Good news, bad news for Youngstown schools

The year-end deficit is still expected to reach the 12 million mark.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The good news is that the city school district's deficit spending so far this year isn't as bad as had been predicted.
The bad news is that the red ink has hit the 7.8 million mark so far, and school officials say the total deficit is still likely to reach 12 million by the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
Carolyn Funk, district treasurer, told the board of education Tuesday that earlier projections had expected the deficit to reach 8.8 million by now in a general fund budget of about 114 million.
The state has put Youngstown under a fiscal emergency declaration, which resulted in the creation of a state-appointed financial oversight commission to monitor district spending.
All expenditures must go through the commission, which has said that a fiscal recovery plan, in addition to extensive cuts, must include asking voters to approve an additional tax levy in November.
The amount of that levy hasn't been determined.
Spending concerns
The district continues to look at ways to trim spending, Funk said, noting that a higher-than-normal cost for substitute teachers this year has drawn the attention of her office.
Substitute teachers are paid 80 a day, and the total bill for substitute services so far this year has reached 750,000 that has come out of the general fund, she said.
The district is trying to find out why the expense is so high, particularly because teacher attendance has been good this year, Funk said.
Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent, said there is a lot of staff training going on that pulls regular teachers out of the classroom, but that training is being paid for with federal and other grants, which also cover the cost of substitutes.
She said there needs to be some reconciliation between the grants and the general fund to make sure the general fund isn't picking up the tab.
Board actions
Meanwhile, the board of education took actions Tuesday that, on the surface, would appear to help ease the spending crunch.
The board approved a resolution releasing the 476,555 general fund budget reserve to help offset the deficit.
The state had mandated that the district maintain the reserve, but the state auditor's office has recommended that it be used to help cover operating costs this year, Funk said.
However, it really won't help reduce the anticipated deficit, she said. That money is already gone and was figured into the earlier estimate of the 12 million deficit by June 30, she said.
Likewise, the state auditor's office recommended that the board request waiver of a mandatory 1.3 million budget set-aside to cover instructional supplies and materials. The board also took that action, but, again, that won't reduce the size of the deficit, Funk said.
Youngstown has been able to keep operating by borrowing cash from several of its financially sound accounts, including the bond retirement fund, food services account and building construction fund, she said.
The district will have to borrow from the state's solvency fund to cover that spending at the end of the fiscal year. The exact amount to be borrowed will be determined by the state auditor's certification of the actual size of the deficit. That certification is expected April 19.
Solvency loans can be repaid interest-free over a period of two years.
gwin@vindy.com