Youngstown’s school district ready to shed fiscal oversight

The Youngstown City School Dis- trict has passed a major test in its long bid to emerge from state-declared fiscal emergency: It has received a vote of confidence from the state commission that has controlled the system’s purse strings since 2006.

The vote came Thursday after the panel’s chairman, Roger Nehls, who has ridden the school system and the school board hard with regard to spending cuts, said he’s “optimistic they’re on the right path.”

“This is a very positive sign for Youngstown that they’re managing their finances well,” Nehls said.

The State Fiscal Oversight Commission will recommend to Ohio’s auditor that the emergency designation be lifted. However, before such action is taken, the auditor’s office will conduct a thorough review of the district’s finances, including the five-year budget forecast, the financial assumptions and projections that were made in developing the forecast and the response to the auditor’s accounting report.

In other words, the agency’s decision will not come until February. That’s good because there will be a new auditor in office in January — Republican Dave Yost will replace Republican Mary Taylor, who will become the state’s lieutenant governor — who will bring a fresh perspective to the Youngstown district’s fiscal crisis.

Indeed, there are a couple of issues Yost will want to explore.

One is whether the district can remain fiscally sound without the 9.5-mill property tax levy that will expire in 2013. Oversight commission Chairman Nehls has urged the school board to place the issue on the ballot for renewal, but there are some members who are reluctant to do so given the economic hardship being faced by many city residents.

The second issue has to do with the pay raises the board has granted to the teachers, secretaries, food service workers, custodians, plumbers, electricians and carpenters and may grant to the administrative and other nonunion personnel.

The price tag for wages and benefits under the new contracts will be more than $1 million a year.

Auditor Yost should have to answer the question: Is it proper for a school district that has been in fiscal emergency since 2006 to give pay raises in the midst of the worst national economic collapse since the Great Depression?

We have made it clear that no government or other public agency should be fattening the wallets of its employees at a time when the unemployment rate is hovering around 10 percent.

Indeed, with the state of Ohio facing a budget deficit of between $4 billion and $8 billion in the next biennium, major cuts in funding for primary and secondary education are inevitable. Republican Gov.-elect John Kasich, who will replace Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in January, has made it cleat that his priorities are giving tax cuts to individuals and businesses and making up the loss in revenue by slashing the cost of state government.

Uncertainties

There are too many uncertainties for the Youngstown school system to be weighed down by additional operating costs as a result of the new contracts.

Nehls had praise for Superintendent Wendy Webb, who is retiring at the end of the year, her administration and the school board for making the tough decisions to erase the red ink. Spending has been cut by $32 million through the elimination of 520 jobs and other cost-saving measures.

But, it doesn’t mean the urban school district’s troubles are over.

The state’s new auditor, Yost, must show he is willing to guide local officials.