Families at Kilgour Elementary, Clark Montessori and Withrow University High School will start the 2026-27 school year with fewer social workers, fewer counselors and teachers working five unpaid furlough days after the Cincinnati Board of Education formally adopted a balanced $634.6 million general-fund budget on Aug. 3.
The budget closes a projected $58 million deficit through staffing reductions, the furlough days, a 10% cut to non-personnel spending at schools, tighter hiring controls and limited one-time revenue. About $6.7 million of the plan relies on money that won't be available again next year, according to district records.
The board approved the budget unanimously.
What was cut
At a June 22 meeting, the board eliminated 111 positions district-wide: 81 central office workers, 12 social workers, 10 assistant principals and eight counselors, WLWT reported. The five mandatory unpaid days apply to teachers, counselors and social workers.
No source has specified how many of those eliminated positions served Kilgour, Clark Montessori or Withrow specifically. But the district-wide reductions in social workers and counselors affect the same support roles that east-side parents rallied to protect at a June 23 board meeting, where school counselors and social workers showed up with T-shirts and signs to protest the proposed cuts.
The levy that determines what comes next
The same night it adopted the budget, the board voted 5-1-1 to place a five-year, 7-mill property tax levy on the Nov. 3 ballot. Board member Kendra Mapp voted no; Vice President Kareem Moncree-Moffett abstained. As we reported Aug. 3, the board also rescinded a previously approved income tax levy that same evening.
If voters approve the property tax, it would generate roughly $66.3 million annually, with collections starting in January 2027. For a home with a market value of $100,000, the cost would be $245 per year.
Board President Brandon Craig warned in an Aug. 4 interview with Local 12 that a failed levy would bring worse pain: "We're going to be closing schools. We're going to lay off another group of folks, and this time it'll be folks who are directly in the classrooms."
CPS has not asked voters for new operating money in 10 years.
Parents want a spending plan first
Not everyone is ready to rally behind the levy. Parent advocacy groups Cincinnati Parent Empowerment Network and We Excel Cincy have called on the board to show how previous levy funds were spent before asking for more, WCPO reported. As we reported Aug. 4, CPS parent Ashley Harp-Dillion said the solution starts with "creating a plan for the money."
What's next for east-side families
Clark Montessori holds its open house on Aug. 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. Kilgour's is Aug. 17, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Withrow's open house date has not been announced. The Nov. 3 election will determine whether the current round of cuts is the floor or just the beginning.
