TRIMBLE, Ohio — After getting rid of over 30 positions amid its financial crisis, the Trimble Local Board of Education voted 3–1 last week against cutting another five teaching positions for now. The board agreed to cut three non-teaching positions.
The board also accepted the resignation of member Dave Owen, and learned that the district’s projected deficit continues to grow.
Teaching position cuts will be considered again at a special meeting Thursday, May 22, according to Trimble Local Teachers Association President Rexford Millhone.
The board did not discuss the positions at its special meeting May 22, rather only the district’s the five-year forecast, which it did not approve at the May 15 meeting. The board will instead reconsider cuts at its next regular meeting in June, Board President Gary Arnold said May 22.
So far, the district has eliminated a total of 11 teaching positions and five administrative positions; the remaining cuts have affected non-teaching, unionized staff.
Staff positions eliminated at the May 15 meeting include a custodian, a 3-hour cook, and a bus driver. All three will lose their positions effective June 30. The employees are represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees #1351.
The cuts to members of the Trimble Local Teachers Association that the board rejected would have eliminated:
- One high school industrial arts technology teacher.
- One elementary/middle school physical education teacher.
- One sixth grade teacher.
- One preschool teacher.
- One kindergarten teacher.
Arnold cast the only vote in favor of the additional teaching cuts May 15. The vote followed a two and-a-half-hour executive session.
Millhone believes the cuts were rejected because of concerns about kindergarten classes.
“There has been multiple appeals to the situation in K,” Millhone said in an email.
Millhone said the cuts are the subject of the special board meeting Thursday, which the board announced at its May 15 meeting.
Before the May 15 executive session, two board members said they would vote against further cuts.
Board member Kayla Simons said that while she recognizes that cuts are efficient, they may not be the “smartest” choices. She said she would not approve any more cuts.
“What do we do? How are we going — I mean, we can’t sustain this,” Simons said. “We can’t cut more. We can’t continue doing anything else.”
Arnold echoed Simons: “After tonight, Gary Arnold is done cutting positions,” he said. “We’ve ripped people’s hearts out for five months, it’s time to stop.”
Board member Kevin Coey told the Independent he had not made up his mind about the proposed cuts prior to the executive session. Coey voted against abolishing the five, mostly elementary teaching positions.
“These is cuts we have to make,” Coey said. “I don’t agree with the particular ones because I did not learn to read in elementary school. I feel that those positions are way more critical.”
Millhone said he expects that the board will proceed with cutting five positions at Thursday’s special meeting.
“The board says, ‘No more cuts,’ but really at this point … the power is kind of gone,” Millhone told the Independent May 15. Millhone was referring to the commission that was formed to oversee the district’s finances, which may take on all or some of the powers of the board of education.
“What the state forces us to do, the state will force us to do,” Arnold said.
The exact positions cut, however, may differ from the list proposed at the May 15 meeting, Millhone said.
“I do not anticipate much changing unless they decide to keep the K position,” Millhone stated in an email. “If they keep the K position then I would anticipate another cut and this is bothersome because it is leaving this person/s with less time to find employment.”
Public pleas against further cuts and for accountability
The public voiced at the May 15 meeting grave concerns about the proposed cuts.
Allison Pallo, a 2024 Trimble graduate who utilized an Individualized Education Program, voiced concerns over cuts to educational aide positions.
Former TLTA President Susan Shafer encouraged more transparency from the board. “I think as transparent as we can be is what we have to do, whether we want to or not,” she said. “That’s just the way it is.
Sher Heightland, whose teaching position was up for elimination, said she’s taught at Trimble for 26 years, 23 of which in kindergarten. She voiced concern for the incoming kindergarten class of 53 students and teachers’ abilities to educate large classes — if cut, it would leave two teachers with around 25 students, each.
“I can tell you, the demands in our hallway with our children is astronomical,” Heightland said. “And if you put 26 kids in a kindergarten room with absolutely no help, and we’re cutting people, there is not much education that’s going to be happening.”
Heightland added, “I have been in kindergarten for 23 my 26 years, and I can tell you how much the needs have increased over the years, especially after COVID.”
Multiple community members also encouraged the board to hold Superintendent John Hurd to account for the district’s financial crisis.
Samantha Riley, a parent and district employee, said district staff is “overwhelmed” amid the financial crisis.
