EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series looking at what Lake County communities, agencies and school districts experienced in 2025 and what is facing them in 2026.
According to Painesville City Schools Superintendent Josh Englehart, the district is coming off of a “big year” for student outcomes.
The district celebrated what it called its highest-ever state report card rating in September, when it announced that it received a three out of five star rating from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Three stars indicates that the district is “meeting state standards,” according to state criteria.
“The impact of the strategic efforts we’ve been putting in for the past several years really showed up on our state report card,” Englehart said.
He said that the district significantly reduced chronic absenteeism for the third straight year.
Chronic absence is defined by the state as a student missing 10 percent of the school year or more. Just over 40 percent of Painesville City district students were defined as chronically absent during the pandemic years, but that number came down to 23.9 percent in 2024-25.
Painesville City’s rate is now a percentage point below the statewide average of 24.9 percent.
The district also marked its fifth straight year of improvement on its graduation rate and got its highest-ever score in that category on a state report card, Englehart said.
He said that almost half of graduates received a full set of career credentials or a state license. Many of those students participated in the district’s expanding slate of career development courses.
One of the district’s newest grant-funded career development courses launched this fall, where Harvey High School students took a class in Painesville’s St. James Episcopal Church to learn cooking skills and prepare food for the church’s meal program.
Englehart added that the district got its highest-ever proficiency rating and college, career, workforce and military readiness score this year. It also achieved state student academic progress standards.
The district also celebrated success at the national level. Current Harvey seniors Symone Bibb, Jacob Boehm and Alex Boskovic won the broadcast journalism category at the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference over the summer.
While it celebrated student achievements, Painesville City Schools also faced budget challenges.
“School funding is currently a very serious challenge,” Englehart said. “We are a district which collects relatively little in local funding, and has always been heavily reliant upon state funding. The biennial state budget removed important funding streams and provides less funding for 2026 than we received in 2025, despite costs continuing to rise.”
He said that the district will have about $1.7 million less in total revenue in 2026 compared to 2025.
“While we will receive a relatively small state funding increase between FY (fiscal year) 2026 and FY 2027, total revenues are still projected to be over a million dollars less than in FY 2025,” Englehart said.
He said that the district cut about $2 million in spending ahead of the 2025-26 school year. The cuts included losses of teaching and staff positions, salary freezes for administrators, a reduction of work days for non-teaching staff and a reduction of supplemental contracts.
The district also eliminated its summer learning program.
“Our world was turned upside down in 2025,” Englehart said. “This time last year, we did not know that we would face massive cuts in state funding. While we were aware of steep increases in health care costs, we did not know that they would ultimately rise to the tune of about a 30 percent increase.”
He added that the district will make about $1.5 million more in cuts next year.
“Despite all of this, we will still be in a deficit and will be forced to turn to our community for funding assistance,” he said, adding that it will be the first time since 2012 that the district has had to ask for new money.
The Painesville City School Board voted in December to place a continuous 1.25 percent earned income tax levy on the May 6, 2026, ballot.
The district’s top goal for the coming year will be to reestablish fiscal stability, Englehart said.
“This involves executing further cuts, redesigning healthcare and having success on the ballot,” he said. “Through all of this, we seek to continue our positive trajectory of continuous improvement and to continue to offer our students great school experiences, despite our shrinking pool of resources.”
Englehart said that the funding cuts will make it difficult to sustain the district’s positive momentum.
“Our priority when making cuts is to impact the student experience to the absolute smallest extent possible,” he said. “To this point, we’ve been quite successful in achieving this. However, as the need for deeper cuts intensifies, we know that it is going to be progressively more difficult to achieve.”
District Operations Director Ivan Salgado updated the school board on the district’s energy efficiency efforts earlier in the year. He said that a project to install energy-efficient lights would save the district about $45,000 to $46,000 a year in energy costs.
School board members also discussed how the district should increase student compliance with cell phone restrictions, building on success the district has reported in reducing student phone use. The district has allowed grade six-12 students to use phones during lunch, after-school activities, school-related functions or when specifically told by a teacher. The state requires districts to adopt a policy banning student phone use during the instructional day by Jan. 1.
The board also plans to keep Englehart for another five years. It voted in December to extend his contract through July 31, 2031.
When the school board reconvenes at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 12, its membership will look different. Longtime board member Kathleen Powers-Dolney opted not to run for another term, while two-year board member Antonio Marinelli lost his election bid.
Community members Steve Costell and Mary Hada will take their places and start four-year terms on the board in January, joining board members Dorothy Jennings, Jessica Sams and Frances Webb, who are all halfway through their four-year terms.
