Liberty schools left with questions in wake of treasurer's resignation

LIBERTY

The school district is facing the prospect of fiscal emergency status and its treasurer has resigned, leaving unanswered questions about why she didn’t give the state records for audits.

Tracey Obermiyer, who was with the district for about seven years, resigned in a letter April 29, said board President Diana DeVito. The resignation was accepted at the board’s May 5 meeting and becomes effective May 31.

In her president’s report for the board’s May 23 meeting, DeVito outlined the circumstances that led to the resignation, which she said was a surprise. She also said the board has asked the state to certify the district’s debt to determine if it is more than 15 percent against the budget, indicating the district should be in fiscal emergency.

She told The Vindicator Tuesday that “we believe it’s more than 15 percent, but we just don’t know.” She said the certification process will take time and the district may know by fall.

She said she does not believe Obermiyer is the cause of the district’s financial distress. The problems were caused by “the current system of funding public education in Ohio” and by the fact that voters turned down levies twice in recent years, she contended.

“Nevertheless, we have been formally notified by correspondence from the state auditor’s office that the district’s books were unable to be audited and that the information requested of our treasurer for over six months had not been provided,” her report states.

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