More than 120 Ohio public school districts are projecting negative cash balances by 2029 — the worst rate since the Great Recession.
Data compiled by Ohio State University professor Vlad Kogan shows that 124 of the state’s 611 public school districts, roughly 20%, are projecting negative cash balances by fiscal year 2029. That marks the highest rate of negative cash balance projections since 2012.
The figures arrive as Canton City Schools made deep cuts to address shortfalls, eliminating $17 million from its budget by closing schools and reducing staff. Louisville City Schools is also grappling with a budget crunch.
Columbus City Schools, the state’s largest school district, cut 300 teaching and staff positions along with dozens of administrative roles to strip $50 million from its budget amid a deepening financial crisis.
Other districts across the state have been forced to follow suit. In February, Elyria City Schools near Cleveland approved $9 million in budget cuts — roughly 10% of its total budget. Barberton City Schools approved more than $6.5 million in cuts. Districts ranging from large urban centers to the smallest rural communities are facing steep financial shortfalls.
Kogan said it is clear that many of Ohio’s public schools “are under tremendous stress right now.”
“There’s a statewide story which is obviously concerning, and then there’s a district-specific story,” Kogan said. “What’s causing the problems is going to vary across communities, and so there’s probably not a one-size-fits-all solution.”
‘We are in crisis mode:’ Many public schools see financial cliff on horizon
During the depths of the Great Recession in 2010, the share of public schools projecting a negative cash balance by fiscal year 2013 surged past 30%, according to Kogan’s data. Over the following decade, that figure shrank to single digits — until 2026, when it jumped back to 20%.
Christina Collins, executive director of Honesty for Ohio Education, said schools across the state are facing serious financial strain right now.
“We aren’t just talking about a handful of schools — it is a lot of schools,” Collins said. “The problem is definitely rampant, and we are definitely in crisis mode based on what we are seeing.”
Canton City Schools Superintendent Jeff Talbert has been outspoken about the challenges his district faces.
Talbert has called out state legislators for their role in school funding. While lawmakers directed more money toward education, it did not flow through traditional public schools.
The district — one of Ohio’s largest, serving about 7,400 students — has lost more than $7 million from funding sources this year, and Talbert said that number will keep climbing.
“It’s a big number and I think what folks need to know is this is completely out of our control,” he said. “The community needs to know this is directly related to the decisions that were made in Columbus about school funding. That has now put us in a position that we have to change how we educate kids here. Not funding public education is going to cause some issues and cause us to change some of the ways that we do it and how we do it. This is the beginning and if it continues, it is really going to reshape how we educate kids.”
Columbus City Schools Treasurer Ryan Cook echoed that assessment at a May press conference, pointing to what he described as years of state disinvestment in public education. The Republican-controlled state government has pushed educational vouchers to help students attend private, charter, and religious schools.
“It’s absolutely a funding crisis,” Cook said. “This doesn’t just impact Columbus City Schools, it’s a real problem.”
State legislators, however, argue they have provided more money than ever before to public education, even as enrollment broadly declines across the state. Under the budget approved in 2025, the Ohio General Assembly allocated $120 million more for public schools through 2027 — though many districts are projected to lose funding under that formula.
State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, chair of the Senate Education Committee, said reduced state funding may be appropriate for districts with declining enrollment, even as overall statewide funding has grown over the past decade. He said districts in that position may need to consider cutting staff.
“They’re always going to say they’re inadequately funded,” Brenner said. “It’s easier to blame someone else instead of managing your own district.”
Olentangy Local Schools, one of the fastest-growing and largest districts in the state, is also carrying the largest budget deficit in Ohio. It faces a shortfall of nearly $100 million by fiscal year 2029, according to financial projections.
Olentangy Treasurer Ryan Jenkins said the district adds hundreds of students each year, with expenses rising 5% to 6% annually while revenue grows at only about 2%.
“The issue is that our revenue simply does not grow fast enough to keep up with expenses, not because we’re spending like wild on some sort of spending spree,” Jenkins said.
On May 29, schools absorbed another blow. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Olentangy and other public schools cannot challenge properties they believe are undervalued — a decision that strips districts of a key tool for boosting revenue through property tax collections.
Collins said that while state legislators claim they are delivering record funding to public education, the amount falls far short of what schools are owed. She added that the state’s 2025 biennial budget failed to accurately account for inflation at a time when costs are escalating rapidly.
The consequences of budget cuts from chronic underfunding, she said, would trigger “systemic changes” that harm students.
“We’re cutting all these things, and at the base level, it impacts a student’s ability to learn,” Collins said. “What happens when you have all these cuts across the board?”
Despite the $17 million in cuts for fiscal year 2028, Canton City Schools still faces a budget shortfall of more than $10 million the following year.
Officials are taking a proactive approach to avoid state intervention by closing Gibbs School.
Louisville City Schools is also staring down a deficit in fiscal year 2029. The district’s forecast projects a $3,041,387 shortfall.
Treasurer Derek Nottingham said the district turned cash positive after voters approved a renewal levy in May, but it remains in deficit spending.
