Strong public schools matter here, but they too must be fiscally sound

For all the debates about private school vouchers, I find this part of Ohio to be refreshingly traditional when it comes to education. Yes, there is a large Catholic and non-Catholic Christian base, which still includes networks of good, private schools. But a good portion of those students filter into local public districts during high school, such as many who attend St. Michael's in Findlay do. And while there are K-12 standouts like Calvert in Tiffin, St. Mary's in Sandusky and St. Paul's in Norwalk, a vast majority of kids who grow up here go to public school. Controversial debates like vouchers and — eek — abandoning property tax have caused plenty of headlines and debates. But I find these to be C-level issues — namely, Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Ohio's C-suite (and nearby Toledo) is where enrollment in and performance of public schools will continue to erode. It's all about the money, and those big cities, public schools may be ticketed for the end of the line when it comes to handouts. Suburbs thrive, while older city centers do the opposite. Here, there is a large desire for public schools, and some incredible community support of districts large and small. Collectively, our schools do a good job of providing opportunities for kids, have strong leadership and are centerpieces of their community. It's clear to me that public schools will continue to be a majority piece of the educational puzzle here, but what is the future amid the changing tides at the statehouse and beyond? For one, approaching the future honestly will be the task of school boards and administration. While we're not seeing some of the extreme downward trends of other parts of the state and Midwest, this region of Ohio still is declining in population, and average family size continues to shrink. This is reflective in school enrollment, as a look at districts in our core counties revealed that only three districts gained students from 2015 to 2026. Those are Hancock County's Liberty-Benton (up 14 percent), Arlington (up 8 percent) and Van Buren (up 2 percent). All of the other 19 districts looked at declined to some extent, from the extreme (Hancock County's Vanlue was down 52 percent) to the near 0 (Hancock County's Arcadia was down just 2 percent. It was evident in large districts like Sandusky (down 10 percent) and Findlay (down 8 percent), and smaller districts like Monroeville (down 21 percent) and McComb (down 16 percent). As I wrote a couple of weeks ago in relation to government and population at large, combatting further expected downward projections for local school districts will be a large challenge. Cross-district collaboration and efficiency is nearly unavoidable, and leaders will have to get more with less. Creatively finding ways to tighten our belts is what us in private business call "a day that ends in Y." But, our local schools have shown long-term resiliency and will continue to do so. Public schools aren't going away anywhere, but especially not here. It's my hope these potential tides of change will blow over, that the half-baked property tax issue dies on the vine. I also hope that if it does, the signal to those leading governmental entities — schools included — is to have a realization. That the wake-up call to action includes necessary, creative financial planning and problem solving. Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier, Findlay, the Sandusky Register, The Advertiser-Tribune, Tiffin, the Norwalk Reflector and Review Times, Fostoria. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com.