Euclid Schools Cut Staff, Head to Ballot as State Shifts Millions to Vouchers

Euclid City Schools is cutting positions and asking property taxpayers for more money — at the same time Ohio's new budget pours an additional $265.4 million into private-school vouchers over two years while reducing foundation aid to traditional public districts by $103.4 million, according to an analysis by the Ohio Education Policy Institute.

The squeeze lands on a district of 4,079 students in a working-class community where levy campaigns are already a hard sell.

Ohio's FY 2026–2027 budget increased voucher funding by $88.6 million in FY 2026 and $88.2 million in FY 2027. Over the same period, the legislature cut foundation formula funding for traditional districts by $31.6 million in FY 2026 and $40.2 million in FY 2027. A budget analysis found that 343 of Ohio's 609 traditional districts lost foundation aid in FY 2026, compared with 266 that gained; in FY 2027, the split worsens to 360 losing and 249 gaining.

Total state appropriations for primary and secondary education reached $8.15 billion in FY 2026 and $8.26 billion in FY 2027, but the growth is tilted toward vouchers rather than formula aid.

How the money moves

Ohio's five voucher programs sent $1.027 billion to private schools for 173,147 students in the 2025–26 school year — including 42,758 on traditional EdChoice vouchers and 105,454 on EdChoice Expansion vouchers.

Under the funding formula in place since FY 2022, voucher scholarships are paid through separate legislative appropriations rather than a direct per-student deduction from a resident district's formula aid, ending the old practice of transferring scholarship dollars straight out of district budgets. The fiscal pressure now comes from a different direction: the legislature grows the voucher pot while shrinking the formula-aid pool, leaving districts to cover operating costs with local revenue.

A levy and a tax bill

To close the gap, the Euclid Board of Education approved a continuing 6.75-mill levy for current expenses at its July 8 meeting, placing it on the Nov. 3, 2026, general-election ballot. If voters approve it, a larger share of the district's operating budget will come directly from Euclid property owners — the definition of a cost shift from state to local taxpayers.

The district also draws local revenue from the City of Euclid under a settlement that requires the city to remit 16.49 percent of certain income-tax collections and 30 percent of others to the Board of Education.

Positions already gone

The board did not wait for the ballot. In May 2026, it approved reductions in force across administrative, specialist, and non-teaching positions. At its Aug. 12 meeting, the board documented additional personnel changes — resignations, terminations, retirements, and reassignments among both certified and classified staff.

What comes next

Voters will decide on Nov. 3 whether the district can stabilize its operating budget or must cut deeper.

The broader policy fight is not settled either. A lawsuit challenging Ohio's EdChoice voucher program advanced to the state appeals court in 2026, with plaintiffs arguing that the expansion undermines public school funding. The outcome could reshape how much state money flows to vouchers — and how much Euclid property taxpayers are left to cover on their own.