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Coventry district released from fiscal emergency



Pictured above, from left, are Coventry Schools Superintendent Lisa Blough; Treasurer Sherry Tyson; board members Dan Fouser, Ron Reed, Josh Hostetler, Chris Davis and Kathy Finefrock; and Faber following the district being released from fiscal emergency.

Shown above, Auditor of State Keith Faber speaks during the June 21 Financial Planning and Supervision Commission meeting on the release of Coventry Local Schools from the state’s fiscal emergency category. Photos: Eric Poston

COVENTRY — Coventry Local Schools is officially out of fiscal emergency.
During the June 21 Financial Planning and Supervision Commission meeting, Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber released the district from state oversight.
The district was placed in the state’s fiscal emergency category Dec. 4, 2015. Prior to that, it had been in fiscal watch since 1997.
To be released from fiscal emergency, the district had to implement a financial accounting and reporting system, eliminate all fiscal emergency conditions, meet the objectives of the financial recovery plan and prepare a nonadverse five-year forecast. The district corrected 18 comments on the accounting and reporting system and eliminated a deficit of approximately $3.3 million from fiscal year 2016.
According to the most recent five-year forecast, all five years of the forecast have positive balances.
“I applaud the leaders and citizens of Coventry Local School District for making the sacrifices and hard decisions to achieve the necessary balance for a fiscally responsible community,” Faber said.
He added that hard decisions that were not always popular had to be made to get the district in the position it is in today. He also said being a school board member is one of the most important local elected positions and thanked the Coventry board members for their sacrifice and vigilance.
Superintendent Lisa Blough, who will become treasurer Aug. 1, called the removal from fiscal emergency a “historic event” for the district.
“Many challenging and difficult decisions had to be made” for that to happen, Blough said.
She thanked staff, the Board of Education and the Commission, which has been disbanded, for working together toward the goal of removing state oversight. In addition, she thanked the community for passing renewal levies, including in November 2017 and March 2020. [In November 2019, voters rejected a five-year, 1 percent earned income tax proposal.]
Treasurer Sherry Tyson, who is retiring at the end of July, said the district made several cost-saving changes, including refinancing bonds and taking over its own busing fleet, to make its way out of fiscal emergency. Changes also included personnel, such as treasurer, school board members and superintendent.
District leaders also have addressed open enrollment, which has been a controversial topic in the community. In 2013, several community members concerned about the district’s finances and what they viewed as an excessive open enrollment policy formed the Coventry Schools Taxpayers Accountability Coalition (CSTAC) to present their concerns to the district and community. Several CSTAC members now hold seats on the school board. In recent years, district officials have reduced the number of open enrollment students from approximately 860 during the 2011-12 school year to approximately 490 for the 2020-21 school year.
Commission member Laura McGraw said students and staff are lucky to have leaders like Blough and Tyson.
Incoming Superintendent George Fisk, who will begin Aug. 1, said he is excited to see the district moving past fiscal emergency.
“We are going to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money,” Fisk said. “I am excited to join. There is a bright future for Coventry Schools.”
During the June 16 Coventry Schools Board of Education meeting, Blough provided an update on summer projects in the district. She said repairs to the chiller system at Coventry Middle School have turned into a time-consuming and costly project. The repairs are expected to take six months to complete and work is underway. Blough called the repairs a “complex situation” as the district is developing an alternative way to cool the building for the start of the coming school year.
In addition, the district’s summer crew will complete painting and power washing at Coventry Elementary School, she said.
The board also approved a two-year contract with the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, through June 30, 2023. Blough said the contract includes a 1 percent raise in fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
The next board meeting is set for July 21 at 6 p.m. at Coventry Elementary School, 3089 Manchester Road.