POLAND — A state audit report discussed this month with the board of education showed a $13 million turnaround for the Poland school district after having a shaky five-year forecast two years ago.

The district was audited by the state due to a projected fund balance deficit noted in the May 2017 five-year-forecast. The audit listed several recommendations from the state that the district could try to reduce expenses.

“The district decided to do bits and pieces to continue giving students an excellent education,” said Poland Superintendent David Janofa.

Among those selected by the board are reorganizing of district personnel, closing Dobbins Elementary, having a bus / vehicle replacement plan, a technology replacement plan, reducing expenditures by bringing some services back to the school district, and initiating heating and cooling conservation programs.

All these moves had results that were evident with the October 2019 five-year forecast, which shows the district being in the black through 2024.

Also, the annual debt service payment has been reduced by more than $160,000 annually for the next four years due to refinancing of the district’s outstanding debt.

On the five-year district plan that began in the 2017-2018 school year, this summer will see the renovation of the former board of education offices at the high school. They will be transformed into classrooms.

Restrooms will be added, and parking lots resurfaced at the high school. The projects include new softball fields, renovating the auditorium and adding HVAC in the fieldhouse.

The work also will include moving the transportation and board offices to the Dobbins site, located at 3030 Dobbins Road.

The plan also includes the replacement of two buses and one van, and bringing a computer lab to Union Elementary School, and eight new Chrome carts, teacher computers and smart board replacements districtwide.

The board also will be dealing with the hoped-for passage of a 3.4- mill emergency renewal levy that generates $1.4 million annually for operating expenses such as staffing, textbooks, supplies, utilities and more. The levy is a renewal of the existing levy, and it will be on the March 17 ballot.

ENROLLMENT

Looking down the road, the Poland district is continuing to see a drop in numbers. This year’s class numbers show the district has not yet bottomed out.

“Right now, Poland has less students than Struthers,” Janofa said. There are 1,720 students in the Poland district.

Janofa said enrollment throughout the district has been on a declining trend since 2002, but it’s not something that only Poland schools are experiencing.

“It’s a statewide phenomenon,” he said.

People moving out of state as well as people deciding not to have children are a couple reasons enrollment is sliding, Janofa explained.

While district enrollment drops, one statistic about Poland is unique.

“The median age for Poland residents is 20 years higher than Ohio’s average,” Treasurer Janet Muntean said. “We have an older community that doesn’t have the connection to the schools.”

Janofa said the older residents enjoy Poland and don’t want to move –so they stay put. Also, there are not a lot of new housing starts or people with children moving into the district. He said a teacher recently put her home up for sale and it sold in just two days. It means people want to move to Poland, but new homes aren’t here, so they turn to older homes when they are available.

Janofa did say the projections are pointing at a leveling off at about 118-120 students per grade, which means Poland schools will be able to function well with the remaining three buildings.

“Our revenue hasn’t changed for decades, but our expenses continue to go up,” he said.

SCHOOL CHANGES

To address the declining enrollment, the five-year plan plan calls for moving the kindergarten through second grades to McKinley, which will become the K-third grade elementary. Poland Middle School will house the fourth through sixth grade classrooms and will become the new intermediate school.

The 282 seventh- and eighth-grade students will be moved to the high school in a separate wing that will allow for expanded classroom opportunities for those grades.

Once the moves are done, the district will be down to three school buildings in use.

“This move will help us bring back high school busing,” Janofa said.

Six years ago, North Elementary was closed, which Janofa explained happened before it was a recommendation from the state.

Decisions to consolidate buildings and take other measures haven’t been sudden, he noted.

“It’s been a very meticulous, poignant, very deliberate process for the last five to seven years,” Janofa said.

The next school to close will be Poland Union Elementary in the summer of 2021.

Janofa said that by closing the school, the district anticipates gaining about $880,000 annually.

Still, the decision isn’t easy, he said, describing the school, which was built in 1900 according to the Mahoning County auditor’s website, as a “standing monument.”

“Unfortunately, tough decisions need to be made,” which isn’t happening only in Poland but also throughout the state, Janofa said.

He said on a bright note, the move to three buildings will allow the district to offer more with a better class size. In 2009, the district had a 20.5 student per teacher ratio. With North and Dobbins closed, that ratio is now at 18.6.

“None of these decisions were made in a vacuum,” Janofa said. “Over 100 people took part in over 15 months of meetings to make these recommendations.”