Officials, residents to try to resolve Beaver Local’s financial problems

By D.a. Wilkinson

The district has seen a decline in enrollment.

LISBON — A group of officials and residents is expected to meet later this month to resolve the financial problems at the Beaver Local School District.

State Auditor Mary Taylor on Thursday declared the district in fiscal emergency.

That means the district has a certified operating deficit for this year as declared by Taylor, and the district’s operating deficit exceeds 15 percent of the district’s general fund revenue for the past year.

Chris Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Taylor, said the district was placed on a fiscal watch list last September. A projection showed the district will have an $819,000 deficit for 2010.

The group will consist of five voting members that will include three business people who will be chosen by the governor, a parent with a child in the district appointed by the state superintendent of education, and a business person appointed by, in this case, the Columbiana County auditor.

The director of the state’s office of business and management and the state school superintendent will each name a person to the panel, although they will not vote.

Dr. Sandra J. DiBacco, the superintendent for the district, said she knew the declaration was coming.

Robert Barrett, the district’s treasurer, said, “We’ve had a drastic drop in open enrollment,” in which students decide to go to another district.

Another problem, he said, has been the poor economy and job losses that resulted in families’ moving out of the district.

The district enrollment had been 2,400, but that has dropped to about 2,200 students.

The rural district covers 144 square miles, which increases costs.

The district had tried to pass a levy several years ago to get state funds to build new and energy- efficient schools to save costs, but the issues didn’t past. Barrett said the district had gone through a fiscal emergency in 1990-91.

wilkinson@vindy.com