T-L Photos/JOSIE BURKHART Bellaire Local Schools, where kindergarteners run on the playground, could face budget cuts and carryover funding issues after Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio House proposed their budgets for 2026-27.

COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio House both proposed budgets for 2026-2027 that could leave schools in Belmont County facing funding issues.

Dewine’s proposed budget would spend $23.4 billion on education over the biennium to support students through school choice programs, or charter schools, and continued implementation of the Cupp-Patterson school funding formula, according to the budget proposal. The budget phases in the final two years (years 5 and 6) of the school funding formula while phasing out the funding of empty desks in schools with decreasing enrollment by reducing funding guarantees to 95% in fiscal year 2026 and 90% in fiscal year 2027.

The proposal states, “Because school principals are key to a school’s success, Governor DeWine’s executive budget proposal establishes the new Ohio Principal Apprenticeship Program to prepare and train individuals interested in school leadership positions and who want to ELmaximize learning and growth opportunities for Ohio students.”

However an analysis of the numbers shows there are cuts to Ohio’s K-12 public schools, according to the StateHouse News Bureau.

The bill is under review in the House, and the Senate has until June 30 to approve it.

The districts that could face these cuts include Bellaire, St. Clairsville and Union Local and it could mean a big loss of funding for the Union Local School District.

Superintendent Zac Shutler said with DeWine’s proposed budget, the potential cut poses a significant threat to the district’s ability to provide a high-quality education for its students.

“While we’ve proactively implemented cost-saving measures, including retirement incentives to reduce our budget through attrition and professional development reductions, this potential reduction forces us to confront difficult choices,” he said. “We are already grappling with critical facility needs, such as roof and HVAC replacements, that are being deferred due to limited cash flow.”

He added that complicating this issue is the flawed state funding model, which relies excessively on local property taxes and was deemed unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1997.

“These inequalities were supposed to be addressed through the Fair School Funding Act,” Shutler said. “The state’s failure to ensure the timely payment of taxes by large energy corporations compounds the financial instability of a lot of Ohio’s districts.”

Although the district feels the fiscal uncertainty undermines school leaders’ ability to effectively plan and invest in its future, Union Local will continue to prioritize its students, he added.

“A comprehensive review of Ohio’s school funding system is urgently needed to create a more equitable and stable environment for all districts,” he said.

Funding from the state is used for a variety of programs and staffing needs at Union Local.

However the Ohio House has made adjustments for its own proposal now, which would not allow school districts to have more than 25% of their yearly budget as carryover.

This proposal doesn’t affect Union Local as much because the district doesn’t have a large carryover, Shutler said, but for districts that do have a large carryover, they would have to spend that money.

He noted the reason districts have carryovers is that funding can be very volatile from year to year, and there are some districts that already have large carryovers. Shutler said if that proposal goes through the Senate, then that could definitely change how districts allocate their money.

“I think right now, it’s still uncertain, because we won’t know anything for sure until it gets signed by the governor,” Shutler said.

A district that would be affected greatly by the carryover proposal would be Bellaire Local Schools.

Superintendent Derrick McAfee said lawmakers are penalizing districts who are good stewards of their community’s dollars. He noted that unexpected expenses arise and said 25% of a budget in a small district is not a responsible cushion of funds to have available.

Bellaire schools could face a $1.3 million cut over the next two years as a result of DeWine’s proposal, he added.

McAfee said the district’s first priority is to protect instructional programming and staff, which might not be possible, but leaders are going to make sure they are “good stewards of the taxpayer dollar,” which means making adjustments before the school district loses all its money.

He added that the district has to make adjustments based on projections multiple years away and make adjustments as time passes, but this budget proposal will put the district in a situation where it must adjust now.

McAfee said he doesn’t see massive reductions for the next school year, but these cuts would have big impacts on long-term plans for Bellaire schools, such as preventing the district from investing in a new instructional program down the road.

The district is not going to go back to local taxpayers and ask for more money, McAfee emphasized.

The money from the state that could be cut is more for salary fringes and staffing than it is for facilities and things of that nature, McAfee said. He noted the state money is what helps the schools pay for people.

“The district is financially sound. We have awesome community support, and this community has passed an operating levy to sustain the district,” McAfee said. “We just renewed it. … That’s how we survive, but I don’t ever want to give the impression that we’re going to turn around and put out our hands and ask our local community for more.

“They’ve already been burdened with massive tax increases from the property tax revaluation,” he continued. “So, what I just want to assure people is we will make it work, whatever the outcome is, and we’ll always do what’s best for the children of Bellaire while being a responsible agent of our local taxpayer dollars.”

Shutler described the situation as fluid and McAfee said districts don’t really know where this is going to land.

McAfee said the Ohio Senate is still going to have a run at crafting a budget.

“These are scary times for public schools,” he said.