Between property tax reform and the state’s failure to fully fund schools, Louisville’s revenue outlook is bleak, he added.
Nottingham said all of the district’s expenses have climbed with inflation.
“The biggest unknown question is the property tax refund and how all of that is going to go,” he said. “We see some revenue growth with inside millage and even with reappraisal but that is going to be a lot more restricted going forward. As we speak, there is other pending legislation that could significantly impact that.”
The district is projected to receive about $16.7 million in state funding for the upcoming fiscal year, down roughly $1 million from this year.
Even though the funding formula phase-in is complete and districts should be receiving 100% funding, many are seeing lower-than-expected numbers because certain budget items have not been adjusted for inflation.
Factors such as the average cost of a teacher have gone unadjusted for at least six years.
Louisville officials are actively working to reduce costs, Nottingham said. The district has trimmed staffing through attrition for the next school year and participates in purchasing consortiums to secure the best prices on goods.
So is a shortfall in state funding to blame?
When a district faces a budget deficit, Kogan said, it must either cut expenses or grow revenue.
“Cutting expenses or raising taxes, it’s going to be politically a very difficult decision that a lot of people are going to be upset about,” Kogan said. “And some of that is going to depend on how much slack you have, how much you can cut without impacting learning.”
Kogan said his research suggests that spending decisions play a significant role in many district budget problems. Using temporary pandemic-era emergency relief funds to cover employee costs, for example, proved unsustainable and triggered deficits when that money expired in 2024. Other districts, he said, are beginning to feel the effects of property tax reform at the state level.
Collins said public education is caught in a “perfect storm” of an affordability crisis and property tax reform. Pandemic relief funds, she said, were used to sustain rising operating costs and needs at a time when the state was not stepping up.
“I think what we’re seeing is long-term neglect for our schools that had this temporary Band-Aid to fix it during these COVID years, and now that Band-Aid has been ripped off and the state has not stepped up to fulfill its portion,” Collins said.
Kogan pointed to a 2024 report from the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office showing per-pupil funding has never been higher.
“It does suggest that state funding is not driving these deficits,” Kogan said.
Brenner said many districts facing budget deficits need to take a hard look at their personnel costs.
“Is it possible that 120 districts could be making decisions that are just not the correct decisions that they should be making in order to be more efficient?” Brenner said.
Collins said the current situation comes down to the state’s failure to honor the DeRolph decision — a landmark 1997 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that found the state’s school funding method unconstitutional, concluding it “fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools” by over-relying on property taxes. The court upheld that position in three subsequent rulings, including its final decision in December 2002, when it relinquished further jurisdiction on the matter.
“That huge deficit in the state’s share for public education is what is causing such increasing burden on local communities through the levy process,” Collins said.
Jenkins said that while comparing the current situation to the Great Recession may not be entirely “fair or unfair,” it serves as “another example of a time where maybe the underlying structure of how public schools are funded was exposed.”
“The stressors of that time showed how dependent we are on our local communities,” Jenkins said. “Even with the DeRolph case, we’re still pretty dependent on local property taxes.”
‘We are in crisis mode:’ Many public schools see financial cliff on horizon
At the height of the Great Recession in 2010, more than 30% of public schools projected a negative cash balance by fiscal year 2013, according to data compiled by Kogan. Over the following decade, that figure shrank to single digits — until 2026, when it jumped back to 20%.
Christina Collins, executive director of Honesty for Ohio Education, said schools across the state are confronting serious financial problems right now.
“We aren’t just talking about a handful of schools — it is a lot of schools,” Collins said. “The problem is definitely rampant, and we are definitely in crisis mode based on what we are seeing.”
Canton City Schools Superintendent Jeff Talbert has been outspoken about the challenges his district faces.
Talbert has called out state legislators for their role in school funding. While lawmakers directed more money toward education, it never reached traditional public schools.
The district — one of Ohio’s largest, serving about 7,400 students — has lost more than $7 million from funding sources this year, and Talbert said that number will keep growing.
“It’s a big number and I think what folks need to know is this is completely out of our control,” he said. “The community needs to know this is directly related to the decisions that were made in Columbus about school funding. That has now put us in a position that we have to change how we educate kids here. Not funding public education is going to cause some issues and cause us to change some of the ways that we do it and how we do it. This is the beginning and if it continues, it is really going to reshape how we educate kids.”
Columbus City Schools Treasurer Ryan Cook echoed that view at a May press conference, pointing to what he described as years of state disinvestment in public education. The Republican-controlled state government has pushed educational vouchers to help students attend private, charter, and religious schools.
“It’s absolutely a funding crisis,” Cook said. “This doesn’t just impact Columbus City Schools, it’s a real problem.”
State legislators, however, maintain they have delivered more money than ever before to public education, even as enrollment broadly declines across the state. Under the budget approved in 2025, the Ohio General Assembly allocated $120 million more for public schools through 2027 — though many districts are projected to lose funding under that same formula.
