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Niles schools chief awards diploma for student who died
By JORDAN COHEN
NILES
In a somber and emotional presentation during Thursday’s board of education meeting, Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen announced the awarding of an honorary diploma for a 17-year old senior who died last month.
The body of Bryan Ayala was discovered in the Mahoning River in Warren on May 21, more than two weeks after he was reported missing. The Trumbull County Coroner’s Office said the cause of death appears to have been suicide.
Thigpen said Ayala, whose family lives in Tennessee, had only been a Niles student since January but impressed classmates, teachers and administrators.
“He came to us as a senior and was on track to graduate,” the superintendent said. “It’s only right that as a school district, we give his family a memorial.”
Thigpen said the student’s death has been an emotional time for the district.
“Although he came to us for a short time, he made close friends [and] developed phenomenal relationships,” she said. “Whether you’ve been here 12 years or six months, no one wants to see anyone pass away.”
After the presentation, the board held a moment of silence in the student’s memory. Bryan Ayala’s family did not attend the board meeting, but Thigpen said representatives “have been in contact” with the district. The diploma will be mailed to the family in Tennessee.
In other business, the board authorized Treasurer Lori Hudzik to issue “blanket” purchase orders that may not exceed $250,000 in total for the current fiscal year.
Niles schools have been in state-declared fiscal emergency since February, and Ohio law requires purchase orders above $5,000 to be approved by the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission. Hudzik told the board she discussed the purchase orders with the commission.
Last month, commission members strongly criticized the superintendent after she approved the payment of nearly $15,000 without the panel’s approval for repairs to the public address system when it failed to function for tornado drills.