CANFIELD SCHOOLS Board makes point with lottery

The board is getting ready to revise district policies to save money.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Mark Squicquero has both the dollar and the dream: millions of dollars in additional funding for Canfield schools.
Now all he needs is luck.
Squicquero, the president of the Canfield school board, collected money from his fellow board members Wednesday night that he will use to buy lottery tickets. Any winnings from the tickets will be donated to the schools.
The board passed what Squicquero described as a "partially tongue-in-cheek" motion Wednesday calling for board members to voluntarily contribute money for lottery tickets each month. The motion, which was approved 3-0, did not state how much the board will spend on tickets or what lottery games they will play.
Board members Martha Zarlenga and Bruce Brocker voted with Squicquero to approve the motion, while Sam Pitzulo abstained. Board member Charles Eddy Jr. did not attend the meeting.
Money for the lottery tickets will come from the board members' personal funds, and not out of the school general fund. Squicquero asked for $5 from each board member Wednesday night.
Squicquero said the lottery winnings would be "our own form of property tax relief."
"We'll do this on a monthly basis and see what we can do for the school district," he said.
The district has a budget of about $20 million this year. The jackpot for Friday's Mega Millions drawing was $10 million as of Wednesday night, and the jackpot for Saturday's Super Lotto drawing will be $5 million.
The odds of winning the Super Lotto jackpot is 13.9 million to 1; the odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is approximately 135 million to 1.
Making a statement
Squicquero noted that during the school district's recent levy campaign, several local residents asked him how much the schools receive from the Ohio lottery. On Nov. 5, Canfield voters approved a 6.9-mill, five-year additional operating levy for the schools that will create about $3 million each year.
Squicquero described the lottery as a "shell game." Treasurer Pattie Kesner said the state reduces its funding for schools by the amount of money the lottery contributes.
Buying lottery tickets is "the only way a school system would get one cent from the lottery," Squicquero said.
At Wednesday's meeting, board members also stressed that they are going to continue to be financially conservative even though the levy has passed.
"Obviously with the passing of the levy we can all breathe a little easier, but we are still tight," board member Bruce Brocker said.
As a result of the levy's approval, the school district will have a carry-over of about $600,000 at the end of this year. Without the levy, the district would have had a $900,000 debt.
Possible busing change
Superintendent Dante Zambrini noted that the school board is working on revising district policies in order to save money. The revisions could lead the board to eliminate the district's policy of having buses pick up each student in the student's driveway.
"We're sorry we can't go driveway to driveway," Zambrini said. "Each time you stop you use brake pads, each time you stop and go, you use gas."
The board is expected to discuss some of the proposed revisions at its December meeting.
On Wednesday, the board also talked about passing an income tax to help solve some of the district's future funding problems. Zambrini said a committee will be formed in January to study the effects of passing an income tax.
hill@vindy.com