Commission has ‘different tone’

By Harold Gwin

The school board doesn’t want to spend money saved in its transportation program.

YOUNGSTOWN — The chairman of the state fiscal oversight commission controlling city school district spending says the commission has adopted a “different tone” with the city school board.

Normally, at this point, the commission would be trying to disengage itself from strict control of the district’s efforts to return to fiscal solvency, Roger Nehls said.

However, if the commission has to be more ”instructive,” it will do so, he said, after a commission meeting Wednesday.

During the session, the commission adopted a resolution assuming the power to approve all school district requests for proposals and bidding documents on contracts for all transportation services and equipment.

The commission was created after the state placed Youngstown in fiscal emergency in November 2006.

Nehls acknowledged this is the first time that it has taken public action to direct the school board to perform specific tasks within a given time period.

The resolution directs the district, by June 1, 2010, to complete an analysis of the cost and capability of the district to provide its own special-education transportation as recommended in a state performance audit. It also directs the district to update its bus routing software and train district staff to use its capabilities efficiently, and to acquire software and training of district staff to manage both building and fleet maintenance work orders and preventative maintenance schedules by July 1, 2010.

“We’ve tried to do this as a partnership,” Nehls said, referring to the commission’s work with the school district to reduce spending and return to solvency. However, this particular issue hasn’t followed thattone, he said.

That issue is the school board’s attempt to award a transportation support-services contract. The commission warned the district that its bid document (request for proposals) for that contract was flawed and actually voted to disapprove it, although acknowledging that it didn’t have the authority to prevent the school board from putting out the document.

The board issued the request for proposals, and its business committee determined that only one company, Community Bus Services Inc. of Youngstown, met the specifications.

The district is trying to finalize the terms of the contract with CBS. But Nehls has said he will oppose it if it comes before the commission. CBS is promising a $500,000 annual savings in the district’s $5 million transportation bill.

He said the upcoming annual revision to the district’s financial recovery plan will include terminology expanding the commission’s control over requests for proposals and bid documents. It will become official when it is signed by the state superintendent of public instruction.

The school board is challenging the commission’s extension of its authority, enacting a resolution of its own Tuesday saying that it will hire legal council to research Ohio law related to the commission’s power.

Anthony Catale, board president, said he will also contact the state superintendent asking her to intervene in the matter.

He addressed the commission at its meeting Wednesday, saying the school board doesn’t want to take any action that would adversely affect its ongoing efforts to reduce spending. The district, with the commission’s help, has cut spending by $32 million and cut 520 jobs over the last couple of years, he said.

He pointed out that bringing special-education busing in-house would likely be expensive. CBS, which provides that service now, uses 25 buses daily, which means Youngstown would have to buy more buses at a time when it can’t find a way to replace its current regular education fleet.

The district is hoping to realize a savings this fiscal year between $180,000 and $200,000 because it was able to reduce the number of regular education bus routes, but it won’t be until the end of June 2010 that the district will know if those savings have materialized, he said.

The commission’s action would have the district spend those funds on computer software for the transportation program before it knows if the funds are available, he said.

The school board doesn’t want to spend any savings, he said.

Catale said later he was surprised that the commission, which monitors and controls district spending, would direct the district to spend more money.

Transportation is one area the school board has looked at to reduce spending without adversely affecting academics, he said.

Nehls said all of the elements in the commission’s resolution adopted Wednesday are recommendations found in a state performance audit of the district, and the district had said it would complete them but has not taken action to do so.

The commission’s action provides some encouragement toward that end, he said.

Getting this data on special education transportation costs will at least let the district know if it is feasible, he said.

Catale said Youngstown has complied with perhaps 90 percent of that audit’s recommendations but also pointed out that the audit was based on 2006 data.

He said he will ask the state to conduct a new performance audit to see where the district stands now and what else might need to be done.

gwin@vindy.com