School board approves shared services contract for Brookfield treasurer
NILES, Ohio - The board of education resolved its need for an interim treasurer Thursday by unanimously approving a shared services contract with Brookfield Local Schools. Brookfield Treasurer Craig Yaniglos will fill the interim post for Niles beginning next Monday and running through July 31, 2020—the balance of the school year.
The district had been paying the Trumbull County Educational Service Center $300 per day for the services of its Treasurer Lori Simione since July 1, after placing Lori Hudzik, Niles Schools treasurer, on unpaid leave for her inability to reconcile financial records. However, the board had to find a replacement for Simione after being notified she would no longer be available the remainder of this month.
Mary Ann McMahon, president of the Niles school board, said the district would be paying less for Yaniglos’ services. “We’ll save $10,000 between now and the end of July,” McMahon told reporters. Superintendent Ann Marie Thigpen estimated Yaniglos would work for the district up to three days per week. A copy of the district’s contract with Brookfield was not immediately available.
Niles schools have been in fiscal emergency since late February, and its finances and recovery are reviewed by the Financial Planning and Supervision Commission. It was the commission that rejected the unpaid leave for Hudzik, which forced the district to turn to Brookfield with Simione no longer available.
“When the commission did not approve (Hudzik’s) leave, we had to get someone to do this (and) Brookfield was accepting of our request,” McMahon said. What happens after July 31 when Niles Schools will need a full-time treasurer? “We’ll have to wait and see,” McMahon said.
The board president praised Simione for her work in getting the district’s finances in order. “She was able to stabilize our financial office, and we can’t thank TCESC enough,” McMahon said.
Thigpen said the board’s next regular meeting on November 21 would be the presentation of the five-year plan, which is a critical component of the district’s efforts to work toward release from state-declared fiscal emergency.
