Stowsentry.com - School lunches, busing on chopping block?

by Tess Wolfe

Reporter

Stow -- No school lunches. Fewer staff. Larger class sizes. Closing school buildings in the evening.

Those are some of the repercussions parents and students in the Stow-Munroe City School District may experience if the proposed Nov. 4 school levy fails, according to the School Board.

During a work session Sept. 30, Board members and district administrators discussed ways to reduce spending should the district not receive the $3 million that the 3.17-mill, five-year levy would generate each year.

No decisions on cuts were made, but several ideas were discussed as the meeting focused on consequences the Board said may encourage voters to pass a school levy next May, if the November issue fails.

"Again, it's to incentivize the voter," said District Treasurer Catherine Bulgrin said of several cutbacks under consideration, from eliminating the newly implemented Pay-to-Participate program to reducing bus services.

The Board agreed to make public five potential consequences if the November levy fails: reducing busing to state minimum standards; closing school buildings during early evening hours; eliminating field trips; eliminating food services; and further reducing staff, which they noted would result in increased class sizes.

They also agreed to not set deadlines for any of them to take effect.

Bulgrin did not respond to requests to provide the Stow Sentry with estimates as to how much the district expects to save by implementing the options discussed by the Board.

The Board considered, but rejected, the options to close a building if the levy fails or eliminating the Pay-to-Participate program if the levy passes.

Board President Denny Mariola asked whether all Board members agreed with the options under discussion.

"Why not put those things out there that are seriously going to impact the community?" Mariola asked.

Board member Pat Matthews said she thought the possibility of closing a building would "drive people ... to the polls."

Discussions included the possibility that some reduced services would be restored if voters pass a levy.

"To me, the incentive [to vote for a levy] is you get your busing back, you get your food service back, you get your buildings back," Mariola said.

"But, we haven't taken those away," said Bulgrin.

Business manager Tom Adams said the district would lose funding if it were to eliminate food services

In an Oct. 2 phone interview, Adams said suspending food services would increase, not decrease, costs for the school district.

The district would continue to incur personnel costs for food service employees while services were suspended, he explained. Eliminating the federal school lunch program may also jeopardize a portion of federal Title I funds the district receives, said Adams.

Title I is a federally funded program (Special Revenue Grant) that provides additional basic skills instruction for low achieving students in first through eighth grade.

"If we suspend food service, it doesn't save the general fund any money because food services is self-funded," he said.

Of students utilizing food services in 2007 in the Stow-Munroe Falls school district, 18 percent, or close to 1,000, participated in the federal school lunch program, with nearly 12 percent receiving free lunches and the remainder paying for lunches at a reduced rate, based on income, according to the Ohio Department of Education Web site.

The district serves, on average, 425 free meals and 165 reduced rate meals each day, said food services supervisor Dianne Simko.

Board member Karen Wright asked Adams about the effect on the community of reducing busing to the state minimum standard of transporting only students in kindergarten through eighth grade who live more than two miles from their schools.

"I know it won't affect me," said Wright. "So, I need something that will say, 'This is going to impact me.' I think larger class size will affect more people than busing."

Board member Dick Spangler said "people will have to rearrange their work schedules" if busing is reduced.

"We are at a crossroads," said Paul Pendleton, a public engagement adviser hired by the Board in January to provide training and consultation. "What product do you want at the end of the day besides the passage of the levy? Does the end justify the means?"

Pendleton asked the Board what will happen if it does not "engage" the public.

"Will you have damaged relationships in the community beyond the point where you prefer?" he asked. "The future is about relationships -- it must be about relationships."

Pendleton distributed copies of a presentation prepared by his company, Santa Rita Collaborative, for Board members to give in small community discussion groups that would provide members of the public opportunity to ask questions of Board and administration members and to voice concerns about district funding as well as general issues.

The Board and administrators agreed that such discussions may take place in the future, whether before or after the Nov. 4 election.

E-mail: twolfe@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3916