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Commission: District must bid property insurance
By JORDAN COHEN
NILES
For years, the Niles City School District has awarded the district’s property insurance contract without a competitive bidding process. No more, says the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission.
The issue came to a head when the commission, which oversees the schools’ recovery from state-declared fiscal emergency, was asked to approve nearly $76,300 to the Griffith Agency of Girard to insure district buildings, including its four schools for the 2019-20 school year.
Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen told the commission Griffith has been the property insurance provider, but did not indicate there had been consideration about putting the contract up for bidding.
Nothing doing, said commission members including Giovanne Merlo, Niles city auditor.
“That’s a $76,000 contract with no bids,” Merlo said. “We’re spending taxpayer dollars, [and] that’s not being fiscally responsible.”
At first, the commission rejected the contract, but decided to reconsider after learning the district has yet to pay the premium. Anthony Farris, senior assistant attorney general and commission legal counsel, said the panel could legally bring the issue back even though it had just rejected it.
Thigpen and interim Treasurer Lori Simione contacted the agency during the meeting to ask about alternatives, including limiting coverage to several months while the district seeks competitive bids.
Simione said the agency will only accept an annual premium, but that does not mean the district is stuck for the entire school year.
“They said, ‘You can cancel anytime you like and [the difference] will be pro-rated,’” Simione said.
The commission reversed its earlier decision and voted to pay the premium, but ordered the district to advertise for bids with a submission deadline of Sept. 30 and coverage to begin Nov. 1.
Fiscal Supervisor Nita Hendryx had some good news for the commission regarding the state of school finances, which appear to have improved since Simione was named interim treasurer.
“There are no miscellaneous adjustments,” Hendryx told the panel. “The funds are what they are, and we’re thrilled with that.”
Lori Hudzik, who had been serving as district treasurer, was placed on an “unrequested leave of absence” earlier this month after commission criticism of insufficient and inadequate record-keeping.
The district, however, still has to resolve Hudzik’s situation and hire a permanent treasurer. Simione is treasurer of Trumbull County Educational Service Center, and the board of education is paying TCESC $300 per day for her services.