BRISTOL Santillo to return as head of schools

Marty Santillo previously headed the Bristol district from 1991-1999.
By DENISE DICK and TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BRISTOLVILLE -- Members of the Bristol school board decided to go with a familiar face to lead the district.
By a 3-2 vote, board members decided this week to hire Marty Santillo, now Girard superintendent, to take over the district helm under a two-year pact.
Rocco Nero, Bristol superintendent for about four years, is leaving to be Lowellville's superintendent.
Santillo expects to make the move to Bristol July 1. He previously served as the district's chief from 1991 to 1999.
Maggie Berwald, board president, and Kathleen Johnson cast the dissenting votes with Brian D. Sloan, Donald R. Mickel and Deirdre D. Bailey supporting the motion to hire Santillo.
Berwald said the position was posted early Tuesday and she believes the pool of applicants would have widened with additional time. She received telephone calls from interested people before Santillo was offered the post.
"I thought there was the opportunity at Bristol for a superintendent who is new and good and able to make the commitment -- perhaps a fresh face," Berwald said.
Tough times
The Trumbull County Educational Service Center recommended Santillo for the post. That recommendation, combined with some board members' concerns that the district's financial condition and limited ability to offer a competitive salary would discourage qualified applicants, prompted an emergency meeting Wednesday, Berwald said.
Santillo accepted the following day, but Berwald declined to divulge the terms until official action setting the salary and other details is approved by board members.
When Santillo took the Bristol post the first time, it was a few years after the Farmington district had been consolidated into Bristol. It was under a state loan program and a strike had recently ended.
This time, the district is in state-declared fiscal emergency, three levies have failed with another on the Aug. 3 special election ballot, Farmington Elementary has closed, employees have been laid off, the district has instituted pay to participate and employees are under a wage freeze.
"It still boils down to local levies," Santillo said. Local school funding becomes an issue of whether residents want to pay taxes and keep their own school district, or want to become part of another district and pay the taxes there, he said.
District Treasurer Kathryn Sines said the district has borrowed $785,000 from the state, which it has two years to pay off.
Replacement
In Girard, the board of education has not been searching outside the district for a superintendent to replace Santillo, whose two-year contract expires June 30. Joseph Jeswald, administrative assistant to Santillo, is expected to be named to head Girard schools.
Santillo went to Girard to replace Joseph Shoaf, who was sentenced to prison for using drugs and alcohol with female students in his high school office.
yovich@vindy.comdick@vindy.com