Newport school system under scrutiny for response to budget crunch
NEWPORT, KY. – The Newport Board of Education went over details of next school year's budget Wednesday night. But not before community members reamed the board for slashing jobs and reducing student services to dig the district out of a $3.9 million deficit.
"There is a school board and superintendents that fail us," Tricia Tobergte, a former Newport student and teacher, said during public comment.
She was one of several people at the meeting wearing a red T-shirt with "I am Fiona" written on the front.
FIONA, which stands for Fiscal Integrity of Newport Administration, is a movement created by a group of local people who want better oversight and an audit of district spending.
Those in T-shirts were among dozens at the Newport High School auditorium for the meeting, some offering applause or shouts of agreement as others spoke. Many wanted to know why the district was surprised by news of the shortfall earlier this year.
Newport Independent Schools is home to almost 1,400 students at about five schools in the district, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The board of education has announced a slew of cost-cutting measures in response to its budget crunch. Cuts include:
The nonrenewal of more than dozen employee contracts, including teachers.
Elimination of seven administrative positions.
Retirement of at least a dozen people.
Termination of a contract with TANK buses to take children to school.
Elimination of non-mandatory out-of-state travel.
A mutual agreement to end the contract of Superintendent Tony Watts at the end of the 2025 school year.
Watts did not respond to a request for comment from The Enquirer.
He told LINK nky at the time, 'We just made a mutual agreement that we thought it was best for the district at this time that we part our ways."
Andrea Janovic, a former Newport Board of Education member, said she blames a lack of oversight for the budget shortfall.
She said she's requested public records that allegedly reveal fraudulent charges on credit cards and overbudgeting with an excess of COVID-19 pandemic-related funding, neither of which The Enquirer could immediately verify independently.
"We have to ask very difficult questions of the people who are responsible for advising us on our financial positions and whether or not a year prior we could have known (about the deficit)," she said. "Surprise should never be a word used by a school board in terms of finances."
Board Chair Ramona Malone said at the end of the meeting, "I do want to say that it has been brought to our attention to consider doing a forensic audit on our finances. So, that's something that is a conversation with the board."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What will Newport schools cut?
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