LORAIN, Ohio — Families, students and staff in Lorain City Schools are bracing for deep cuts as the district faces compounding financial challenges.
School consolidations, the elimination of some electives and sweeping layoffs of teachers and other staff members were top of mind for some families in Lorain’s school pickup lines Friday.
“It’s very upsetting,” said Kaitlyn Mincy, who graduated in 2025.
Her mother Julie Mincy added, “[I feel] sadness all the way around, for the kids, for the teachers, for our community.”
Another parent, Tiffanie Wyatt, said, “It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a good outcome. I feel real bad for the kids right now.”
“These kids need more. They always need more,” added grandmother Karen Jobe.
The reactions came one day after the Board of Education approved the budget cuts during its Thursday meeting.
“There’s a lot of things that we used to be able to provide our children and our families that, moving forward, we’re going to struggle with,” Superintendent Jeff Graham said. “I understand all the levels of stress and I apologize for the fact that, first of all, we had to go through it; second of all, that it’s been more stressful than it needed to be based on timing of when we got information.”
Earlier this month, the district laid out its proposal to cut nearly $18 million from its budget.
RELATED: Lorain City Schools weighs staffing cuts, consolidations as it trims $18 million from budget
At the time, Graham explained financial challenges were compounded after a combined $6.7 million loss in state, federal and county funding.
Thursday, he gave another presentation detailing the final plan to be turned over to the Ohio Department of Education.
It includes a reduction in force of 167 positions, including 106 members of the Lorain Education Association, the union that represents the district’s teachers.
“It’s devastating,” said Lorain Education President Julie Garcia. “It’s really hard. You walk into a building and you can feel, it’s just so heavy.”
She told News 5 the number of layoffs was even higher than initially anticipated, though it’s unclear which positions will be officially eliminated.
Garcia said she wished more cuts had been made to administrative staff and high-level salaries.
“It’s frustrating because I personally feel our administration is top heavy,” she said.
Other changes include creating an online Titan Virtual Academy, eliminating choir for middle and high school students and trimming other middle school electives, including Spanish, health and financial literacy.
Additionally, the district plans to consolidate the district’s 10 elementary schools into 8 buildings, using one former elementary building for a specialized school for students with autism and the other for pre-K students.
Rachel Donovan, a mother of a second grader, a pre-K student and an almost 3-year-old, said the logistics of taking her three children to three schools next year would be challenging.
“It’s like send them to school or work. It just doesn’t fit into my schedule at all,” she said, adding she’s considering enrolling them in a different school district.
“I love my kids’ school and I think their teachers are amazing,” she said. “But our kids are suffering and they need their education.”
On Thursday, Dr. Graham said the changes would keep the district through 2028, but state and federal policies are putting increasing strain on local communities and schools.
Other districts, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, have also made deep cuts recently to balance their budgets.
RELATED: CMSD approves restructuring plan for 2026-2027 school year
Some said it’s a system issue.
“Big city schools – Cleveland, Lorain, all around the state – need help, regardless of who’s running the city,” said Kevin Stinson, a 2011 Lorain graduate.
Many worry about the implications for education.
“It means there’s going to be fewer services available, fewer supports, it means class sizes are going to (be) larger. It means your teachers are going to be worn out and worked hard than they already area,” Garcia said when asked how the cuts will affect students.
Lorain City Schools district officials were not available for comment on Friday.
The plan laid out on Thursday will now go to the Ohio Department of Education for approval.
This spring, the district is also asking voters to consider a new tax levy. Dr. Graham said the proposed 11-mill levy would generate an extra $10.7 million, which is about half of what the district needs and would only keep it solvent until 2030.
If passed, he said the district may be able to rehire some staff affected by the cuts. If the levy fails, he said it could mean at least $4 million in additional cuts.
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV, on Facebook CatherineRossTV or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com.
