The Barberton Board of Education voted in late August 2026 to ask the state of Ohio to declare the district in fiscal emergency, the most severe level of state fiscal oversight for school districts. The district's financial forecast projects that it could end the school year with expenses consuming all cash reserves and leaving a $2 million deficit, according to Ideastream Public Media (source 1). The request comes after the district had already cut roughly $7 million from its budget, including the elimination of about 80 positions, according to Ideastream Public Media (source 1). The district also introduced pay-to-participate sports and froze pay for administrators, as reported by News5Cleveland (source 2).
The fiscal emergency mechanism
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 3316.03, the Auditor of State must declare fiscal emergency if a certified operating deficit exceeds 15 percent of the district's prior-year general fund revenue and voters have not approved a levy expected to close the gap. The auditor also has discretionary authority to declare emergency if the deficit exceeds 10 percent but not 15 percent and the auditor determines it is necessary to prevent further decline (source 4). Upon declaration, a Financial Planning and Supervision Commission is created with five voting members: the Director of the Office of Budget and Management and the Director of Education and Workforce, plus three appointed members (one each by the Governor, the Director of Education and Workforce, and the mayor or county auditor), according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (source 5).
The commission's powers include reviewing or assuming responsibility for tax budgets, levy requests, and appropriation measures, and it may assume any powers of the school board it considers necessary, including personnel, curriculum, and legal issues. Within 120 days of its first meeting, the commission must adopt a financial recovery plan that eliminates the emergency conditions, balances the budget, and restores the district's ability to market long-term general obligation bonds, as outlined in state law (source 4). The Ohio Auditor of State describes fiscal emergency as the last and most severe stage of a district's financial solvency problems (source 6).
What led to the shortfall
Superintendent Jason Ondrus cited changes to school funding and property taxes, along with inaccurate district assumptions about revenues and expenditures, as factors contributing to the cash crunch, according to News5Cleveland (source 2). At a February 2026 special meeting, the Barberton Board of Education approved a financial recovery plan totaling $6.63 million in reductions, including proportional cuts to administrative, teaching, and support staff, but the board acknowledged the plan did not fully address the projected deficit, according to a district document (source 3). Voters rejected a property tax levy in May 2026, and the school board subsequently placed a 1 percent earned income tax measure on the November ballot that would generate $4.75 million per year for five years, as reported by News5Cleveland (source 2).
The Barberton Education Association president expressed concern about the fiscal emergency request and the potential for additional staff reductions following earlier cuts, noting that staffing at state minimum levels would not adequately serve students, according to News5Cleveland (source 2).
Broader state funding context
Barberton's situation reflects stresses affecting many Ohio districts as the state's Fair School Funding Plan remains only partially phased in. The plan, first implemented in fiscal year 2022, calculates state aid based on the actual cost of educating students and each district's local revenue-raising capacity. Policy Matters Ohio, a research and advocacy organization, reported that as of 2025 the plan was about 66 percent phased in, with districts receiving roughly $347 million less per year than under full implementation (source 7). The analysis, which the organization describes as based on state data, found that the legislature's FY26-27 budget approved only a $281.9 million increase over the biennium versus the $3.04 billion the fully phased-in plan would have provided, underfunding schools by more than $2.75 billion and shifting more costs to local revenue sources (source 7).
Policy Matters Ohio also found that the legislature's departure from a full phase-in disproportionately harms high-poverty districts, cutting funding for very high poverty districts by $34.6 million over the biennium while more than 60 percent of districts receiving increases have very low or low student poverty. The organization characterizes this as a return to residual budgeting, but this is an advocacy organization's analysis, not a peer-reviewed study, and reflects a specific policy perspective (source 7).
Additionally, Ohio's FY26-27 budget included property tax provisions that could cost Ohio school districts nearly $203 million in local property tax revenue over the biennium, with an additional $126.7 million at stake in 2028, according to Policy Matters Ohio (source 8). These provisions affect only 39 percent of Ohio school districts, meaning impacted districts face greater hurdles to raise sufficient local revenue. The governor vetoed several of these property tax measures, but the legislature considered override attempts (source 8).
How the funding formula works
The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's FY26 funding documentation confirms that the state formula calculates each district's local capacity using both property wealth (assessed valuation, using the lesser of current year or 3-year average) and resident income (federal adjusted gross income, using the lesser of current year or 3-year average). The state share is the base cost per pupil minus local capacity per pupil, with no district receiving less than 10 percent of the base cost (source 10). This means districts with rising property values see their state share decline, a structural feature that can squeeze districts whose costs are rising faster than their state aid (source 10).
When the legislature required property valuations to be updated annually but pinned cost estimates to 2022 levels, rising property values drove up the expected local contribution while education costs remained frozen at 2022 figures, allowing the state to avoid more than $147 million in obligations in 2025 alone, according to Policy Matters Ohio (source 9). The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce reports that its FY26-27 budget continues phase-in of the foundation funding formula, with state funding for primary and secondary education totaling an estimated $13.75 billion in FY26, a $239.5 million or 1.8 percent increase, and $14.09 billion in FY27. The state characterizes this as continued record investment, while critics note it falls far short of full implementation (source 11).
Uncertain outlook
If fiscal emergency is approved, Barberton would gain access to a state solvency fund administered by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, money the district would have to repay over a few years. Superintendent Ondrus indicated a designation could come by the end of 2026, according to News5Cleveland (source 2). The Barberton Education Association president expressed concern about potential additional staff reductions, noting that staffing at state minimum levels would not adequately serve students (source 2).