Mansfield elementary teachers rely on DonorsChoose as Springmill and Sherman profiles update

Teachers at two Mansfield elementary schools have raised more than $20,000 on DonorsChoose to stock their own classrooms — $9,495 across 14 funded projects at Springmill STEM Elementary and $11,437 across 27 at Sherman Elementary — according to school profiles the crowdfunding site updated in mid- and late September.

The profiles show 23 teachers between the two buildings — 8 at Springmill STEM and 15 at Sherman — have had projects funded, with 183 donors across Ohio and beyond. Springmill's donors include 31 from Ohio and 30 from other states; Sherman drew 83 from Ohio and 39 from elsewhere.

Together, neighbors and strangers have quietly paid for 41 classroom projects at the two schools. The listed projects are supplies, materials, and other classroom basics — the everyday stock of a functioning room, not field trips or extras — and the number of asks signals teachers returning to donors again and again for the routine cost of keeping a classroom running.

Springmill STEM enrolled 257 students in 2024-25 under principal Amy Walker, promoted to the post by the board in July 2026 after serving as dean of students at Mansfield Senior High School.

The district's ledger

The crowdfunding sits against a district balance sheet that tells a different story. Mansfield City Schools eliminated its operating deficit and ended the 2024-25 fiscal year with a surplus after cutting nearly $8 million in expenses, closing the year with roughly $4.95 million in cash — about 36 days of operating expenses.

Treasurer Tammy Hamilla has described the district's finances as optimistic and called renewal of an existing levy imperative, while saying there are no current plans to ask voters for additional money beyond that renewal. The district projects about 69 days of cash on hand for the coming year.

Against those numbers, teachers at two elementary schools are still reaching for outside money to buy what their rooms need — a reminder that a balanced district ledger does not automatically mean a stocked classroom.

The report card

The state's 2025-26 report cards, released September 15, offered a similar split screen. Mansfield City Schools held its overall three-star rating, with four stars in graduation and readiness but just one star in early literacy.

Who writes the budget

The district budget is written by the school board and administration: board president Chris Elswick, vice president Leslie Ward, and members Linda Golden, Deena Hamilton, and Jennifer Kime, with superintendent Stan Jefferson and treasurer Hamilla running the district day to day. The board next meets September 29 at 5:30 p.m. in the Lowell T. Smith Boardroom of the Raemelton Administration Building, with further regular meetings set for October 13, October 27, and November 10.

The DonorsChoose totals put a face on what two schools' classrooms are going without and raise the question of who is accountable for the gap between what teachers can raise online and what the district is funded to provide.