CENTERBURG — Ryan Gallwitz said it’s time to fight for Centerburg schools at Monday’s board of education meeting.
The metaphorical fight is the statehouse’s proposed school funding budget, which the way it’s currently structured, would cut state funding for Centerburg Local Schools.
The district receives funding from the state based on the number of students enrolled. When that number dips, less money goes to the district.
Gallwitz said at Monday’s meeting the state’s numbers used to calculate funding hadn’t been updated since 2022.
“In order for all of that to work you have to use modern or up-to-date cost inputs,” Gallwitz said. “The struggle has been to convince the legislature and the governor to put the most modern cost inputs (pricings) in place.
“Right now they’re using 2022 (numbers.) A lot has happened since 2022.”
Though the state, Gallwitz said, is 2025 financial data.
According to Centerburg schools treasurer Lori Houck, between fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2025, the state has covered anywhere from 40% to 49.5% of the cost per pupil for Centerburg Local Schools.
“Based on current calculations, if the budget is passed as it is now, our district is estimated to lose $295,442 in FY26 with an additional loss of $302,481 in FY27, reducing the state share of the base cost to 31.4% in FY26 and 22.3% in FY27,” Houck said via email.
That leaves the rest to be covered by local taxpayers.
“Our local folks are dealing with the property tax revaluation and their taxes went up,” Gallwitz said. “Our local folks are doing their share. The state needs to do theirs and put in the correct data for the formula.”
What’s the next steps for the budget
That budget must go through the state’s House of Representatives and Senate for approval. Once passed, it goes into effect July 1, and will remain in effect for two years.
The Statehouse News Bureau reported the budget will cut a total of $103.4 million from traditional public school funding. That’s while vouchers and charter schools will get almost half a billion more.
“The argument from the legislators is schools are getting less money because of enrollment going down,” Gallwitz said. “That’s not the case.”
According to Ohio Capital Journal, The National Center for Education Statistics sets projections for enrollment and estimates Ohio’s public school student enrollment will go down by 7.6% by 2031, a loss of more than 127,000 students.