TALLMADGE, Ohio — Hundreds of students in Tallmadge will be without a bus route when school starts this year.
Superintendent Steve Wood said the district will no longer offer transportation for high school students, impacting 800 students who will no longer have a bus route.
Transportation will also no longer be available for elementary and middle school students living within a two-mile radius of their school. Wood said the district will be returning to transportation requirements made by the State of Ohio. Under Ohio law, districts are required to offer transportation for students in kindergarten through eighth grade who live more than two miles from their school.
Wood acknowledged that the transportation cuts could make things difficult for some families. He said the district is doing what it can to help. Adjustments will be made at schools to help with drop-off and pick-up times. Wood said he is in talks with Akron Metro, which has a bus route through town, to explore whether it could be an option for students.
The district hopes to bring back the transportation next year, but Wood said the continuing cuts in funding could prevent that. Wood also said a string of failed levies has also strained the budget.
"The reality is tough," he said. "This is a cost-cutting spiral, and if we don't receive additional funds for next year, it just gets uglier. It means more teachers out. It means more electives gone. More academic opportunities are gone and less clubs."
Wood said this is the second round of cuts the district had to make. Last school year, the district cut teaching and administrative positions. This year, more teaching positions were eliminated. Wood said the cost of the district's pay-to-play was raised this year.
He also said another levy would be on the November ballot.
Instead of a property tax, the district is proposing an earned income tax, meaning the tax would be based on wages earned rather than the value of a home.
