Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Canfield Superintendent Joe Knoll gives his annual State of the Schools address Wednesday to showcase the achievements of the district and look at the future.

CANFIELD — Superintendent Joe Knoll gave his annual State of the Schools address on Wednesday that included a year in review and where the five-year forecast stands.

Knoll started with the five-year strategic plan that includes seven specific goals: Curriculum and academic programming, communications, finance and accountability, facilities-safety and security, diversity and wellness, technology and infrastructure, and human resources.

“What’s next?” he asked before answering, “A strategic plan.”

He said the present goal is to collect input from stakeholders to better guide the direction the board will be heading this year. That direction will involve finances and facilities.

Among some of the community engagement efforts was a highlight on the Canfield Education Innovation Fund. The fund is handled by the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and is issued to teachers who request grants for various projects.

“For the 2025-26 school year, the CEIF gave out $28,500 in grant dollars,” Knoll said.

He said the grant dollars helped initiate a drone program called Learning to Fly, and a Craft Club for creative students. It also helped fund the local Math Challenge 24 competition and the Kindness Club.

Knoll also mentioned the new course offerings at the high school for 2025-26. Among those are Accounting2, Advanced Aviation, AP-Capstone Research, AP-Computer Science, Business Law, Data Driven Decision Making, History of Rock and Roll, Intro to Aerospace, Intro to Computer Science Principles, Music Lit. and Appreciation, Resource Math, Sports Medicine and Sports Psychology.

Knoll also mentioned the NASA event where elementary students were able to talk live with NASA astronauts.

“I’ve been doing this for 38 years and I never got to talk to an astronaut,” he said.

He said the district was able to provide that event and a path going forward in AI.

“We partnered with NextWave Consulting LLC to provide AI-focused professional learning for educators,” Knoll said. “The training was fully funded through Ohio TechCred at no cost to the district.”

AI, robotics and technology is an area the district is moving into to give students a technology edge.

DISTRICT FINANCES

On finances, Knoll turned the microphone over to Canfield City Schools Treasurer Ben Marko. He laid out a pie chart showing people where Canfield’s money comes from. He showed 70% coming from taxes, 26% from state funding and 4% from other sources such as facility rentals.

On the expense side, Marko said, “We are a service, so much of our budget goes to personnel.”

He showed 84% as personnel costs that included wages, benefits and insurance. Around 10% was marked as purchased services that include the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio and the utilities needed to run the schools. Six percent goes to other expenditures.

He also showed a chart with the enrollment trend in Canfield. In 2021, there were 2,500 students in Canfield. This year, the total is at 2,409 and if trends continue, the expected enrollment for 2030 is 2,303.

Marko said Canfield’s cost per student is $78 per day. Property owners in Canfield are paying approximately 53% of that amount, or $41.34 per day. Considering the normal seven hours of school per day, the community is paying $6.12 per hour, per student, which includes transportation, lunch service, education, building maintenance and extracurriculars.

Marko also pointed out the deficit spending issue that is a concern for board members and district administrators.

“This year, our projected general fund revenue is at $31,619,503 and our projected general fund expenditures are at $33,082,694,” Marko said. “Our projected loss for the year is $1,463,191.”

A final chart showed improvement over information released in February. The numbers based on having a 60-day supply of funds showed the district dipping to 44 days in 2028 and minus-16 in 2029. In just the past two months, the district has tightened its belt and changed those numbers to 44 days in 2028 and four days in 2029.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Knoll presented the completed summer projects from last year that included paving a big section of the high school parking lot, putting a roof on Canfield Village Middle School and gaining a new stadium scoreboard.

“The new scoreboard was over $250,000 and was 100% paid for by donations,” Knoll said.

He also pointed out the addition of “Zero Eyes Gun Detection” technology. He said a recent training session proved how good it works.

“The software uses our camera system to identify a threat,” Knoll said. “Once a threat is seen, alarms go off seconds later. It works great.”

He said for this summer, the next big security update will happen to four areas of Hilltop. Knoll said when Hilltop was built in 1972, large open areas were the rage. Today, they are a security issue. The four open areas at Hilltop will be closed in with walls and doors this summer. The project will cost around $50,000 and will add another level of security.

In wrapping up the state of the schools, Knoll highlighted a lot of the positives such as the large number of athletes achieving top honors, artists and academics being awarded, and a school audit that was clean and brought a state representative to Canfield to present a certificate.

For the future, Knoll said he will be putting out a survey in the Cardinal Communique this summer so residents and taxpayers can have a say in the future of their school district. A decision using that information will have to be made on solving the five-year deficit spending, and what to do with facilities.

“The need still exists,” Knoll said.