McDonald schools’ deficit perplexes residents

By Mary Smith

Residents wanted to know if the former treasurer had broken the law.

McDONALD — The stunning turn of events that has found the village school district in State Fiscal Emergency and facing a $2.1 million deficit in 2010 drew more than 200 people to an open forum at the high school Tuesday.

Moderator and Village Treasurer Donald Smith read questions that had been sent to the board of education by residents, and the board answered them.

Many wanted to know: Who is accountable?

Board vice president Jeff Hughes said the board will be passing a policy change it has been working on for a year that will require much closer scrutiny of the district’s finances.

Residents wanted to know if the former school treasurer had broken the law.

Hughes said a legal determination has yet to be made. He said that once the state auditors have finished with an audit — which now has gone back to fiscal year 2009, any action they may recommend would be sent to the Trumbull County prosecutor. If action is recommended and the prosecutor does not take it, the state attorney general’s office will take over.

Board member Katherine Harvey explained there are still state auditors in the district putting together a more detailed report.

She said the reason the board does not know if former treasurer Thomas Radabaugh or Superintendent Michael Wasser did anything wrong was because the board has not yet received the state auditors’ findings for 2009.

Wasser took some criticism at the meeting, with one resident quoting newspaper files that had Wasser saying he “ran the school district.” The resident accused Wasser of running the district into the ground.

Another resident called for his resignation as the recovery from debt starts.

Wasser replied: “I had nothing to gain. I would never run this district into the ground and would never do anything to put this district in jeopardy. We have raised test scores. For me to take 915 children to the curb — I would not do that.”

One resident asked why the district didn’t go to pay-to-play for sports at the start of the school year when a $217,000 deficit was anticipated. Wasser said administrators knew in February they would be facing a $217,000 deficit — nothing near the $2.1 million deficit state auditors are projecting.

Hughes told the crowd that five-year financial plans for the district assumed a surplus, with surpluses increasing each year. He also said the board was led to believe that loans, including a $600,000 one, had been repaid, when they were not.

Auditors from the Local Government Services Division of the state auditor’s office said $1.3 million of the projected 2010 deficit is due to loans that must still be paid back. But office spokeswoman Nita Hendryx reminded the board that the district can borrow up to $2 million from the state controlling board, depending on what cuts the district can come up with to offset the deficit.

Asked if anyone had talked to Radabaugh, Wasser said he had sent a certified letter to Radabaugh asking him to attend the forum and had also gone to his house twice, but he was not home. He said the last anyone talked to him was a month ago when Police Chief Lou Ronghi had a conversation with him. He said he is supposed to be working on the East Coast.

A resident asked why residents should pass a levy now. A 4.9-mill, five-year emergency operating levy is on the Nov. 3 ballot, to generate $260,000 a year.

Hughes replied: “You’ll have to cast your vote. It’s a matter of confidence and trust. This isn’t going to be easy. It’s a matter of whether you can put the past behind you. All I can tell you is what I’m committed to, and it’s to make it right. ... Our kids deserve it.”

Smith noted that the commission to be appointed to dictate what the district must do in the next 120 days to plan a solution will take most of the board of education’s power out of its hands.