decreased funding at the federal, state and local levels. The District has and continues to make substantial efforts to contain and reduce costs.  Through attrition and cost cutting measures, we have permanently cut over one million dollars from the District’s budget. Renegotiating service contracts, upgrading equipment, consortium buying, grant opportunities and scrutinizing hiring practices have reduced overall costs. 

Although much has been done to contain costs, the loss in revenue we are experiencing is having a negative impact on our ability to meet expenditures. In light of these circumstances, we are developing a plan to address this financial shortfall. Recently, more than 700 community members provided input regarding the various options that have been suggested to address this situation. This input was provided during the recent Community Forums and through staff meetings held with our employees.

The Board of Education will review the information provided by the community during two upcoming meetings, January 18 at 7 p.m. at the and on January 25 at 6 p.m. in the Large Group Instruction Room at .  The Board of Education is scheduled to pass a resolution at its February 1 meeting which will define the financial goal for reductions.  Following that meeting, we will identify reduction targets and potentially recommend increases in revenue through the institution of fees.  The final reduction plan will be recommended for Board of Education approval on April 18.

The Twinsburg City School District is at a crossroads as many tough decisions are before us.  I genuinely appreciate the feedback of our community members.  I am deeply grateful for your continued interest and support as we work to finalize a plan which will address the financial challenges while providing effective strategies that ensure Twinsburg students maintain the highest level of performance in all aspects of their education.

Sincerely yours,

Kathryn M. Powers

Superintendent