The Amherst Board of Education placed Issue 1 on the May 5th election ballot to provide the district with funding to maintain day-to-day operations. It was the district’s second attempt at asking the Amherst community for additional operations. The 0.75% earned school district income tax levy failed with 3,567 votes against the levy (54.3%) and 3,003 votes for the levy (45.7%). The last new operations levy was passed in 2012.

November's Issue 16 was a request for a 1.5% earned school district income tax to provide the school district with $10 million for operations. Issue 1 is a request to provide the school district with $5 million for operations and is only a 5-year term. Essentially, the request was reduced from $10 million in November to $5 million in May.

ACTION STEP #1 - Reduction Plan

After the November levy failed, Amherst was placed in “Fiscal Precaution” by the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce due to projected operating deficits in our financial forecast. As a result, the district worked with ODEW to develop and implement a multi-year expenditure reduction plan required to eliminate the deficit. The ODEW Precautionary Plan requires total expenditure reductions of $13,264,733 between FY2026 and FY2029. This plan was approved by the Board of Education on December 15, 2026 and approved by ODEW on January 6, 2026.

ACTION STEP #2 - Negotiations

The Amherst Administrative Team, the Amherst Teachers Association (ATA), and the Ohio Association or Public School Employees Local #208 (OAPSE) reached tentative agreements on one-year labor agreements for the 2026–2027 school year. Under the terms of the agreement, administrators, teachers, and classified staff will receive a 0% increase on base salary for the 2026–2027 school year.

The Board of Education, Administrative Team, Amherst Teachers Association (ATA), and Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local #208 (OAPSE) are working collaboratively to avoid further financial burden on the community while maintaining staffing stability as much as possible.

In order to reduce expenditures by over $13 million, the district made devastating cuts to staffing and operations. Below are the FY26-FY29 reductions approved on February 23, 2026:

NON-PERSONNEL REDUCTIONS

• Steele News Live Program

• French Program

• AJH Homemaking & Consumer Education Program

• High School Busing (9-12)

• $1 Million Reduction in Textbooks and Curriculum

• 18 Instructional Software Programs

• Professional Development Programs

• General Supplies and Programs

PERSONNEL REDUCTIONS (48 Positions)

• 1 Buildings and Grounds Supervisor

• 1 Special Education Coordinator

• 1 Social Worker Position

• 1 School Counselor Position

• 3 Spanish Positions

• 1 French Position

• 2 Science Positions

• 1 Steele News Live Position

• 1 Homemaking Consumer Ed Position

• 2 English/Language Arts Position (7-12)

• 1 Music Position

• 2 Technology Innovation Specialists

• 2 Literacy Coaches

• 2 Intervention Specialist Positions

• 1 Fifth Grade Positions

• 2 Fourth Grade Positions

• 2 Third Grade Positions

• 2 First Grade Positions

• 4 Bus Aide Positions

• 4 Bus Driver Positions

• 3 Part-Time Cleaners

• 4 Full-Time Cleaners

• 4 Monitors

• 1 Assistant Mechanic

NO. The revenue collected from a future operating levy will only balance the budget enough to maintain the current reduced staff levels and eliminated programming, bussing, etc. The district attempted to maintain the 2025-2026 staffing levels and programming through Issue 16 on the November 2025 ballot but the levy failed. Unless the State of Ohio funds public schools appropriately, the district will either maintain the reduced staffing levels and programming through new local revenue or we will need more future cuts.

YES. Even with the reductions already implemented, the district still projects operating deficits in the coming years. Without new revenue, programming, staffing, and support services will continue to face cuts. Unless the State of Ohio funds public schools appropriately, the district only has two choices to maintain current operations - new local revenue or continuing expenditure cuts.

The majority of Amherst’s funding comes from local revenue. Amherst receives 43% of its funding from local taxes. Amherst receives an additional 39% of its funding from the State of Ohio, 11% from the federal government, and 7% from other revenue.

NO. The state legislature’s decision to abandon the Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP) in the last biennium budget is forcing massive operational cuts and shifting the tax burden onto local residents. Ohio's public schools are facing an estimated $2.7 billion funding shortfall.

According to Policy Matters Ohio, the Amherst Exempted Village School District lost $7,117,381 in state revenue during this two year biennium budget!