State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, chair of the Senate Education Committee, said reduced state funding may be appropriate for districts with shrinking enrollment, even as overall statewide funding has grown over the past decade. He said those districts may need to consider cutting personnel.
“They’re always going to say they’re inadequately funded,” Brenner said. “It’s easier to blame someone else instead of managing your own district.”
Olentangy Local Schools, one of the fastest-growing and largest districts in the state, is carrying the biggest budget deficit in Ohio. It faces a shortfall of nearly $100 million by fiscal year 2029, according to financial projections.
Olentangy Treasurer Ryan Jenkins said the district adds hundreds of students each year, with expenses climbing 5% to 6% annually while revenue grows at only about 2%.
“The issue is that our revenue simply does not grow fast enough to keep up with expenses, not because we’re spending like wild on some sort of spending spree,” Jenkins said.
On May 29, schools absorbed another blow. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Olentangy and other public schools cannot challenge properties they believe are undervalued — stripping districts of a key mechanism for boosting revenue through property tax collections.
Collins said that while state legislators claim they are giving more money than ever to public education, the amount falls far short of what schools are actually owed. She added that the state’s 2025 biennial budget failed to accurately account for inflation at a time when costs are rising sharply.
The consequences of cuts driven by chronic underfunding, she said, would trigger “systemic changes” that harm students.
“We’re cutting all these things, and at the base level, it impacts a student’s ability to learn,” Collins said. “What happens when you have all these cuts across the board?”
Despite $17 million in cuts for fiscal year 2028, Canton City Schools still faces a budget shortfall exceeding $10 million the following year.
Officials are taking a proactive approach to avoid state intervention by closing Gibbs School.
Louisville City Schools is also staring down a deficit in fiscal year 2029. The district’s forecast projects a $3,041,387 shortfall.
Treasurer Derek Nottingham said the district turned cash positive after voters approved a renewal levy in May, but it remains in deficit spending.
Between property tax reform and the state’s failure to fully fund schools, Louisville’s revenue outlook remains bleak, he added.
Nottingham said all of the district’s expenses have surged with inflation.
“The biggest unknown question is the property tax refund and how all of that is going to go,” he said. “We see some revenue growth with inside millage and even with reappraisal but that is going to be a lot more restricted going forward. As we speak, there is other pending legislation that could significantly impact that.”
The district is projected to receive about $16.7 million in state funding for the upcoming fiscal year, down roughly $1 million from this year.
Even though the funding formula phase-in is complete and districts should be receiving 100% funding, many are seeing lower-than-expected figures because certain budget items have not been adjusted for inflation.
Factors such as the average cost of a teacher have gone unadjusted for at least six years.
Louisville officials are actively working to bring down costs, Nottingham said. The district has trimmed staffing through attrition for the next school year and participates in purchasing consortiums to secure the best prices on goods.
So is a shortfall in state funding to blame?
When a district faces a budget deficit, Kogan said, it must either examine its expenses or find ways to grow revenue.
“Cutting expenses or raising taxes, it’s going to be politically a very difficult decision that a lot of people are going to be upset about,” Kogan said. “And some of that is going to depend on how much slack you have, how much you can cut without impacting learning.”
Kogan said his research points to spending decisions as a significant driver of budget problems in many districts. Using temporary pandemic-era emergency relief funds to cover employee costs, for example, proved unsustainable and triggered deficits when that money expired in 2024. Other districts, he said, are beginning to feel the effects of property tax reform at the state level.
Collins said public education is caught in a “perfect storm” of an affordability crisis and property tax reform. Pandemic relief funding, she said, was used to sustain rising operating costs and needs at a time when the state was not stepping up.
“I think what we’re seeing is long-term neglect for our schools that had this temporary Band-Aid to fix it during these COVID years, and now that Band-Aid has been ripped off and the state has not stepped up to fulfill its portion,” Collins said.
Kogan pointed to a 2024 report from the Ohio Auditor of State’s Office showing per-pupil funding has never been higher.
“It does suggest that state funding is not driving these deficits,” Kogan said.
Brenner said many of the schools facing budget deficits should take a hard look at their personnel expenditures.
“Is it possible that 120 districts could be making decisions that are just not the correct decisions that they should be making in order to be more efficient?” Brenner said.
Collins said the current situation comes down to the state not abiding by the DeRolph decision, a landmark 1997 decision by the Ohio Supreme Court that found that the state’s school funding method was unconstitutional and “fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools” by over-relying on property taxes. The state’ highest court upheld that position in three subsequent rulings, including its final decision in December 2002 in which it relinquished further jurisdiction on the issue.
“That huge deficit in the state’s share for public education is what is causing such increasing burden on local communities through the levy process,” Collins said.
Jenkins said that while a comparison to the Great Recession isn’t necessarily “fair or unfair,” it was “another example of a time where maybe the underlying structure of how public schools are funded was exposed.”
“The stressors of that time showed how dependent we are on our local communities,” Jenkins said. “Even with the DeRolph case, we’re still pretty dependent on [local] property taxes.”
Leave a Reply