Groveport Madison Board Approves $8M In Cuts

Parents and teachers in one Central Ohio school district packed a meeting Thursday night to hear the bad news that major cuts are coming to their school district.

Thursday night, the Groveport Madison Board of Education discussed and approved $8 million in cuts to balance its budget.

Those cuts include programs and more than 100 positions, including dozens of teachers.

The proposed cuts will be implemented over two years -- the first of which take effect at the beginning of the 2012 to 2013 school year.

Those cuts include 23 positions, 19 of which are teachers.

Seven of those positions are in special education, one is a district administrator and three are in foreign languages.

Cheryl Irving teaches French at Groveport Madison High School.

"My first thought is the fact that our children won’t be able to compete nationally or internationally," said Irving.

On Dec. 31, a three-year emergency levy will expire. The next day, busing for grades 9 through 12 will be cut.

The 2013 - 2014 school year will experience the rest of the cuts which includes 86 more positions. Forty-five of those are teachers.

"That's a lot of education our children are not going to get," said Debbie Sudduth, who has two children in the district.

The district is expected to seek a levy at some point this year. 

If that levy were to pass, the district says it could save the cuts occurring in the 2013/14 school year as well as athletics and busing.

However, that depends on whether a community that voted down a levy three short months ago has a change of heart.

"I don't think the school board and this administration is to blame. I put the blame on government," said Irving.

"What kind of people are going to want to move here and raise a family here and be a part of our community if we keep making these kind of cuts," said Sudduth.

The board of education is also considering increasing its $50 pay-to-participate fee in the fall, then again for winter and spring sports if the levy fails. 

There would then be no extra curriculars for the 2013/14 school year.

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