OHIO — The Ohio State Board of Education has about a month and a half left to make a decision on how it will address its budget deficit. 

What You Need To Know

  • Removal of school psychologist license fees and the expansion of a program to provide up to date criminal activity notifications are contributing to the deficit 
  • The board is shying away from recommending teacher license fees increase even though it has not been ruled out yet
  • New expenditures required by the state to be covered by the board are largely to blame for the deficit

While some state board members noted that the whole process of trying and make more cuts has been infuriating and that it appears there’s no attempt to keep the board funded, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Paul Craft is optimistic now that the legislature has finished its part with the capital budget.

“I really believe we’ve got good people coming together to have these discussions,” said Craft.

As the board mulls over possible solutions like cutting travel completely or getting the general assembly to pick up the tab on the expansion of the Rapback program, which identifies criminal activity among employees, raising teacher license fees is still a possibility.

Going into her ninth year of teaching, Jacquia Hearn said she’s not surprised that the option is still on the table. “It seems like in today’s world, a lot of things that keep happening are happening on the backs of workers and educators,” said Hearn.

She said it’s frustrating though, because she already spends a great deal at the start of school and throughout the year. “I know I spend up to a few hundred dollars every fall trying to make sure that, it’s nice and inviting…but also making sure I have those supplies and resources that if students come in the 1st day and we need to hit the ground running, that I have something for them knowing that not all my students are going to be able to bring supplies,” said Hearn.

As her out-of-pocket expenses for supplies, along with paying for her teaching license, adds up, she said it’s frustrating to know the fees could potentially go up, especially since she can’t write off everything on her taxes. It’s simply too much. So, she’s hoping the state will return the money to the board.

In the meantime, Senate President Matt Huffman wants to see what it’s really costing the board to operate before giving the board the money needed to get through fiscal year 2025. When asked about what would happen to the money if the board did not receive what it’s requesting and if it would be allocated elsewhere, Huffman’s office would only say everything was still being evaluated.

However, Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney said, “No matter if we’ve made any changes to the school board, they are still owed that 10 million dollars. This is something that we’ve known about. We need to make good on this promise.”