Wadsworth City Schools are bracing for a leaner future after voters shot down a 1.5% earned-income tax earlier this month, and the fallout is about to hit classrooms, buses and after-school activities. District leaders on Thursday laid out a sweeping cost-cutting plan that would grow class sizes and cut dozens of staff positions as reserves shrink, while trying to keep core programs intact.
What the cuts include
At a recent board meeting, district administrators rolled out a plan to eliminate about 32.75 full-time equivalent positions affecting 37 employees. The proposal includes cuts to middle-school English language arts, four high-school teaching jobs and a decision not to fill an associate high-school principal role. As reported by Cleveland.com, the elementary level will feel a major shakeup, with 14 classes slated to be cut across five buildings. That shift is expected to push roughly 60 students into different schools and raise average class sizes.
Administrators also walked through a list of belt-tightening measures that stop short of gutting entire programs. They discussed trimming custodial supplies, delaying new bus purchases, reducing professional development and technology budgets, potentially expanding the distance students must live from school to qualify for busing, and hiking activity fees by roughly 50%.
Why leaders say it is necessary
The district’s February five-year forecast warns that, without new revenue, cash reserves could slide into the red by fiscal 2028, a scenario administrators say would trigger far more severe cuts. The document cites rising health care premiums, increased special-education tuition costs and declining enrollment as key pressures on the budget. It also notes that the school board prepared a precautionary cost-cutting plan that could eventually require a formal recovery filing with the Ohio Department of Education. The projections are laid out in Wadsworth City Schools.
Levy results and local reaction
The proposed 1.5% permanent earned-income tax on the May 5 ballot went down hard, with nearly 70% of voters saying no in the unofficial tally from the Medina County Board of Elections. Coverage in the Medina Gazette captured the immediate scramble inside the district to revise its budget and the community’s questions about what programs and services might be pared back.
Technology and other trims
To help plug the gap without immediately axing more programs, the district’s technology team recommended punting scheduled Chromebook replacements for a year, a move administrators estimate will save about $429,000. The technology director told reporters the district typically replaces roughly 1,200 devices annually, but only 400 were ordered this year in an effort to stretch the life of existing laptops. District officials pointed to the delay as an example of targeted savings they prefer over deeper program cuts, according to Cleveland.com.
What comes next for families and staff
Administrators say they will lean on attrition and staff reassignments where possible to protect core academic and extracurricular offerings, but they also stress that the reductions are designed to keep the district’s general fund stable over the next several years. The school board is expected to vote on final personnel moves at upcoming meetings. If the forecast confirms a deficit in the third year of the planning window, the district will have to submit a formal recovery plan to state officials, as outlined in Wadsworth City Schools.
Parents and staff can expect more public meetings, boundary discussions and official notices as the board works through staffing changes and building assignments, with the next several months likely to set the tone for how the district manages its new financial reality.
