Among the Ohio auditor’s major budget cut recommendations in his report released Thursday were the elimination of four teaching positions, two art teachers, 1.5 student advisor positions, a curriculum specialist, and half a library staff position.
Moreover, it is also recommended to abolish the position of central office manager and school building manager.
According to the review, these proposed budget cuts, along with contracting out cheaper employee healthcare costs and reducing the number of food service employees per day, would accumulate total hourly wages to about $2 million per year in annual savings into the district’s $28 million annual operating budget. .
But state auditors have warned that these “tier one” recommendations implemented alone will not restore Ross schools to solvency.
“The current financial condition of the district is such that implementation of these Level 1 recommendations will not solve the expected deficit fund balance in the last five years (operating budget),” the auditors wrote.
In an echo of state auditors, Ross officials have previously said only several times to approve additional local tax revenues that will allow the region to escape indulging in more invasive state control, which entails state officials—not local school leaders—deciding about the deeper future. Discounts in individuals and programs.
Last year, Ross cut $1.8 million from his budget in an effort to cover an expected fiscal shortfall.
Student athletic and other extracurricular fees jumped from $150 in the 2024-2024 school year to $825 this school year.
School officials said other financial cuts for the next school year could include reducing busing and eliminating art, music and physical education classes as well as advanced college courses, if voters again reject tax increases.
In a March 9 letter from Konkel thanking Ohio Auditor Keith Faber for the performance audit, the superintendent stated: “The audit will provide us with a model for future decisions affecting our school district and our community.”
He wrote, “This (audit) process provides our region with a third-party, objective perspective on our operations and our finances.”
Kunkel — and other Ross officials — declined to comment on the just-released audit, but said it will be part of a public presentation during a Board of Education session meeting April 12 that will be held at 6 p.m. at Ross High School.