TOLEDO, Ohio — "We have an obligation to our schools to our districts, to our students to give them as much predictability as we can. So if we do not make these cuts now over the next two months, the cuts we make over the next year would have to be more dramatic," Governor Mike DeWine said during a press conference on May 5.
Statewide, education will be facing $300 million in cuts over the next two months and it's likely those cuts will have to continue into 2021.
"We anticipated cuts for this year as well as cuts for the next year," Toledo Public Schools treasurer Ryan Stechschulte said.
Stechschulte says as cuts come down, the first step in their process is taking stock of expenses.
"So we start looking at expenses where we can become more efficient or combine various programs in something of that nature," he explained.
Stechschulte is hoping that TPS might see smaller cuts because of its high poverty levels. Right now about 90% of students are on free or reduced lunch and 2,200 are considered homeless.
"The economically disadvantaged districts may not see as large of a cut or they're going to take that into consideration. So it will be interesting to see how that all plays out," Stechschulte added.
While budget cuts aren't good for any district, Stechschulte says virtual learning has saved the district some expenses.
"That will help offset the reductions from this year. Busing, some utilities, substitute costs are all something that when we're not in school, they're not costing us as much," Stechschulte said.
The district is expecting to learn more details on May 6.