The Youngstown City School District Performance Audit from October 31, 2022, through June 30, 2023, has been completed by the Ohio Auditor's Office.

The emphasis looks at how the District will soon be in a double-digit deficit and makes recommendations on financial issues that must be rectified.

The report stated that the District's finances will be in deficit by 2027, with an estimated $4.2 million, and by 2028, the deficit is anticipated to quadruple to nearly $16.9 million.

The audit also stated that the financial issues were expected even with the November renewal of the emergency 9.51 mill levy that will generate nearly $5.3 million annually for operating expenses.

As far as finances, the audit stated, "The District will need to be mindful of operations and expenditures so that it can make strategic decisions that support the implementation and success of the Academic Improvement Plan."

The report also addressed YCSD's 64-page Academic Improvement Plan containing the benchmarks it needs to achieve to remove itself from Academic Distress, including a 2025 target of growth in all levels of learning, testing, reducing absenteeism, hitting up to a 93 percent graduation rate and 84.37 rates of students with disabilities.

The Auditor's report focused on three broad areas of analysis: Resource Allocation, District Operations, and the Academic Improvement Plan.

The audit stated that to achieve a majority of the District's benchmarks by 2025, the District will need to successfully implement strategies to improve student academic achievement, monitor progress, and make adjustments as necessary.

"To accomplish this, the District will need to carefully allocate both their financial and human resources," the report added. 

The audit also noted that the District's expenditures exceeded the statewide average. Still, it noted the audit's goal is not to identify cost savings measures but a measure of key observations and recommendations through our data-driven analyses.

The audit makes several recommendations, including noting while the District creates an annual budget, it does not have a formal, written budgeting process. The audit said that Youngstown schools spent more than $160 million in 2022, and the budget process led to the decisions on where to allocate each of these dollars. The audit added a formal, written budgeting process that identifies employees' roles and responsibilities, allowing for a more transparent and effective budget.

Longtime school board member Brenda Kimble says she has her own ideas about where the cuts should be made.

"If they look into those contracts honestly, and dissolve some of them, I think that would help us along the path," said Kimble late Wednesday, adding that those contracts got created under past CEOs, and have little if anything to do with direct education, student or teacher support. She also says the District is administratively top-heavy.

"We have administrators that are making twice as much as teachers, and they're the ones who are in the classrooms, they're with the students, they do the work."

21 News reached out to several other board members and superintendent Jeremy Batchelor. Board member Tiffany Patterson referred us to a statement released on behalf of the District. We are working to obtain that statement.

The audit also noted that YCSD does not currently have a formal approved capital plan, and the District should continue designing, approving, and implementing a formal capital improvement plan.

It also mentioned a study that showed that enrollment has declined in the past ten years by 19.5 percent, stating, "YCSD has the same number of school buildings being operated in FY 2022 as they did in FY 2018. Because of this, YCSD officials have an opportunity to consolidate buildings. In doing so, the District should make strategic plans and consider the impact that any decisions may have on other operational areas, particularly transportation and staffing."

According to the report, the District did not properly report several employees, resulting in undercounted staffing levels, and noted this needed to be addressed.

It mentioned that during the audit, it was determined that the District has more staff per pupil than the other school averages in multiple categories, even with employees missing from the reported data. It was also spent more per pupil on employee salaries and benefits, but doesn't have a written plan to determine how these resources are deployed across buildings, and stated in some cases, it could not clearly identify where certain teachers were working.

The audit also said that the District should adopt a strategic approach to improve teaching quality, enhance student performance, and develop a formal and comprehensive strategic staffing plan that addresses districtwide staffing needs and is linked to the District's budget and forecast while analyzing future building configurations.

The audit also spoke about the pandemic funds all schools received, including Youngstown, which was given $78 million, which was spent on new synthetic turf for the District's football fields, baseball/softball fields, practice fields, and playgrounds, the purchase of vehicles, the purchase of medical-grade air filters, the purchase of A/C rooftop units for YCSD's Choffin Career & Technical Center, HVAC improvements, chiller replacements, kitchen renovations, and boiler replacements.

It also mentioned funding spent on running two QuickMed YouCare clinics in the schools, the purchase of medical vans that provide on-site care to
students through a contract with an urgent care center, a Wi-Fi services network, and labor and for a third-party provider to run a summer school program for students.

The audit also noted that only two percent of the District's FY 2022 ESSER expenditures were used to pay staff salaries, wages, and benefits, the expenditures and added that any wages funded by ESSER dollars will have to be transferred to other funds by the end of the year or staffing reductions will be required.

Read the full audit here:

 

Below is YCSD's response to the audit sent to 21 News by Stacy Quinones, the District's communications and public relations director:

The recently released Performance Audit Report for Youngstown City Schools (YCSD) focused on specific recommendations to enhance district operations, policies, and procedures. We promptly addressed the state's recommendations with our commitment to make the necessary changes to amplify the educational experience for all scholars.
 
 
In a detailed letter, the District outlined its plans for the recommendations the state provided. These methods will be implemented without delay while we concurrently work with the State's Auditor to enhance district practices. We are grateful to the Auditor of the State's Office for their in-depth, invaluable performance audit for the betterment of our District.