OH article snip: Akron schools foresee decline
May 23rd, 2006 by Annette
Akron Beacon Journal Tue, 23 May 2006 0:43 AM PDT
**snip**
The Akron school district’s enrollment is expected to drop by 400 students annually over the next four years. If this trend holds true, 30 teaching positions will be cut during the next four years, according to a five-year budget approved Monday by the Akron school board.
Those reductions would be on top of more than 115 teaching jobs already eliminated in the 2006-07 school year.
“Losing anything makes it tougher,” said Superintendent Sylvester Small. “Losing kids. Utility bills increasing. All kind of thingsexacerbate your budget.”
Akron is projected to lose 200 students to open enrollment and charter schools annually, and another 200 each year because of students’ moving outside the district and falling birth rates, according to the budget.
Akron now has about 27,223 students. With the projected losses, the district’s enrollment would fall to about 25,600 by the 2009-10 school year.
Fewer students means less state funding, which is especially difficult for a district already in financial trouble. (end of snip)