In FY2025, Amherst received $14,755,730 in state unrestricted foundation funding plus casino revenue from the State of Ohio to help fund our school district. In FY2026, Amherst is projected to only receive $14,160,933 in state unrestricted and casino funding - a reduction of about $600,000 dollars in one year. To provide context, in 2010, Amherst received $15,214,504 in state foundation funding. For the last 15 years, the State of Ohio’s foundation funding for the Amherst Exempted Village School District has steadily declined. Please see the graph below for more details.

In 2025, Amherst received $6,002 per student from local revenue and $5,687 per student from state revenue. Amherst received $13,485 per student in total revenue which is the lowest amount in Lorain County and the ninth lowest amount in the State of Ohio. Out of 606 school districts in Ohio, the Amherst Exempted Village School District ranks 598th in total revenue per student. For comparison, Amherst received $13,485 per student, the state average was $18,352 per student, and the Ohio school district with the highest revenue received $47,825 per student. Please see the graphs below for more details.

In 2025, Amherst spent $13,980 per student in total expenditures which is the second lowest amount in Lorain County. Out of 606 school districts in Ohio, the Amherst Exempted Village School District ranks 540th in total expenditures per student. For comparison, Amherst spent $13,980 per student, the state average was $17,609 per student, and the Ohio school district with the highest expenditures spent $40,716 per student. Please see the graph below for more details.

In July 2023, Ohio's legislature expanded the state's scholarship programming through House Bill 33. Families qualify for the EdChoice Expansion Scholarship Program’s full scholarship amount if their household income is at or below 450% of the Federal Poverty Level. For context, a family of four making $144,675, which is at 450% of the Federal Poverty Level, qualifies for the full scholarship amount.

In FY26, the average state funding per student in Amherst was $4,217. The average voucher per Lorain County student was $4,775. With 275 students taking a voucher, the projected state revenue lost to the Amherst Schools is $1,313,051!

YES. Over the last three years, the district has used almost $4 million in COVID relief grants to offset costs in personnel, supplies, technology, and purchased services. Amherst was the only school district in the state of Ohio to receive both the Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant worth $270,000 and the Each Child Reads grant worth $67,233 in the last three years. Amherst also received a competitive $1.6 million Ohio Career Technical Equipment grant to fund our state-of-the-art Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing program at Marion L. Steele High School. In addition to competitive grants, the Amherst Exempted Village School District also works with business partners, community partners, and private citizens to help fund special projects and initiatives through public and private donations. Recently, the Amherst Schools have received a $160,000 private donation to support the track renovation, $40,000 from the Amherst Schools Educational Foundation (ASEF) to create a new Comet Corner store, $25,000 from ASEF to fund a new Business & Entrepreneurship teacher, and recently signed a ten-year agreement with Spitzer Autoworld Amherst worth $25,000 per year for stadium naming rights (Spitzer Stadium). The Amherst Schools work very hard to find alternate revenue streams to offset costs!

Yes. It is very difficult to predict the revenue from new homes but a new $250,000 home would generate about $2,000 of new tax revenue to the school district. Each new home can also bring new Amherst students which adds to our expenditures. As for homes with tax abatements, the City of Lorain has provided us a list of abated homes and their abatement schedule. Over the course of the next five years, we’ve identified 89 homes which will start providing school revenue. The total revenue from those 89 homes is about $81,000 per year once all 89 homes are in full collection by FY 2030.

According to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, lottery profits have never accounted for more than 17 percent of total state spending on education since its inception, and recently it has been around 12 percent. In practical terms, this means nearly 90 percent of state spending on schools comes from primarily income and sales taxes deposited into the General Revenue Fund.

Also, lottery profits are woven into the budget rather than stacked on top of it. For example, if lottery profits come in at $1.45 billion, that reduces the amount the state must draw from general tax revenue to reach its target. It does not automatically add $1.45 billion in new spending above and beyond what lawmakers have allocated for public education.

In 2025, Amherst spent $1,432 per student in total administrative expenditures which is the lowest amount in Lorain County. Out of 606 school districts in Ohio, the Amherst Exempted Village School District ranks 588th in administrative expenditures per student. For comparison, Amherst spent $1,432 per student, the state average was $2,328 per student. Please see the graph below for more details.

On the 2024 State Report Card, Amherst was in the top 8% of school districts on the state's Value Added measure of the report card. Value Added is Ohio’s statistical analysis used to measure the academic growth rates of students from year to year. Growth is determined by comparing students against themselves and their change in achievement over the course of the school year. Please see the comparison below to the rest of Lorain County.