TRUMBULL COUNTY Niles schools chief urges board to consider levy on Feb. ballot

The school district is having financial problems, the superintendent said.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- City voters could find themselves in the same situation as residents in several other Trumbull County school districts -- facing a levy request to keep the schools out of fiscal emergency.
Superintendent Rocco D. Adduci urged board of education members Thursday to consider placing a five-year, emergency 4.85-mill operating levy on the February special election ballot.
Adduci said, if approved, the levy could generate roughly $1.3 million each year for the school district.
Board members will meet in special session at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at Niles Middle School to consider the matter.
"Like so many school districts in Ohio, we are experiencing financial difficulties for a number of reasons," Adduci said.
The superintendent said because of unfunded mandates at the state and federal levels, as well as rising operating costs and loss of income to open enrollment and charter schools, Niles schools are projected to end the 2004-05 school year with a $940,469 deficit.
The deficit, he said, is in spite of successful efforts by the staff, faculty and administration to reduce operating costs this year by more than $1.3 million.
Looking ahead
By cutting costs and reducing staff through retirement and attrition, Niles schools were able to avoid being placed in fiscal emergency and taken over by the state last spring. Adduci said unless a levy is approved, the district's deficit will continue to rise, mounting to more than $8 million by the end of the 2008-09 school year.
"We need to jump through one more hoop, and there is only one way to do this," he said. "Unfortunately, we need to raise local taxes."
Adduci also urged board members and the public to attend the Public Education Matters forum, scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at Howland High School. At the forum, legislators and legislative candidates will be on hand to hear concerns from education administrators, employees parents and other citizens.
Also at the meeting, board members learned of a state program that would allow the local board to borrow money from the state to repair and replace boilers and roofs at four of the district's six schools.
Borrowing for specifics
House Bill 264 allows school boards to borrow money without voter approval for energy conservation measures, explained Tom Ulmer of FirstEnergy.
Ulmer and Steve Koneval of Roth Bros. Inc. in Youngstown told board members they could apply, with the approval of the Ohio Schools Facility Commission, for $1.6 million of the estimated $1.8 million needed to replace boilers and roofs at Jackson, Bonham and Washington elementary schools as well as Niles McKinley High School.
Adduci said maintenance costs for the buildings amount to about $60,000 per year.
Ulmer and Koneval noted the roofs on each of the buildings have been patched for years, but are in desperate need of repair before the fail and cave in, causing damage to the buildings.
Some of the boilers, they added, are 20 years old in some cases, and fail on a routine basis. They also told the board that money saved through reduced utility bills would help repay the low-interest loan.
Ulmer noted approval at the state level could come by the end of the year, meaning work on the roofs and boilers could begin in the spring.
Board members are expected to consider a resolution at the Oct. 6 special meeting to begin the loan application process.
slshaulis@vindy.com