Niles school board submits plan with levy, job cuts

NILES — Faced with a state mandate to eliminate a projected $1.3 million deficit in fiscal year 2019, Niles schools have submitted a plan containing a levy submission next May and staffing cuts that include four teaching positions.

Last October, the Ohio Department of Education placed the district in fiscal caution, a designation requiring it to develop a five-year, deficit-free forecast. The state education department is to vote on the plan in January, said Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen.

“If the plan is not acceptable, they [ODE] can place us in fiscal watch or, worst case, fiscal emergency,” Thigpen said.