LORAIN, Ohio — Monday night's Lorain City Schools board meeting was packed with teachers and students who are asking that the district not make cuts to the fine arts department.
RELATED: Here's where Lorain City Schools is slashing $17.6 million
In February, the school board approved a plan to cut 167 staff members, including 106 members of the LEA, which covers teachers, counselors, speech-language pathologists and social workers.
The bulk of the cuts will come at the elementary level, where 57 teachers and 15 other staff positions will be eliminated. In pre-K, 11 teachers and more than two dozen other staff are being cut. Middle school restructuring will reduce LEA staff by 23. The high school will lose two positions. Sixteen cuts will come at the administrative level.
Who exactly is on the chopping block hasn't been publicly shared, though.
The lingering fear of who it might be has students concerned that their departments will take a hit.
"Not every student shines in sports or traditional classes, but arts give them another way to find their voices and talents without feeling pressured to do sports that they're not comfortable with," Ava Colon, a LCS student, told the board. "Without any funding, many students will lose a safe space where they feel connected and included and inspired to be themselves without any pressure of the outside world."
Another member of the LCS theater community told the board, "Not everyone has the ability to pay for acting schools or community theaters. Our theater provides students with the opportunity to act and do what they love without having to pay anything. In most political campaigns, the main promises are based on the rights and well-being of kids and their education, but these cuts of federal funds of our schools are affecting precisely our education and learning."
One LCS staff member spoke up during the meeting, too.
She said, "Lorain is not afraid of hard work. We are not afraid of tough conversations, but we must be included in the solutions. If reductions must happen, they must reflect shared sacrifice. Cuts cannot consistently fall furthest from the top while the greatest impact lands on the bottom. If teachers, aides, support staff and students are asked to absorb the pain, then executive leadership must demonstrate measurable sacrifice and accountability as well."
There is an LCS general operating levy up for renewal this year.
However, if that fails, LCS will have to cut another $4-$8 million.
"The question is: will you stand with us? Fight for our children," one public commenter said to the board on Monday.
News 5 will Follow Through as we find out more.
