ASHLAND — Steve Paramore didn’t mince words about how the governor’s proposed state budget would impact the Ashland City School District Monday night.
“This doesn’t sit well with me,” said Paramore, the superintendent of Ashland City Schools. “Anybody out there that is a huge advocate for public education, I would encourage you to reach out to your elected officials and let them know.”
That budget was put forward by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Feb. 3. It’s currently in the House Finance Committee.
“Our executive budget is all about investing in Ohio’s greatest asset, our people,” Gov. DeWine said in a press release. “The budget I am sending to the legislature today continues to build on the things that make Ohio the Heart of it All: our children and our families, our students and our workforce, and our businesses and our communities.
“Importantly, this budget is also designed to ensure that Ohio’s strong economic growth continues for years to come.”
Kyle Klingler, Ashland City Schools’ treasurer, said the budget would result in an increased share of local capacity for Ashland residents to pay if passed in its current form.
It must go through the state’s House of Representatives and Senate for approval. Once passed, it goes into effect July 1, and will remain in effect for two years.
Paramore and Klingler both said they’re hopeful the proposed budget will change as it goes through the legislative process. Still, they expect the state’s share will decrease for Ashland City Schools.
What does that mean?
Klingler explained the state uses a formula to calculate the “base cost” to educate each student.
It then uses a different formula, factoring in property valuation and income information, to calculate the share of that base cost each school district can afford to pay locally. The state covers the rest.
(Klingler shared the following PDF with the school board Monday. It details the formula for calculating base costs, local capacity and projections for how state foundation revenue would decrease if the budget passes in its current iteration.)
Klingler told the board the district has experienced a “wave” when it comes to how much the state is chipping in. Between fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2025, the state has covered anywhere from 43.75% to 49.68% of the cost per-pupil for Ashland City Schools.
“Between our property tax values increasing year after year, as well as our income levels, our local capacity continues to go up and it makes us look richer,” Klingler said. “But we don’t even have an income tax. Our property tax values, the percentage went up by 20 percent this last evaluation, but we didn’t have a 20-percent increase in revenues.
“So, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison of what is actually there.”
But under the governor’s proposed budget, the state’s share would fall to around 32 percent by fiscal year 2027. That leaves the rest to be covered by local taxpayers.
Board reactions
Paramore shared his frustration that the proposed budget will have such an impact on Ashland City Schools as it pushes more money toward private education.
The Statehouse News Bureau reported the budget will cut a total of $103.4 million from traditional public school funding. That’s while vouchers and charter schools will get almost half a billion more.
“To me, it looks catastrophic, and it’s not fair, especially right now when the state is prepared to fund private education upwards to a billion dollars,” Paramore said. “If you have a billion dollars to give to private education, then you should find a way to maybe pump a little bit more into the state foundation.”
School board members Gina Deppert and Pam Mowry also chimed in, echoing Paramore’s sentiments about the proposed budget.
“It’s almost an insult to the state of Ohio, and we have some beautiful young lives here that all of you have touched,” Deppert said, speaking to teachers in the crowd. “I take this almost personally.”
Mowry added locally, the majority of Ashland’s students are educated in public schools.
Ashland City Schools had 2,959 students, per fall enrollment data collected by the state in October 2024.
By contrast, St. Edward School has 85 students enrolled. Ashland Christian School had more than 110 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. The state doesn’t list the exact number of students if there are fewer than 10 boys or girls in a grade level.
What businesses have received tax abatements in Ashland?
Harris Welding received a 10-year tax break in June 2024 for an expansion. It will only pay a quarter of the property tax due on its new assessment for 10 years.
City council also passed an “aggressive” tax incentive for a hotel in the Pump House district in April 2024. Specifically, Pump House Hospitality LLC will not pay property taxes for 15 years.
Mowry also said if education will not be funded at the state level, she doesn’t feel businesses coming to Ashland County should receive tax abatements.
Those tax abatements are voted on by city council. They provide an incentive for businesses to set up shop in Ashland, giving them a temporary break on property taxes.
Mowry pointed out those breaks for businesses come as property values in the area have increased by an average of 36% over the last year.
“God bless all the new business in Ashland and any of them that have received a tax abatement,” Mowry said. “But that is a fine line, because we go ahead and we lose income on property that’s going up 35 percent a year.
“I don’t think anybody recently that’s received a tax abatement has lost any money, and yet, if you’re me, or you, and you’ve had your house for 20 or 30 years in Ashland, and you pay your taxes faithfully, and your taxes increase, and you vote for levies when they absolutely are needed in every area of our community, not just the schools … those tax abatements are being put back on us.”
She said she thinks people need to get involved, “respectfully.”
This isn’t the first time tax abatements have been a sore spot for the district. City council passed a tax break for Arrows Landing in 2022. That abatement raised concerns for district leadership about how to recoup lost income, according to reporting from the Ashland Times-Gazette.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said in this instance, he’s heard it’s very unlikely the legislature will adopt the governor’s budget proposal. He said there’s likely to be many changes to the budget.
“We have to wait and see what happens with it,” Miller said.
Once changes are made and the budget passes through the state legislature, “we will decide what’s best for our community and for our schools,” he added.
Low enrollment already impacting the district
Monday’s meeting was not the first time the district has mentioned struggles with its budget.
The district receives funding from the state based on the number of students enrolled. When that number dips, less money goes to the district.
Need to register your student for kindergarten?
At Ashland City Schools, registration will take place from March 3-6 at Reagan Elementary School. Parents need to make an appointment to enroll their students, and can do so through Friday. To make an appointment, call 419-289-7967.
Kindergarten enrollment decreased by around 10 precent at Ashland City Schools this year, with fewer than 200 kindergartners attending school in the district.
It remains uncertain whether that enrollment decrease was a one-time dip, or if the district’s enrollment will continue to fall in the coming years.
Ashland County’s public school districts are currently in the process of registering students for kindergarten for the 2025-2026 school year.
