LORDSTOWN Overseers are also backers of levy

All three local commission members participate on the levy committee.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Besides parents, teachers, board members and administrators, the committee formed to promote passage of a 6-mill school levy on next week's ballot includes members of the state commission overseeing district spending.
The three members of the panel from the district, Walter Craigo, Kathleen Fike and Ronald Krisher, are committee members. The other two members represent the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Office of Budget and Management and live outside the area.
"We are from Lordstown and I have participated on levy committees before," Craigo said. "It's very important that the levy is passed. The schools are in fiscal emergency now."
Fike said she'd participate on the committee even if she weren't a commission member.
"I'm a resident first and I just happen to be on the commission," she said.
Both Craigo and Fike say the levy is needed.
"I just hope the people of Lordstown do understand it's needed and I'm confident they do and that they'll come through," Craigo said.
What happened: The commission was appointed last January to oversee district finances and get the district on solid financial ground after state Auditor Jim Petro's office declared the district in fiscal emergency.
The levy would generate $700,000 annually for five years.
The committee has sent letters, paid for by the committee, to inform voters about the levy. One letter was from village council. Councilmen Richard Biggs and William Dray also sit on the levy committee. Another letter came from Craigo, Fike and Krisher.
The commission letter says the district will be looking at a $700,000 deficit for the 2002-03 school year if the levy fails.
Other committee mailings attempt to dispel myths that circulate in the community about the schools and levy. They point out that the average salary of a Lordstown teacher is less than the state average and lower than in similar districts.
What's been done: The district already has eliminated some positions and reduced other expenses to cut costs. District officials say those cost-saving measures will continue with levy passage.
"If the levy does not pass, there will be more [reductions]," Craigo said.
If the levy fails, extracurricular activities from sports to music and the National Honor Society may have to be eliminated. Bus service would likely be reduced and more staff reductions may be needed.
"We would need to take a closer, and quite frankly painful, look at those things," Fike said.
The services of a village and the state of the schools are two items residents and businesses consider in deciding where to locate, she said.
"We all need to partner together to be the quality school system that we want to continue to have," Fike said.