The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
District officials share info
Public records request sheds some light on recent decisions, programs
A public records request to Lorain City Schools shed some light on school district decisions and programs as Lorain Schools faculty, staff and officials work to get the schools out of the state’s academic distress rating.
This week, school district Treasurer Joshua Hill published additional details about the Pipe Yard Stadium, the Early College program and for Lorain Schools.
The information came out Feb. 27 in a response to a public records request by Lorain school board President Tony Dimacchia.
However, Dimacchia and Lorain City School board of education members Timothy Williams, Yvonne Johnson, Bill Sturgill and Mark Ballard said they did not receive it in time to review and discuss in their regular meeting that day.
Dimacchia published his public records request to the school administrative
“The fact that the district is attempting to be secretive with its financial decisions is very concerning.” — Lorain school board President Tony Dimacchia
office and information supplied by Hill, who also was named chief strategy and innovation officer for Lorain Schools by district CEO David Hardy Jr.
In a response, Dimacchia criticized Hill’s response.
“The fact that the district is attempting to be secretive with its financial decisions is very concerning,” Dimacchia said.
School levy
In 2012, voters approved the Lorain school emergency levy that raises $3,126,190 a year for the district.
The first time the school district can go on the ballot for renewal, is this November or anytime in 2019.
If voters do not pass the levy, or the district does put it on the ballot, then the school district would lose that revenue January 2020, according to Hill’s information.
Pipe Yard
In October 2017, Lorain City Council voted to transfer P.C. Campana Park, with the Pipe Yard baseball stadium, to the Lorain City School Board.
In December last year, Hardy notified Mayor Chase Ritenauer the school district would not take on the Pipe Yard, instead focusing on creating athletic and recreational facilities at the site of the former Southview High School.
Dimacchia asked Hill for “the exact costs and evidence of the costs that determined the declining of that property.”
Hill offered a list of issues that must be addressed at the Pipe Yard:
• The light poles have electrical issues such as exposed wires
• Clay tiles are no longer usable which creates standing water
• Cabling for netting needs replaced
• Parking Lot is rough shape and would need to be replaced
• Restrooms would need to be redone because they are not handicap accessible
• The school district would need to hire at least one more individual for grounds maintenance, with part of Columbus Park included
The overall cost to get the Pipe Yard up to code for safety and liability purposes would be more than $1 million, according to Hill’s figures.
“The continued costs would be at least $75,000 a year compared to a current contract cost to play there of $9,000,” Hill wrote.
The city Public Property Department does some maintenance, but also leases the park to Kevin Romberg, who oversees the Lorain County Ironmen baseball team and the park operations for the baseball season.
The park has an operating budget of $75,000 to $100,000 a year, but exact figures vary based on capital needs and income from various rentals, Romberg said.
The stadium is an asset to the community, but it would be nice if more people would come out to support it, he said.
An exact figure was not readily available for how much the city of Lorain invests in park maintenance, said Lori Garcia, public property manager for the city.
At the Pipe Yard, city crews start and winterize the sprinkler system at the stadium each year, Garcia said.
There is one light pole with bad wiring; there are some lights that are out, but it is unclear if those are due to burned out bulbs or needs for other repairs, she said.
Garcia said collapsed drain tiles that affect field drainage would be news to her.
She declined to comment on the school district estimates for the park repairs because the figures were not compiled by the city.
Early College
Dimacchia asked for costs associated with Early College, including transportation, tuition, materials, personnel and text books.
He also asked about “the established means to pay for Early College and possibly the differences in Titan College and Early College.”
Early College “is being completely revamped,” Hill wrote.
“Titan College & Early College will become the Early College Academy for next year and will be both onsite and offsite,” he wrote. “The details of the contract for the new model are being negotiated with the college still, but the idea is to make college programs more accessible for scholars by giving them more options.
“As in the past, low-income and first generation college students will get first consideration, but then remaining seats will be opened to all scholars.”
The program has a 92 percent success rate of scholars graduating with both their high school diploma and an associate degree, Hill added.
MAP analysis
Dimacchia has asked about the analysis performed by Mehta Advisory Partners, or MAP.
The company performed a “vendor spend analysis” that reported Lorain Schools could save $540,000 to $1.07 million a year by revising certain programs within the district. “MAP’s recommendations spoke to a lot of the systemic problems and are more big picture fixes that needed to be changed,” Hill wrote. “Some of the recommendations will be implemented and have the potential over time, and if fully utilized, to save millions of dollars which makes the contracted amount pennies by comparison.”
Salaries
On Feb. 19, Hardy announced he filled five new administrative leadership positions to work with The Lorain Promise, the district’s academic improvement plan.
So far, two salaries have been negotiated for LaKimbre Brown, the chief schools officer, who will earn $156,200 a year, and Arliss Prass, the chief family officer, who will earn $118,500 a year, according to Hill’s figures.
In his announcement, Hardy said Prass’ position is supported by a federal grant.
The other salaries are being negotiated.
Budget
Hill described the philosophy guiding the school staff as they draft a district budget for the 2018-19 school year.
The budget is projecting a 2.4 percent overall increase due to raises in union contracts, inflation for fixed costs and an increase in liability insurance due to more claims, according to Hill’s analysis.
“For the proposed budget, all the changes in staff, programming and supplies at this snapshot in time have been accounted for,” Hill wrote. “The finance office also performed a very in depth dive into the spending and looked at each and every cost in a zero based budget model, where all costs must be justified.
“No new costs were accepted without first explaining what we were going to offset it with so that we limit the increase in the overall budget in the process.”
That “change in cost containment” will be applied to the new district chief positions and any new instructional programming the district will bring on for the next school year, Hill wrote.
In his public talks, Hardy has stated the academic improvements will take place without adding costs to the district’s budget.
Property taxes
Williams currently owes $8,552 in property taxes on his home on Euclid Avenue in Lorain, according to records from the Lorain County Auditor’s Office.
The taxes date from 2014, when the property transferred to Williams’ family, according to the auditor’s records.
In Lorain and other communities around Lorain County, generally about 70 percent of property taxes go to support the local school districts, said county Auditor Craig Snodgrass.
The remainder goes to other local governments.
Williams was not available to comment on the property tax issue.