Board members planning more meetings

Say they must keep up with developments

Lorain School Board members say they will continue to meet even as their authority has changed due to the Academic Distress Commission overseeing the district.

On Nov. 27, board members Tony Dimacchia, Timothy Williams, Bill Sturgill and Mark

Ballard gathered for a special meeting to discuss several issues related to finances for Lorain City Schools.

It was their first meeting since Sept. 18 and the agenda included changes for health insurance for staff, a review of the district’s five-year forecast and discussion of a levy renewal campaign next year.

“It’s been a minute since we last met,” Dimacchia said. Based on conversations in Columbus and everything going on in the district and its status, “it’s important that the elected board of education still meet to stay up to date,” he said.

“There are some pending things that were out there that we were dealing with and I think it’s important for us to at least continue making sure that those things are handled appropriately,

because I think we still do have an obligation as a board of education to meet and discuss those things,” Dimacchia said.

It also is important to get updates from district Treasurer Joshua Hill and other staff as needed, he said.

The board will continue to schedule its regular meetings, Dimacchia said. It remains important for the board members to hear from the public, he added.

Dimacchia noted the sparse attendance at the Nov. 27 meeting “because it’s been a while since we had a board meeting.” Those attending included school board memberelect Yvonne Johnson; Alisha Pardon, executive secretary to Hill; Joseph Bock, multimedia and technology coordinator for Lorain City Schools Television; and local news reporters.

His fellow board members agreed.

“I know I get lots of questions from folks on what’s what,” Williams said. Once the board has regular meetings again, people will be able to attend and share their thoughts about Lorain schools, he said.

“There’s kind of a vacuum of real information,” Williams said. Board members remain accountable to the community, he said.

“I think we get some notifications of some things, very little information and absolutely no education. As elected officials, we need to

be educated on what’s going on in the district. If it’s not for decision making, it’s for FYI,” he said, using the abbreviation for “for your information.”

Sturgill said the board members need contacts with the administration to forward citizen concerns for resolutions. Hill offered to help connect the board members and constituents with administrators who could help.

“It it’s somebody specifically in the district that has a concern, by all means reach out,” Hill said. “We don’t want somebody to go unanswered or not getting the appropriate attention it deserves.”

The school board’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4.

Meanwhile, Lorain Schools Communications Director Erin Gadd has submitted her resignation from the district.

Gadd’s position was not on the official meeting agenda, but Hill confirmed Gadd submitted her resignation to leave the district. He did not have an exact date for her last day.

In official business of the special board meeting, the board heard from Hill about the transition taking place for the health insurance for Lorain school employees.

To provide health insurance, the district has a Health Trust, started in 1992 and overseen by administrators and union

leaders. It oversees about 759 total insurance plans for workers, Hill said.

Starting Jan. 1, Lorain Schools will become the 12th member of the Lake Erie Regional Council, a group of school districts that joined for health insurance.

The Health Trust built up a deficit such that Lorain school staff had to pay more for health insurance, while getting plans with lower levels of benefits. Over time, the change will stabilize costs for workers and the district, while providing comparable medical insurance benefits to the employees, Hill said.

The board members also reviewed the school district’s five-year financial forecast.

Since the board approved it earlier this year, there were two major changes to the financial forecast, Hill said.

He said he factored in potential long-term savings due to the health insurance changes; and additional state funding per pupil for Lorain.

The board members also discussed a possible campaign for a renewal of the 2012 emergency levy that raises about $3.12 million a year. It was a seven-year levy that will come off the tax rolls in 2020; May 2018 is the earliest the board could seek a renewal, Hill said.

The board took no formal actions on the levy.