Protecting the Future of Springfield City School District

For more than a decade, Springfield City School District (SCSD) has honored a commitment to fiscal stewardship—balancing budgets, sustaining a healthy cash reserve, and expanding academic and safety initiatives without seeking new operating levies. That stability has enabled:

• Expanded Career-Technical Pathways and Early College courses

• District-wide mental-health supports and safety upgrades

• Strategic capital projects such as the PAES Lab expansion, additional Pre-K classrooms, and modernized athletic facilities

Two proposals now moving through the Statehouse jeopardize this hard-won progress by reducing revenue and limiting local financial control.

Fully Fund the Fair School Funding Plan

Ohio’s Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP) was designed to replace a system deemed unconstitutional more than twenty-five years ago. Implemented with current cost data, it would direct an estimated $17 million in additional state aid to SCSD over the next biennium.

The Senate substitute bill instead:

• Updates local property valuations to 2024 levels while freezing the cost of educating a student at FY 2022 figures.

• Results in a projected $4.6 million reduction from the initially proposed Executive Budget for SCSD over the next two fiscal years compared to FY 2025—shifting greater burden onto local taxpayers and placing programs and staffing at risk.

Legislators must:

• Adopt FY 2024 cost inputs for the per-pupil formula, or

• At minimum, guarantee each district receives no less than its FY 2025 funding level.

Oppose House Bill 335

House Bill 335 would eliminate the constitutional “inside millage” that supplies foundational, un-voted property-tax revenue to schools, municipalities, and townships.

• Annual loss to SCSD: $5.4 million—equivalent to the salaries and benefits of roughly 54 teachers.

• Funding at stake supports core classroom instruction, STEM labs, early-literacy interventions, and school-resource officers.

• The bill provides no replacement revenue and removes local decision-making authority from Springfield residents.

Lawmakers should reject HB 335 unless a comprehensive replacement funding mechanism—phased in over time and accompanied by voter oversight—is enacted.

How to Advocate

1. Email and call state representatives and senators using the district’s sample messages and phone script (available on the Legislative Advocacy page).

2. Emphasize two points:

   • Update FSFP cost data and preserve current funding levels.

   • Vote NO on HB 335 absent a full, revenue-neutral replacement plan.

3. Share this information with neighbors, friends, business leaders, and community groups to amplify Springfield’s voice.

Moving Forward

Springfield’s students deserve stable, equitable resources that reflect today’s educational costs and community priorities. Thoughtful tax reform is welcome; unfunded mandates are not. By engaging legislators now, residents can protect instructional quality, public safety, and the economic vitality of the entire city—today and for generations to come.

• Sample Phone Script (Word Version)

• Sample Phone Script (PDF Version)

• Sample Email or Letter (Word Version)

• Sample Email or Letter (PDF Version)

• Joint Statement on HB 335 (coming soon)

Send the SCSD an email at:

communications@scsdoh.org

Leverage our downloadable advocacy letter and phone script to contact your state legislators. Urge them to uphold fair school funding and protect local control. By acting together, we will keep the Springfield City School District strong for generations to come.