LORDSTOWN SCHOOLS Panel seeks end to status

The state appointed the group at the beginning of 2001.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- After three years of helping village school officials get a handle on finances, the state-imposed Financial Planning and Supervision Commission could be coming to an end.
The commission met Tuesday and approved a resolution asking state Auditor Betty Montgomery to release the Lordstown Local School District from its status of fiscal emergency.
"This is the day this commission has waited for, and certainly the school district has, too," said Marsha Harrison, a consultant from the Ohio Department of Education, who heads the commission.
The group was appointed by the state in January 2001 to oversee all the district's financial decisions and to help school officials find ways to increase revenue and decrease spending.
Lordstown schools were placed in fiscal emergency Dec. 8, 2000, when the auditor's office determined the schools would finish that school year in the red.
What district had to do
Under fiscal emergency status, the district was forced to institute a recovery plan that included budget cuts, staff layoffs, state-approved loans and new contracts with its teaching and support staffs.
Lordstown also had to submit a five-year financial forecast showing it would be able to meet all financial obligations without having to borrow additional money.
"You have all remained steadfast and loyal to the mission and made the tough-love choices when you needed to," Harrison said to commission members and school leaders during the meeting.
Once the resolution and the five-year forecast are submitted to the state auditor's office, Montgomery will make a decision on whether to release the schools from fiscal emergency status or maintain that standing, Harrison said.
If the request is approved, the commission will meet a final time to formally disband.
Lordstown schools are one of two Trumbull County districts in fiscal emergency. Bristol schools received that designation in October. Niles schools are in fiscal watch, placed in that status last March.
In Mahoning County, Jackson-Milton and Youngstown schools were able to recover from fiscal emergency status, in 3 and 41/2 years, respectively.
slshaulis@vindy.com