State auditor declares district to be in a fiscal emergency

A 7.8-mill levy for the schools will be on the Nov. 4 ballot.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
BRISTOLVILLE -- State Auditor Betty Montgomery declared Bristol Local Schools in fiscal emergency, saying the 850-pupil school system faces a $785,000 deficit by the end of the current school year.
Eric Hardgrove, a spokesman for Montgomery, said the findings emerged from a regular school district audit.
The school system and the state will now have to set up a commission to work on the district's finances, Hardgrove said. The commission will have 120 days to submit a financial plan to the Ohio Department of Education.
"They will work with the district to get levels of spending down and to make sure debt is restructured," Hardgrove said.
On the commission
The commission will be made up of the director of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management or a representative, the state schools superintendent or a representative, a school district representative appointed by the governor and a district resident appointed by the mayor.
Superintendent Rocco Nero said the district can recover economically if voters approve a 7.8-mill levy that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot and the district continues more belt tightening.
"We're looking at substantial cuts if the levy doesn't pass," Nero said, noting the continuous emergency levy will generate $560,000 annually. Voters rejected a 4.9-mill emergency levy this past May.
Nero, who blames reductions in state funding for the district's economic problems, said he hasn't given any thought to consolidating Bristol with another school district.
He pointed out the community has a sense of pride, but working its way out of fiscal emergency will be a long process.
Positions eliminated
The district already has eliminated an elementary teacher, middle-school teacher, cook's position and an assistant administrator. It also increased class size, reduced the hours of the cafeteria supervisor and technology coordinator, eliminated in-school suspension, reinstated a student fee, eliminated field trips and increased lunch prices by 25 cents, Nero said.
Once the district's finances are under control, the state education department can recommend to the auditor that the fiscal emergency designation be lifted, education department officials say.
According to state records, by the end of the school year the school system will have generated $6.46 million in revenue. It will spend about $6.721 million.
That leaves a $255,000 deficit, state records show. The school district had a $339,000 cash deficit beginning July 1, records show. That plus the $255,000 deficit plus $191,000 in encumbrances leads to the $785,000 total deficit, state records show.