RAVENNA − Ravenna school district used its April 22 state of the district event to outline its finances, explain recent building closures and why it’s considering new construction.
Treasurer Kristen Plageman acknowledged during the event at Ravenna High School that the district’s finances were “pretty bleak” in 2024, when the district was in fiscal caution.
Now, she said, the district is in a better shape. She cited a plan that included building consolidations, staffing reductions to align with decreased enrollment and an analysis of expenditures. Voters also approved a 5.47-mill, five-year property tax in May 2025 that generates $2.75 million annually. It was the district’s fifth attempt at the levy, and the first time voters approved new funds for the district in more than 20 years.
Last year, the district announced West Park, the former kindergarten building, would close. This fall, kindergarteners began attending Willyard Elementary School in Ravenna along with first- and second-graders.
West Main Elementary School will close at the end of the current school year. That will set off a shift involving multiple buildings. Students in grades three and four who otherwise would have attended West Main will move to the former Brown Middle School, turning the structure into an elementary building serving grades three to six. Those in in grades seven and eight will move to Ravenna High School, which then will serve grades seven to 12.
While those moves helped the district financially, reappraisal did not. Plageman said the district gained only $181,845 because reappraisal only affects “inside,” or non-voted millage. However, the district’s state funding went down more than $857,000 − because reappraisal affects the state funding formula.
“As reappraisal values go up, the state says, ‘the Ravenna district has more wealth. They have more ability to provide for the funding of their schools. So we’re going to give them less money.’ That’s how that works.”
Superintendent says closures were necessary
Superintendent Ben Ribelin said that when the district was in fiscal caution, it worked “tirelessly” on a plan to come out of state oversight. Ravenna, he said, is the only district in Ohio to exit fiscal oversight within a year.
“I think it’s important to note that we were told when we were going through the process of a performance audit from the state auditor that we would be in a lot better position if we were to close some of our buildings,” he said. “Right now, we’re in a position that our buildings are starting to age and are getting hard to maintain.”
The building closures, he said, were always part of the plan, whether or not the levy was approved. All three of the district’s unions, he said, also agreed to hold off on raises.
The district sold West Park and the former Tappan Elementary School, and also will close the district’s warehouse building.
Ribelin said when he was principal at West Park, the school was operating 10 kindergarten classrooms. When the building closed, only five classrooms were operating.
When West Main closes, Brown will be renovated and become an elementary school. The third and fourth grades will be on the first floor, while fifth and sixth graders will be on the second floor.
“It will look like an elementary building,” he said.
He said many high schools house seventh through 12th grades. “We have a plan to keep them separated as much as we can throughout the day,” he said.
Central registration will be relocated to the district board office when the warehouse closes, he said.
Building project
Jeremy McDevitt, director of business operations for the district, said the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission has offered to pay 76% of the cost of a new elementary school in Ravenna. The state eventually presented Ravenna with five options, and the district hired Fanning Howey, which recently helped the district narrow the options down to one.
“Our buildings are aging,” McDevitt said, adding that he has “never seen anything” like the 76% to 24% funding split the state is offering now.
“The state now is telling Ravenna they will fund 76% of a new building,” he said.
Plageman said the district can cover its share without a tax increase, using funding now used to maintain the older buildings in the district.
The district was told that the building would cost about $45 million, with about $32 million covered by the state.
Ravenna’s portion is a little over $11 million, she said. Some of that would be funded through the buildings that were sold. The remaining money would come from a permanent improvement levy. After about $250,000 a year is set aside for maintenance, the remaining $700,000 would cover loan payments.
The district plans to ask voters to renew the permanent improvement levy in November.
“We’re going to need that $953,000, either to maintain our buildings, or to have a brand new building for the community,” she said.
Jennifer Fuller of Fanning Howey said the project would involve an addition to the school to house kindergarten through sixth grade. Fanning Howey, she said, analyzed a building the size the OFCC says the district needs, along with things like traffic patterns. Fuller said the plan would work.
“When it does become a building project, there will be lots of involvement,” she said.
Architect Jonathan Imler pointed out that there are separate drop offs for bus and parent pick up and drop off. The buildings would be attached, but operate as “a school within a school,” with the elementary and high school buildings operating independently.
“We feel like we can build a brand new building at no cost to our voters,” Ribelin said. “We feel that’s what our kids deserve.”
Future meetings
The Ravenna Board of Education plans a special meeting at 4 p.m. May 26 at the board office, 534 Summit St. in Ravenna. The purpose of the meeting is to approve the building project.
A public meeting is planned at 6 p.m. June 4 at the Ravenna High School auditorium.
The OFCC is expected to approve Ravenna’s plan in July, and there will be more public meetings as the project proceeds, Ribelin said.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ravenna Schools officials detail building closures, construction plan
Reporting by Diane Smith, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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