School Days: Copley-Fairlawn School Community Members Discusses School Budget with Legislator

The group is so new it doesn't even have a name, but so far the concerned parents have met with two state legislators.

More than 20 people gathered in the back room of a last week to talk about the state budget with their local state senator, Frank LaRose.

A week earlier, the group met at Summit Mall with state Rep. Lynn Slaby with the same goals.

The grassroots group started coming together after Gov. John Kasich’s proposed state budget, which showed deep cuts in school funding, according to Herberich Primary School Parent Romi Brozeit. 

Steve Yashnik, who has two kids in the school system, said he strongly opposed a reduction in funding for schools and wanted to advocate for the schools in the meetings.

Brozeit told LaRose about her son, who had speech issues for two years before entering the school system. At Herberich, staff members identified her son had a cleft palate, which was fixed by surgery.

“They are so astute and engaged,” Brozeit said.

Kay Makishi, vice president of the Copley-Fairlawn High School Parent Teacher Student Association, said the district has done “very well” for her children and has made many opportunities for students.

“I can’t say enough about how wonderful our school system is,” Makishi said.

LaRose, a 1997 graduate of Copley-Fairlawn Schools told the group that the community’s investment in the district is such a great asset to the district.

“That’s why we have one of the best school districts anywhere,” he said.

He said the proposed budget based state school aid on a formula of wealth per pupil, based on the property value in the district.

But, he said the state is looking at an $8 billion cut in federal funding.

And politicians like LaRose, who ran on a platform of not increasing taxes, increasing money for schools means the dollars have to come from somewhere else in the budget.

“This is where the process becomes very difficult,” LaRose said.

The House passed the budget Thursday night, and while it still includes cuts to school funding, it does include a cap on loss in state aid at 20 percent. The Senate is the next step in the budget process.

When contacted by Patch, Slaby said, “Unfortunately, we had to make some very difficult decisions. Honestly, I wish there was more money. We lost almost $8 billion in federal money and that wasn’t replaced.”

He said that in addition to the $8 billion lost, the state also has to pay an additional $1 billion in Medicaid due to federal mandates.

Slaby, who has kids who went through local schools and has grandchildren currently in school, said he could relate to the concerns of the group.

“They wanted to share their concerns with us and they are very legitimate concerns,” Slaby said. “This is a tough budget.”