A joint city-school district committee to guide how city income tax funds are spent on the district's school buildings hasn't met in over two years, leaving roughly $17 million sitting on the table, Akron Public Schools officials say.
Akron Board of Education members and school administrators discussed the Joint Board of Review during Monday's meeting, with Treasurer Stephen Thompson noting the district has struggled to get a meeting scheduled with city officials.
"We have, both from the superintendent's office and my office... continually have been reaching out, trying to schedule those meetings, but we have been unsuccessful in scheduling a meeting, but it's not because we're not trying," Thompson said.
The Joint Board of Review was formed in 2003 to allow the city and school district to discuss the construction of new school buildings or renovation of existing in schools into community learning centers funded by a .25% income tax approved by voters, according to a copy of the agreement between the two entities.
The 10-member joint board is made up of five members appointed by the school district along with three mayoral appointees, the president of city council and the chairman of city council's finance committee.
City spokesperson Stephanie Marsh told Ideastream Public Media it has been difficult to schedule Joint Board of Review meetings due to busy schedules.
"Members of our administration have met several times over the past year with the APS administration and we’ve discussed the CLC fund several times at those meetings," Marsh wrote in a statement. "Getting the Joint Board of Review together involves a variety of folks with very busy schedules from our administration, City Council, and from APS."
It is not clear how often the Joint Board of Review is intended to meet, per an agreement between the city and school district that lays out its responsibilities.
"We are in the process of trying to get a meeting scheduled for the Board very soon and we look forward to continuing the conversation on the CLCs," Marsh added.
The creation of CLCs through an income tax increase was part of an ambitious campaign to rebuild basically all of the district's schools. The income tax will continue to be collected through the end of the agreement in 2033, said APS spokesperson Stacey Hodoh, with $17 million sitting unused currently.
APS Board Member Gregory Harrison said he hopes the two sides can meet soon.
"So what I'm talking about is $17 million that this school system can be using or not, if we're going to split it, let's split it, okay?" Harrison said. "But we need our money."
City representatives recently attended a board of education committee meeting, said Board Member Barbara Sykes, which she called a positive sign.
"I didn't get the idea that the mayor's office or that the city is not willing to cooperate with us," she said. "And I think that they are cooperating with us and perhaps maybe we just need to follow up again and find out why we can't seem to get the agenda together. I know everybody's busy and there's all types of things going on, but they were here at this meeting, which I appreciate it."
The Joint Board of Review has a variety of duties, according to the agreement: review over design and construction plans for the community learning centers; monitoring the costs of those projects; checking to see if minority-owned contractors are being used; and regulating community use of the school buildings, which are meant to be open for recreational or civic use when students aren't in school.
The district is not currently building any new community learning centers, according to its website; almost 40 schools have been "rebuilt, remodeled or restored" through the combined $800 million in local and state funds. The board did vote in 2023 to build a new kindergarten-through-eighth grade building in the Kenmore neighborhood, meant to house students from Pfeiffer Elementary and the Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Voters also approved a new property tax in November 2024 which included a bond issue for construction of a new North High School. It's not clear if the Joint Board of Review would provide oversight over either the North or the Kenmore building projects.
