Chances are, you’ve likely heard about the budget cuts affecting Harrison in the next year. The district is going to be receiving less funds which could impact the future of SLSD, with nearly $3 million being taken from the budget.
School funding is where the state helps fund schools. In Ohio schools are funded by the state, Ohio lottery, property tax, and a few other things. Ohio funds 611 public school districts, 49 joint vocational school districts, 335 public community schools and 8 independent STEM schools. They also fund department initiatives, including money for early childhood education, pre-school special education, assessments and the state report card.
Southwest Local School District’s budget could be reduced by about $3 million starting in the 2026-27 school year. The $3 million budget reduction is nearly 6% of Southwest’s overall budget. The cut in funds is the salary of about 40 teachers. They were expecting to get $1 million in state support but are now facing the $3 million dollar reduction. Southwest spends $12,955 per student to operate each year, that is $765 per student less than the state average. SLSD has 450 more students today than it did in 2019, yet they are receiving less funding from Columbus. The district has 252 students per administrator while the state average is 146. (Check Finance Fridays on Student Square for more info)
With this reduction in funds there will be massive cost cuts. Southwest would have to reduce class offerings and programs like fine arts and others. The Southwest Local School District Board of Education will have to decide this month about whether or not to put a levy on the May ballot. They have asked many community members to give input, both in a series of town hall meetings, and on the more formal Community Advisory Team (CAT).
On behalf of the student of this district, the Paw Print hopes that something will happen to help us avoid the serious cuts the district is forced to consider for next year.
