Auburn Career Center Considers HB 96 Impacts
As Ohio’s biennial budget continues its advance through the state’s legislature, Auburn Career Center Treasurer Sherry Williamson updated the ACC Board of Education April 8 as to what may be in store for career and technical education.
As Ohio’s biennial budget continues its advance through the state’s legislature, Auburn Career Center Treasurer Sherry Williamson updated the ACC Board of Education April 8 as to what may be in store for career and technical education.
“They are not going to do the last two years of the Fair School Funding Plan. They’re doing what’s called a ‘bridge formula,’ which is basically, everyone gets the same amount they got last year,” Williamson said.
A bridge formula is not a new way to fund schools, she said, adding Ohio had a bridge formula in 2013.
“This is just a way to not finish the last two years and update the base costs, and say everybody gets the same amount,” she said.
An amendment was added to the budget — House Bill 96 — April 1 that would prohibit the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce from making payments under FSFP fiscal years 2026-27. Traditional school districts would be paid “temporary foundation funding” instead, according to Williamson’s presentation.
Ohio has seen a variety of school funding formulas over the years. The current one, FSFP, is in year four of a six-year phase in.
Schools across the county have expressed concern about HB 96, which does not update the base costs of the formula, thus decreasing the state’s share of funding to schools and putting a greater onus on local communities.
The Ohio House recently passed the budget, advancing it to the Ohio Senate.
“We currently receive $191,167 in career awareness and exploration funds. They’ve defunded that. They are no longer gonna provide that,” Williamson said. “Those were the funds that we used annually to offset some of the implantation that we did for — we originally started with the career education mini-grant and now we’re going into the vocational middle school grant, and we also have high school (career and technical education).”
The final budget is still months away from approval, Williamson emphasized, adding this is just an update.
“They’re estimating the school funding formula, the cut would be $20.7 million in 2026 and $34.7 million in 2027. And that’s just for CTE because of the way they are now funding it,” she said.
The Ohio legislature is also considering preventing school districts from spending more than 15% of their annual operating budget on administrative salaries, benefits or other administrative costs.
ACC is currently under 10%, Williamson said, adding the “big item” under consideration is property reform.
Per the Ohio Capital Journal, the budget directs counties to reduce a district’s property taxes if the district has a balance worth more than 30% of their annual budget.
Cuts would be for one year, Williamson said.
She is concerned it may look like ACC has a carryover of 30% and suggested money be moved to special use funds in order to safeguard the school’s commitments.
“One of the things we might need to look at is, these committed funds we have out there, we’ve only ever had one fund and it’s our general fund. We don’t have a permanent improvement fund … when I started here, we didn’t even have a capital improvement fund,” Williamson said.
Every year, the district would put $350,000 into the capital improvement fund for building maintenance, she said.
However, 2025 costs are much greater than when she started in 2014 and $350,000 isn’t cutting it anymore, Williamson said.
“The one recommendation I would make before we end this year is to increase that from $350,000 to $500,000, and do another $150,000 before the end of the fiscal year,” she said.
ACC has commitments to consider, she added.
“I don’t want it to look like we have this arbitrary, over the max of 30% and they start cutting our taxes — I’m not sure if they’re gonna do this. I have no idea. But … we’ve talked about two facility construction renovations, we still have the IT wing, we still have the horticulture building that needs to be addressed, we have a five-year technology budget.”
Williamson went on to list several more commitments, adding there is a lot going on in Columbus that is yet to be determined.
“We’re just going to have to keep watching it,” she said.
