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About $2.2 million trimmed from city school salary expenses
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Through attrition, Ohio Department of Education and city school officials sliced $2.2 million from teacher and administrator salary expenses.
The bulk of that, $1.8 million, is from the retirements, resignations or terminations of 21 teachers.
Clairie Huff-Franklin, director of academic distress commissions and education reform at ODE, said at a Thursday Youngstown City Schools Academic Distress Commission meeting that the department was asked to help in the district’s human resources department after the assistant superintendent for human resources resigned in late May.
Paul Williams, commission member, pointed out with benefits, the savings would be higher, estimating it at at least $700,000.
“Probably even higher,” said Treasurer James Reinhard.
Williams agreed.
“You do have great benefits here,” he said.
Last year at this time, the district had 22 extra teachers that no one had planned on, Williams said.
Huff-Franklin said the savings have been “a great collaboration” among district and ODE staff.
Changes include allowing principals to have more say in their personnel needs, she said.
Last February, district leaders expressed a desire to trim $2 million from this year’s budget to keep the school system in the black the next three years.
Half of that problem has been solved by the state budget, Reinhard said. The district expects a $2.4 million increase in fiscal year 2016 compared with FY15 and a $1.6 million increase in FY17.
Another roughly $1 million savings is coming from changes to the health-insurance plan for classified employees.
“We’ve more than achieved the goal of $2 million in reductions,” Reinhard said.
Now the goal is to use those savings to more directly benefit children, the treasurer said.
The reductions, however, don’t mean that the district is “out of the woods,” he added.
Changes, such as a reduction from the state, could alter plans.
District voters will see a renewal of the schools’ 10.4-mill levy on the November ballot. That levy, originally approved in 2008 and renewed in 2012, generates about $5.2 million annually.
The Rev. Kenneth Simon, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church and a commission member, said the Youngstown Plan could throw a wrench into levy passage.
The Youngstown Plan allows appointment of a state-paid chief executive officer to manage and operate the schools. The CEO would have broad authority including the power to turn failing schools over to charter or other outside operators.
“How do you sell that to the community when you’re not even sure of how the tax dollars are being spent?” Mr. Simon said.
The city school board, Ohio Education Association and unions representing city school teachers and classified employees filed a lawsuit last week against the state, ODE and its state superintendent to halt the Youngstown Plan and have it declared unconstitutional.
PAYMENT APPROVED
In other business, the commission approved a resolution, tabled last month, to pay two part-time ODE consultants up to $58,000 for work they did in the district’s human resources department. The work was necessary, ODE officials said, because of the May resignation of the assistant superintendent. Summer is a busy time for school HR officials who must fill vacancies for the next school year.
Mr. Simon voted against the resolution. He, along with Atty. William Ronald Miller, are school board President Brenda Kimble’s appointees to the commission. Miller was absent.
Kimble and Jackie Adair, another city school board member, took exception to the payment.
They contend that Huff-Franklin told them the work of ODE in the district would be free.
Huff-Franklin and Jennifer Felker, an ODE associate superintendent, said the work they did was at no charge to the district, but the two part-time consultants were in addition because of the amount of work required.
Laura Meeks, former president of Eastern Gateway Community College, is the commission’s newest member, appointed by the state superintendent, and Thursday was her first meeting.
She supported the consultants being paid but said the process to inform the school board it must pay could have been clearer.
Disagreement between the commission and school board continued regarding another topic. The commission initially approved a resolution to contract with the Mahoning County Educational Service Center for a truancy intervention coordinator for city schools.
The employee would make about $65,000 annually in salary and benefits paid by the school district.
Kimble and Adair objected to the way the commission was proceeding.
Kimble said other people working in the district have more experience for the job and weren’t considered. She also questioned the legality of the resolution.
The law gives the commission the “authority to contract with private entities,” but the county ESC is a public entity, Kimble said.
The commission then voted to go into executive session to consider pending or imminent litigation.
When they emerged, the commission voted to reconsider and then tabled the action for the contract with the ESC.