Full-time kindergarten has been spared from the post-levy chopping block in the Marysville School District.
At a meeting this week, the Marysville Board of Education voted to rescind the move to part-time kindergarten next school year, as a cost-saving measure following a levy failure earlier this month. All other portions of the plan will remain in place.
Early projections from the state budget showing an increase in funding prompted the move.
“It’s kind of a game changer,” Treasurer Todd Johnson said.
After the district’s 8.4-mill, five-year emergency operating levy was rejected by voters earlier this month, the previously approved contingency plan was enacted. The goal of the plan is to save $2 million as the district decides how to return to voters to help offset deficit spending that threatens to eat through its cash reserves by 2026.
Part of the plan involved a hiring freeze that would force the district to move from all day, every day kindergarten, to a part-time offering.
The reason behind the move was the need for some kindergarten teachers to fill open positions in other elementary classrooms.
Johnson said the Ohio House recently passed its version of the budget, painting a more clear picture of what districts can expect in terms of funding over the next two years. Those figures showed the district could take in an additional $3 million in fiscal year 2024 and $3.5 million the following year.
Those figures are not set in stone, as the Ohio Senate still needs to approve a version of the budget before it eventually makes its way to the governor’s desk for approval.
Johnson said he had requested a simulation to be completed looking at the impact of the move to part-time kindergarten on the amount of state funding the district would receive under the House budget proposal.
On Wednesday, the results of the simulation were returned, showing the district would lose $670,000 in 2024 and another $1.2 million in 2025. The reduction is the result of part-time students being factored differently than traditional students when the state calculates how much money each district will be given.
According to a communication sent to parents this week, any savings from the kindergarten scale back would be negated by the lost state revenue.
“There is a risk that our state funding could come in less than currently projected, but the board felt that the educational value of all-day everyday kindergarten made this decision worth that risk,” Board President Sue Devine said in the communication to parents.
Though the final dollars are not locked in, Superintendent Diane Allen said reversing course quickly is important. She said the hiring window for next school year is rapidly passing by making every day crucial if the district hopes to fill the elementary positions, which would allow kindergarten teachers to stay in place. In fact, the board chose to take action on the issue at a special meeting this week, when its regular monthly meeting is next week.
Allen said difficulties could be compounded if teachers are reluctant to choose Marysville due to the failed levy and uncertain financial future.
“My urgency is we’re way behind the hiring game,” Allen said. “It will not be an easy task.”
Prior to the unanimous vote to maintain all-day, every day kindergarten, board member Dick Smith said a quick decision on the matter was also important to parents of incoming students.
“We know parents have to start making plans,” Smith said. “We have to make some decision tonight to set the course.”