OPEN MEETINGS School board acts to comply

The board president said it should have been a case of 'no harm, no foul.'
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- Although the Niles Board of Education's president said he didn't think board members did anything wrong at a special meeting earlier this month, the schools' superintendent said too much is at stake to take any chances.
Board members met in special session Monday and rescinded three motions passed at an Oct. 6 special meeting. The board then reintroduced all three resolutions, passing each one.
Superintendent Rocco D. Adduci said it was a safety net for the district, because there were some questions on whether the original meeting complied with Ohio's Open Meetings Act.
While board members voted at their September meeting to establish a time, date and place for the Oct. 6 special meeting, no purpose was stated, as is required by law.
Board President John H. Davis said Monday he didn't think, however, that there was any need to hold the second special meeting.
Davis said board members conducted business in the open, with no attempt to deceive the public, and noted the situation should have been a case of "no harm, no foul."
"I refuse to accept that we did anything wrong," he said.
Emergency levy
The resolutions addressed for a second time were all approved by the board, including a request to place a 5-year emergency levy to generate $1.3 million on the Feb. 8 special election ballot. The board voted 3-1 in favor of the matter, with Davis casting the dissenting vote. Board member Nick A. Bernard was absent from Monday's meeting.
The Niles City School district is facing increasing debts in the coming years, and must provide the Ohio Department of Education with a financial plan by Oct. 31 showing how the schools will avoid an anticipated deficit at the end of this school year.
Currently, Niles schools plan to end the year more than $999,000 in the red by the end of this school year.
Davis said that though he is aware of the financial situation, he also sees buildings throughout the district in various states of disrepair.
"We have buildings with roofs that are leaking," he said. "We have a high school that is outdated and with a roof that leaks. It doesn't make sense to me."
Special election
He also noted that the district will spend about $16,500 to place the levy request on a special election ballot instead of waiting until the primary election.
"The administration assures me, though, that we need this to avoid going into fiscal emergency," Davis said.
As part of its recovery plan, the district can include the levy request. If approved in February, the schools will be allowed to borrow against the money it expects to collect the following year from the levy taxes.
slshaulis@vindy.com