YOUNGSTOWN — Thanks in large part to a shift in allocating key resources and deferment in paying for a large expenditure, the city school district has a surplus of about $2 million for this fiscal year, a school official says.

“We’ve been planning since last summer to review contracts and staffing,” Treasurer Bryan Schiraldi said after the Youngstown City Schools’ regular board meeting Tuesday at Choffin Career and Technical Center.

Part of the savings can be attributed to the district’s shift in priorities regarding grant money — specifically, more of it going toward salaries and benefits instead of supplies and related items, he noted.

Such a move will relieve the district’s general fund, as the use of grant money also will align with certain stipulations, Schiraldi said.

In addition, a few major purchases will be paid in FY 2025. Perhaps the largest one is the adoption of a new $1.6 million math curriculum, which the board of education approved at a meeting earlier this year, to be implemented districtwide for students in kindergarten through grade 12, the treasurer said.

While praising the $2 million in savings, Schiraldi cautioned the board and public not to celebrate yet.

“We’ve made a lot of progress, but we’re not quite where we need to be,” he said.

Two district priorities moving forward are to fund various capital projects such as improvements to buildings and to ensure that “everyone is well compensated,” Schiraldi added.

Also at the session, Robin Waldorf, the Youngstown Education Association’s second vice president, announced the first Back to School Bash, set for 2 to 6 p.m. Aug. 8 at Wean Park, downtown.

The YEA will host the four-hour gathering, the main priorities of which are to get students excited about the upcoming school year and unite stakeholders as well as the community as a whole, said Waldorf, who’s also an East Middle School sixth-grade social studies teacher. It will be open also to parents, teachers and others.

“We’re trying to bring the community together to show (students) that the teachers and administrators support them,” she said.

Also, the free event is intended to bring added positivity to a district that has struggled from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a nearly one month teachers strike at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year and House Bill 70, Waldorf added.

“We want them to (also) have a positive attitude towards teachers and the school year,” said Waldorf, who has taught 16 years, including four in the Youngstown City Schools.

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