GIRARD SCHOOLS Judge weighs suit to oust 3 on board

It will be more than two weeks before board members learn their fate.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- One Girard mother has no idea what the outcome will be, but she thinks school board members lied about what they knew and when they knew it.
"I think the board is a bunch of liars," said Sue Boarts. "They knew, and they are just trying to cover it up."
Boarts is a member of Girard Concerned Parents, a group that petitioned to remove three members of the Girard Board of Education.
Two days worth of testimony on the matter ended Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Ruling to come
After written arguments are filed, visiting Judge Mitchell Shaker will rule on whether the members remain on the board.
Sebastian Rucci, attorney for the petitioners, will file closing arguments by Friday, and Bruce A. Zaccagnini, representing the board, will respond by Oct. 10.
Rucci's final response is due in the clerk's office by Oct. 15.
Judge Shaker will review the material and issue his ruling after that.
The complaint
Girard Concerned Parents filed a lawsuit to remove board president Jamie DeVore, vice president Jane A. Harris and member Richard Ragozine, saying they were aware that a health hazard existed in Girard Intermediate School months before they closed the building in May 2001.
The board members testified they were not made aware of the severity of health problems of pupils, faculty and staff until a board meeting April 24, 2001.
Complaints of runny noses, itchy eyes, dizziness, vomiting and more were reported to the school's nurse beginning in October 2000, according to testimony Tuesday, but the board members said they relied on information given to them by then-Superintendent Anthony D'Ambrosio, who told them there were only a handful of complaints.
D'Ambrosio was not called by either side to testify.
Boarts said her two children attend Prospect Elementary, which is connected to Girard Intermediate. She said they still suffer from health problems she believes is related to conditions at the school.
"They were in the library and the cafeteria at Girard Intermediate," she said of her children.
She added she always believed it was the school board's responsibility to inform parents about conditions at the schools. She said even though a letter was eventually sent to parents of Girard Intermediate pupils about environmental testing, she never received any notification, because her children were at Prospect.
What was found
The problems were the result of inadequate ventilation and fungi found in carpeting, according to environmental consultant Clayton Group Services of Akron.
The school reopened this year after work to resolve the problems was completed.
slshaulis@vindy.com