Cincy schools 'incredibly disappointed' with state cuts

Firing back after a cut to school funding, Mason City Schools officials said Wednesday they are "incredibly disappointed" with Gov. John Kasich's veto decisions.

They and other Greater Cincinnati educators fought and lobbied for months, working with Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate, and "late (Tuesday) evening with the stroke of a pen," Kasich cut their funding, said Mason treasurer Ronda Johnson, in a release.

Mason stands to lose among the most in Greater Cincinnati: about $3.6 million over the two-year course of the budget, according to initial funding projections.

"It's a shame that the governor chose to ignore not just our voices, but he also disrespected the collaborative work of the Ohio Legislature with the stroke of a Sharpie," Johnson said.

Kasich, who is three weeks from launching a White House bid, signed Ohio's $71 billion two-year budget Tuesday night, but not before issuing 44 line-item vetoes. He killed special payments that guaranteed wealthier schools, such as Indian Hill, a minimum amount of money per pupil from the state.

He also slashed $78 million meant to reimburse districts for the now-defunct tangible personal property tax, or TPP. In his explanation, Kasich wrote that the TPP cuts would only affect the 2016-2017 school year, giving districts a year to adjust. The cuts will be no more than 2 percent of a district's total revenue, including state tax money and local property taxes.

In total, Kasich's actions send schools $3.5 million less in 2015-2016 and $95 million less in 2016-2017, compared with what Republican lawmakers had proposed.

Even with the cuts, the two-year budget still allocates the most money to Ohio schools in state history, Kasich administration officials emphasized.

The vetoes are the culmination of a long, harried battle over school funding. In February, Kasich proposed a plan that would have sent less money to districts capable of raising it on their own, in order to divert more to those with higher need. That plan was met by a strong backlash, with critics crying socialism and arguing Kasich was punishing success.

Republicans in the Ohio House and Senate softened the blow in their versions of the budget, still phasing out TPP payments but offering districts a reprieve so none would sustain cuts during the next two years.

With his veto, Kasich moved the school-funding formula closer to his original intent. Late Wednesday, administration officials could not say what would happen to the nearly $100 million the state was planning to spend on local schools before Kasich's vetoes.

Percentage-wise, Lockland Local Schools will get the biggest bump in the region over the two-year course of the budget, gaining 38 percent in state funding.

Lockland is in dire financial straits. The tiny district just 10 miles north of Downtown has voted down three levies in a row and is going to voters again in November with an 11.2-mill ask.

The TPP cut, though, is a big disappointment, said Superintendent Matt Bishop. Lockland gets about $1.1 million in TPP money, more than 16 percent of the district's overall $6.7 million budget.

"Once the ball starts rolling with TPP and they start chipping away, chipping away … that's going to put us in a tough financial situation, even with the increase in state funding," Bishop said.

Conversely, Sycamore Community Schools will lose the most in the region, about 19 percent of its state funding, followed by Mariemont City, 17.9 percent,Three Rivers Local, 13.7 percent, and Princeton City schools, 10.4 percent.

Cincinnati Public Schools will lose about $1.8 million over the two-year period, 1 percent of its state funding.

The main funding number is the tip of the issue, but there are other payments and subtractions hidden within the budget that impact schools' bottom lines, said CPS treasurer Jen Wagner.

"It's all based on 'What do we think is going to happen?' " she said. "Then, we adjust when the real stuff does happen. … It's hard to analyze when you have three different versions of (the budget)."

Gannett Ohio's Benjamin Lanka and Jessie Balmert contributed to this report.