10/01/2026
This was a tough one. ๐
Last nightโs special meeting included continued discussion of consolidation as well as budget cuts if the levy does not pass in November. We also quickly interviewed another potential audit consultant. Here are my takeaways.
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AUDIT CONSULTANT INTERVIEW โ
The board interviewed Jennifer Patterson of Patterson Consulting Group out of St. Louis. While theyโve not worked in Ohio, they came recommended to us by one of our former auditors. Jennifer explained that their goal would be to identify opportunities for efficiencies and savings, and would work with us to determine peer districts. The entire process would take 3 to 4 months and would not start until after we know the results of the election on November 3 since the impact of a failed levy would be significant. The projected cost was between $30,000โ$45,000 but could go down if we chose to narrow the scope of the audit. The board did not take action on hiring an auditor, nor did we discuss next steps.
๐ซ CONSOLIDATION DISCUSSION ๐ซ
Superintendent Heath shared a few more consolidation scenarios that use a district-wide kindergarten building that enables us to keep the high school with only the 9-12 grade bands. While the capacity/enrollment numbers are workable, these scenarios present several other issues, namely with transportation. In particular, the most favorable scenario from a capacity standpoint would be the K, 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 grade bandsโbut in order to make the bussing work here, we would need to eliminate bussing at the high school level due to lack of drivers. And even if we did, we would be looking at very long ride times for some kindergarteners (close to an hour each way). We would also have to stagger the closing of buildings, closing two the first year, then another afterward. Ultimately, it would reduce the amount of money the district would save.
The results of the community survey on consolidation are now posted to the district website for anyone to see. With nearly 1,900 respondents, the results were very mixed, and nearly split in terms of comfort level with moving 4th graders to an intermediate school and 8th graders to the high school. The majority of respondents did agree that itโs very important to keep neighborhood cohorts togetherโsomething the district is prioritizing. See the results at https://www.mentorschools.net/apps/news/article/2227568?categoryId=14873
As far as which schools would be closed or repurposed, Mr. Heath provided a few ideas, noting there would be two closures among the northern schools by combining Lake/Morton and Orchard/Bellflower OR Lake/Bellflower and Orchard/Morton. In the south, Ridge will stay open. That leaves us to consider combining Ridge with preK and Fairfax/Hopkins OR bringing preK to Hopkins and combining Ridge/Fairfax.
Staff are also proactively thinking about how to transition 8th graders to the high school, and shared some ideas with us, including:
๐ Protected cohort lunch and core scheduling
๐ Staggered arrival/dismissal or building navigation buffer
๐ Dedicated summer bridge program, tours, and walk-throughs at the high school
๐ Early-warning/progress monitoring system and built-in intervention systems
๐ Peer mentoring with upperclassmen, having mentors serve in key roles such as guides throughout the hallways during the first few weeks of school
We expect a final plan to be presented at our Oct. 13 meeting. Meanwhile, the district will begin hosting factual town hall meetings about consolidation plans and the levy. Please attend these with your questions, concerns, and ideas.
Oct. 7, Paradigm: 6pm
Oct. 12, Lake Elementary: 6pm
Oct. 22, Hopkins Elementary: 6pm
๐ BUDGET CUTS IF THE LEVY FAILS ๐
Superintendent Heath outlined the potential cuts if the levy fails in November. He noted that we listened to the community after the May levy failed, implemented $10M in cuts, which allowed us to make a smaller ask for the fall levy.
If the fall levy fails, and we try again in the spring, we will be looking at the following areas to make $9.6M in cuts:
โฌ Elimination of 137 positions
โฌ Electives moving toward state minimums
โฌ Salaries and benefits components
โฌ More increases in pay-to-play and extracurriculars
โฌ Reducing or eliminating clubs and activities at both high school and middle school
If the fall levy fails, and we do NOT put another levy on the spring, we will need to make $14.4M in cuts due to the way taxes are collected and distributed (there is a delay, causing further and immediate deficit). Those cuts would be more severe resulting in at least:
โฌ Elimination of an additional 65 positions (for a total of 202 positions eliminated)
โฌ State minimums for transportation (no high school bussing at all and 2-mile walk radius for K-8).
๐ฃ As I said at the table: โIf the levy fails, everything is on the table for discussion.โ ๐ฃ
๐จโ๐ผ A NEW INTERIM TREASURER ๐จโ๐ผ
The board said goodbye to CFO Bill Wade, and confirmed an interim treasurer in Todd Puster, who has more than three decades of experience in Ohio public school finance across five districts. Puster will serve the district until the end of the calendar year while the board launches a search for a permanent CFO.
โค THANK YOU โค
Finally: A special thank you to all the folks who showed up to support our schools at the meeting last night. We see you, and we thank you.
We had two executive sessions, bringing this meeting to about 5 hours. Watch the entire public session here: https://youtu.be/RJZv4DiLo1A?si=sdTds6T0hi_mWaEJ
