Olentangy Schools continues to advocate for funding at the statehouse as state funding equals tax relief for our residents. We encourage our community to continue contacting state legislators as we work together to fairly fund Ohio's public schools. 

Below is the public testimony submitted by Superintendent Todd R. Meyer and Treasurer Ryan Jenkins to the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, regarding the Amended Substitute HB 96, FY26-27 State Biennium Budget.

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Public Testimony of Todd R. Meyer, Superintendent, & Timothy Ryan Jenkins, Treasurer/CFO
Olentangy Local School District, Delaware County, OH
Amended Substitute HB 96, FY26-27 State Biennium Budget
Senate Education Committee, May 14, 2025

Chair Brenner, Vice Chair Blessing, Ranking Member Ingram and Members of the Senate Education Committee:

Thank you for allowing us to testify as interested parties in Amended Substitute HB96, the biennium budget bill that will establish appropriations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

I’m Todd Meyer, and I’m the Superintendent of the Olentangy Local School District. With me, I have Mr. Ryan Jenkins, the Treasurer/CFO for Olentangy Schools.

Olentangy Schools, Ohio’s 4th largest public district, educates over 24,000 students daily. We’re a successful, rapidly growing public school district. Our residents have faithfully passed 6 operational levies, 10 bond issues and 2 permanent improvement levies since March 1999. Our community has been very supportive.

We’re testifying to provide this committee with the impact the bill will have on Olentangy Schools.

School Formula Funding
The Olentangy Schools supports the Fair School Funding Plan (FSFP). We don’t think that creating a ‘transitional’ formula is best for public schools.

We do appreciate the following items:

• The ‘transitional’ formula pays 50% of the difference between the funding calculated for FY2025 and the funding calculated for FY2026 and FY2027 using the FSFP.
• The bill provides Olentangy Schools with a growth supplement of $100 per student in the 2025-26 school year, and potentially $200 per student for the following school year.
• The formula adds $20 per student for the 2025-26 school year and $30 per student for the 2026-27 school year.

Exhibit 1, shows that the House Bill, compared to the Executive Budget, will provide Olentangy with about $18.7 million in additional funding in the next biennium. We urge this committee and the Senate to give growing school districts the appropriate state funding needed—this is the most beneficial tax relief for our residents.

The ‘Clawback’ Enacted by ORC §5705.316 and Section 757.110
While we express our appreciation for the noted funding, we must also express grave concerns about the ‘Clawback.’

Exhibit 2 of this testimony shows how negatively this will impact a rapidly growing school district that is above the 20-mill floor.
The following items outline our concerns about the ‘Clawback’:

• The ‘Clawback’ will usher in fiscal emergency for Olentangy Schools.
• Creating a static 30% reserve threshold for Olentangy Schools is unreasonable and fails to recognize the critical factors noted in Exhibit 2, which are accounted for when establishing our reserves
• This provision would send our district back to its voters far more rapidly than before, perhaps every year.
• It will not create any long-term tax relief for our residents.

We have been praised for our fiscally responsible practices, and our expenditure per pupil is lower than the state average¹. We transparently share financial data with our community, and we expect to be held accountable.

We support tax relief but think that the amendment gives seemingly little thought to the impact for growing districts above the 20-mill floor.

Lastly, our District created a cash-reserve policy, and it is submitted as Exhibit 3.

We urge the Ohio Senate to remove the ‘Clawback’ provision entirely; we also welcome collaboration to enact reasonable cash-reserve policies for all Ohio Schools that recognize the unique circumstances for each district.

We thank you for your time, and we are happy to answer any questions.

Respectfully, Todd R. Meyer, Superintendent & Timothy R. Jenkins, Treasurer/CFO, Olentangy Schools

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¹ Source: ODEW 2023-24 District Profile Report (aka the Cupp Report)