COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As public schools in Reynoldsburg face $8 million in budget cuts and those in Marysville hope their third levy in a row does not fail, central Ohio school districts worry they could lose millions more in funding.

Central Ohio school district representatives testified against House Bill 96, Ohio’s budget bill draft, fearing its current version will bring dramatic funding losses. As it stands, the bill reduces some state support for public schools, a loss local districts say would be brutal.

“If the state isn’t providing their share of the funding then our local community, taxpayers, have to pay the difference,” Columbus City Schools Superintendent Angela Chapman said. “So that means that we’ll be coming back to our community and back to the voters for another ballot potentially.”

Ohio’s school funding has been in question for decades and was ruled unconstitutional in the 1990s by the Ohio Supreme Court. Howard Fleeter is a consultant who has been studying Ohio’s school funding since the court case, which said the system at the time disadvantaged rural and low-income districts and relied too heavily on property taxes. He said the current funding system is as close to Constitutional as he has seen, but it requires the adjustments districts are asking for.

Ohio’s public schools are funded using a formula that weighs specific school and district operating costs when calculating state support. Under H.B. 96, school districts will update their formula inputs with 2025 financial data, but the state will estimate costs with 2022 pricing, affecting the formula. Further, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed reducing the guaranteed minimum funding districts receive by 5% in 2026 and 10% in 2027, removing protections for districts.

The formula works to be equitable, giving more money to districts with more financial need. By not increasing both district and state inputs, the formula registers schools as demonstrating less need, leading to decreased state funding. Policy Matters Ohio identified 349 public school districts in Ohio that would see a funding cut, and how much they would lose over the next two years.

As administrators testified against the bill, Bexley and Columbus City Schools asked families also to contact lawmakers, both for their students and their wallets. With less state funding, districts often turn to property tax levies to supplement lost costs.

Worthington school Treasurer TJ Cusick testified against the bill, saying the budget as is would cost them 10% of their state funding, a $2.2 million loss next year alone. Cusick said if H.B. 96 stays in this form, Worthington would be required to increase its next levy by two-thirds of a mill to make up for the state funding losses to break even.

Although districts update income and property value increases in the funding formula, they are not allowed to update them in other funding sources. A 1976 tax relief law prevents most school district levies from adjusting with inflation.

Property tax levies are also more likely to fail in more rural or low-income areas. Of the districts included in the chart, eight had a levy on the ballot in May or November 2024. Five districts’ levies failed, including Madison-Plains, which failed in both November and May. Those districts have a collective average of 42.3% of economically disadvantaged students, where the three that passed averaged 18.8%, according to state data.

Westerville City Schools Treasurer Nicole Marshall said her district’s state funding has decreased by 20% since 2021, and the district lost $4 million this year after updating its share of the formula without the state doing the same.

Olentangy Superintendent Todd Meyer said H.B. 96 would drop his district’s state funding per pupil to about $556 less than the state gives to nonpublic schools per pupil. He said public schooling is not for everyone, but public dollars should support public schools first.

The difference between public and nonpublic school funding stuck out to many local administrators. Reynoldsburg school board member Neal Whitman pointed to the $265 million increase in funding for Ohio’s EdChoice voucher system, which gives state-sponsored vouchers to students to attend private school. Whitman said this will be an 8.2% increase for state vouchers over the next two years.

Fleeter said by the nature of his work, he maintains neutrality regarding Ohio’s vouchers but said voucher funds affect fewer students. According to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, EdChoice voucher students made up 7.8% of K-12 students in the 2023-2024 school year, where public school students represented 82%.

“The idea that they’re willing to substantially increase the funding for vouchers, if they then argue, ‘We don’t have the money to put the money into the formula,’ that’s not a very compelling argument for me,” Fleeter said.

H.B. 96 is still moving through the House and has scheduled Finance Committee hearings this week.