Vandalia-Butler City Schools plans to close Smith Intermediate School and reshuffle where students in several grades attend class, part of a broader cost-cutting push the district says could save about $2.5 million in the 2027-28 school year. Seventh- and eighth-graders would move to Butler High School, while Morton would become the home for third- through sixth-graders.
According to a report on the plan, the district says it intends to close Smith Intermediate School as part of the 2027 reconfiguration. Demmitt and Helke schools will not see any changes under the plan, the district says. As first reported by WDTN.com, the moves are designed to consolidate space and trim operating costs across the district's five buildings.
District officials say moving two grades into Butler High School will better utilize existing space there, while shuttering Smith is expected to reduce operating costs and head off expensive repairs down the line. Middle-schoolers will otherwise be kept separate from high-schoolers, with one exception: accelerated middle-school students could still take high-school courses and earn college credit under the plan, the district says.
Aging Building Was Flagged as a Costly Liability
A district facility assessment found that Smith will cost the most to keep safe, warm and dry over the next seven to 10 years, according to the same report. That concern tracks with the district's own financial planning documents. In its Final FY26-FY30 Five-Year Forecast, the district identifies the age of the Helke, Demmitt and Smith buildings as a concern for future capital-outlay costs.
Vandalia-Butler serves approximately 3,000 students from preschool through 12th grade across its five school buildings, per the forecast document. That same forecast lays out a grim budget trajectory: deficits are projected in every fiscal year from FY2027 through FY2030, including a shortfall of $1,285,025 in FY2027 and $1,771,234 in FY2029.
Fiscal Oversight and Falling State Support
The district is under what it calls “fiscal oversight” because of a projected deficit cash balance in 2029, the report notes. State support is also expected to take a hit, with the forecast projecting a drop in FY2026 followed by an increase in FY2027. The district says the reconfiguration is one piece of a broader cost-reduction plan, and it is continuing to consider additional cost-reduction options beyond the building changes already announced.
A cited Ohio Department of Education and Workforce report points to low funding as a factor behind the district's current strategy, the outlet's reporting states. This is not the first time Vandalia-Butler has had to restructure its finances under pressure. The district reconfigured its school setup in 2024 after two failed levy attempts, and its 2024-25 cost-reduction plan already included staff reductions and building reconfigurations, according to a separate WDTN.com report on the district's earlier reconfiguration efforts.
A Pattern of Failed Levies and Budget Cuts
The district's financial troubles date back further than the current forecast. A 1% earned-income-tax levy failed in May 2023, followed by a failed five-year emergency levy estimated at 4.0 mills that November, according to the forecast document. In response, the school board approved $3.2 million in budget reductions, and the reconfiguration plan that followed was first presented during a board meeting that same November, per the forecast and the earlier WDTN.com report.