“We’re already short on coverage, and instead of getting support, we’re being asked to do more with less,” Riley said. “How much longer do you expect this to go on before something breaks? The students are suffering because of it. You cut resources, you’ve made staffing decisions that leave us short handed, and now you’re sitting back while we try to hold everything together.”
Riley added, “The only time our leadership comes in our building or walks through the door is if you’re handed a risk letter. That’s the only time we’ve seen [Hurd]. What does that do? It adds more stress to an already impossible situation. It’s like you’re intentionally making things harder for us. Where’s the help? Where’s the support? We’ve been asking for this all along, but all we get is silence and more cuts.”
Bus driver Jeff Tover said that while leadership said there’d be no cuts to the bus garage, “You cut a driver. Our bus route — our buses are, I mean, they run thin already.”
Mark Brunton, a parent, called on the board to move to fire Hurd once it fills Owen’s empty seat.
“I implore the board to [give Hurd 15-day notice] — that’s what it takes,” Brunton said. “I think there’s plenty of cause. Once we get that fifth board member, let’s execute it.”
Teacher Chrissy Sharp said that her petition, “Demand Accountability and Termination for Superintendent John Hurd,” had exceeded its 500-signature goal.
“I grow increasingly more concerned every single day and I think that the person in charge of seeing us through the predicament we’re in is not doing what they should be doing right now,” Sharp said.
During the April board meeting, signs promoting the petition were posted in front of the school, behind the Glouster E-Z Mart along South Town Street. Those signs were gone by May 15, but others — a large one featuring a QR code — were in place along State Route 13 the same day.
Financial update: “Six- to 10-year process”
As part of the state’s fiscal emergency declaration, a financial planning and supervision commission has formed to help develop a financial plan to relieve the district of its crisis. It may assume some or all powers of the board of education.
The commission will meet for the first time Wednesday, May 28, at 4:30 p.m.
Miller said there is a “disconnect between the state and our situation.” The state suggested the district pass a levy to keep the district afloat.
According to a report Miller previously submitted, the district would need to pass a levy for $25.43 million to make up for the initially projected $1.6 million deficit.
Further complicating matters, Arnold said the deficit may go north of $4 million by the end of this year.
Treasurer Ashley Miller shared even graver projections for the district’s longer-term future. The five-year forecast Miller shared projected an $11 million deficit come 2029.
Miller said that the 2029 deficit was originally projected at $15 million. “The cuts tonight took it down to $9 million,” she explained.
The gloomy five-year projections are based on the new proposed state budget, which would stagnate funding for the district, Miller said.
At the May 15 meeting, Millhone said the district could lose millions due to the state’s failure to implement the Fair School Funding Plan. The state also proposes limiting districts’ cash reserves.
Miller also described the district’s insurance costs as “unsustainable.”
Compounding the district’s problems is its low enrollment, which affects how much funding the district gets from the state. Trimble’s class of 2025 has fewer than 50 students.
Miller described the current financial outlook as “disastrous” and “bleak,” but said that the district can focus on its present “survival.”
The district has received its first solvency assistance payment from the state, coming in at nearly $3 million. Miller said the funds will go toward the district’s debts. The state is “adamant” that the district is expected to repay the funds in the 2026–2027 fiscal year, Miller said.
Community members at the meeting asked the board how they can support the district during this crisis. Miller said the district is looking into opening a bank account in Glouster to accept general or specific donations. The bank would receive the money, rather than the school.
Other board decisions
Also on May 15, the board accepted the resignations of three coaches, an educational aide/athletic director, two class advisers, a fifth grade teacher and an elementary aide.
The board also accepted the resignation of member Dave Owen, effective Tuesday, May 13. The board did not share information as to how or why he resigned. At publication time, the district had not acknowledged a records request from the Independent about Owen’s resignation.
At a previous meeting, Owen was accused by a parent and staff member of not living in the district; by state law, members of boards of education must live in the school district. According to Athens County Board of Elections records, Owen is registered to vote in Glouster.
The Independent could not reach Owen prior to publication.
The superintendent is accepting letters of interest for the open seat through 5 p.m. Thursday, May 22. His email address is john.hurd@trimblelocalschools.org.
Due to Juneteenth, the Trimble Local Board of Education’s next regular meeting will be Wednesday, June 18, at 6 p.m. at the Trimble Local School District Office, 1 Tomcat Drive, Glouster.
Note: This article was originally published May 21. It was updated at 8 p.m. May 22 to reflect events of the May 22 special board meeting.
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