NILES SCHOOLS Board ends career center affiliation
Lordstown's superintendent said Niles' decision will raise taxes in five communities.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- With Niles School District backing out, the future of the Gordon D. James Career Center looks bleak.
School board members here rejected a new five-year agreement with the center compact Thursday, saying they don't like the length of the contract and favor more control.
Superintendent Patrick Guliano recommended passing the new contract, which would have run from July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2007.
Board member Nick Bernard, a member of the advisory committee of the career center, voted in favor of the contract. The other board members, John Tricomi, Rocky Riviella, Terry Swauger and John Davis, voted against it -- Tricomi and Riviella citing the length of the agreement.
"Congratulations, Niles, for raising taxes," said Lordstown Superintendent Ray Getz.
Details: Niles sends the most students to the career center and therefore pays the most in tuition. The compact also includes Lordstown, Howland, McDonald and Weathersfield schools, all of which approved the new contract.
The Niles decision comes after months of negotiations among representatives from each district that pays tuition for its students to attend the James center.
Some Niles board members favor an affiliation with the Trumbull County Technical and Career Center in Champion Township.
TCTC doesn't charge tuition, but residents and businesses in districts that send students there are assessed a property tax of about 2 mills.
Ohio law requires that agreements among school districts to provide vocational education run for five years. Tricomi and Riviella pointed out that school board members' terms are for only four years.
"With two years left in my term, to lock the district into a contract for five years considering I come from a financial background would be one of the dumbest things I've done on this board," Riviella said.
Tricomi said TCTC offers a broader curriculum than James does.
Lordstown is the fiscal agent for the compact. The contract expires June 30.
Comments: "This is quite shocking," Getz said. "It will be a disruption to the educational opportunities to lots of children in all five communities."
Swauger said he doesn't oppose James, but wants more community input. He suggested a public hearing. Guliano supports that idea.
Tricomi also pointed out that Niles pays the most in tuition, but doesn't have a corresponding level of control in decisions. The contract calls for consent from all the member district boards for modifications to programs or the contract.
"We're the big dog on the playground, yet we have to listen to a little poodle," Davis said.
Davis also thinks TCTC offers better and wider curriculum for students than does Gordon James.
Getz said that if Niles wanted more control, Niles officials could have opted to be the fiscal agent for the compact, but they rejected that idea when it was proposed.
"They have just raised the taxes of every business and every property owner in five communities including General Motors," Getz said, referring to the 2 mills in property taxes.
McDonald Superintendent Robert Bloniarz is disappointed.
"I guess we're going to be looking for other ways of providing those services to our kids," Bloniarz said.
Here's the problem: Without Niles, Bloniarz doesn't think the other districts can make up the costs to keep the center operating. Officials from Weathersfield and Howland schools couldn't be reached.
Getz said there are several steps involved in getting a vocational program, such as an affiliation with TCTC, in place and he questions if that can be accomplished before the beginning of the new school year.
He called the reasons cited by Niles board members "lame excuses that are without merit."
"They certainly have the right to be wrong," Getz said.
"In this case, they are tragically wrong, but I respect their right to make bad decisions."
dick@vindy.com