Cuyahoga ESC Accused of ‘Hostile Takeover’ Attempt
A task force of area school district superintendents has been formed in response to what county Educational Service Center Superintendent Matt Galemmo calls an attempted…
A task force of area school district superintendents has been formed in response to what county Educational Service Center Superintendent Matt Galemmo calls an attempted “hostile takeover” by the Cuyahoga County ESC.
The seven-man task force includes the superintendents of the Chardon, Kenston and West Geauga school districts, which Galemmo said last Friday are considering joining the lar-ger ESC.
“Nothing is firm yet, but I know they’re looking at Cuyahoga’s ESC because it’s offering all kinds of incentives to get school districts outside their service area to join,” Galemmo said. “This is just like a hostile takeover attempt and it’s blindsided me.”
At superintendent Michael Hanlon’s recommendation, the Chardon Board of Education unanimously voted Dec. 8 to sever the school district’s membership with the Geauga County ESC Dec. 31, a step required by state law before the school system can chose another ESC before June 31, 2015.
The task force was formed when the superintendents met with Galemmo earlier this month. It will review the local ESC’s services and programs over several meetings, and suggest changes the superintendents think will improve the agency, Galemmo said.
Formerly known as county school boards, educational service centers provide a variety of special programs and services individual school districts in counties don’t have, such as education for developmentally disabled students provided in the Chardon schools.
With the reduction of state school subsidies, ESCs in large counties like Cuyahoga have been attracting school districts in surrounding smaller rural counties to compensate for the loss of state funding, Galemmo said.
“We’ve lost subsidy money, too, but they’re (the Cuyahoga ESC) in a better position to get other school districts to join them because they’re larger than we are and can offer more,” he added.
The state pays the Geauga County ESC a total of $26.55 per student for the special services it provides students in member school districts, he said.
If the Chardon schools do not rejoin, Galemmo said the nearly $78,000 a year the Ohio Department of Education now pays the Geauga County ESC will be shifted to the Cuyahoga County ESC.
More than $200,000 annually would be lost to the Cuyahoga County agency if the Kenston and West Geauga school district’s also join, Galemmo added.
“Yes, Cuyahoga is larger and I won’t argue it can offer things we don’t, but we also have services it doesn’t provide that it would have to add or contract for,” he said. “So this is just a funding grab as far as I am concerned.”
Regardless, Galemmo said he would make changes recommended by the task force.
“But what I don’t want people to forget is new services we provide and the money we’ve brought in to benefit students,” he added.
The Geauga County ESC recently received a state Straight A grant to create a $5.95 million countywide STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) school at the Auburn Career Center, Galemmo said.
Since 2000, the ESC also has received $934,000 in other grants for services and programs, and $72,000 in federal Medicaid funds to pay ESC-employed school therapists, he added.
Depending on implementation of suggested changes made by the task force, among the solutions could be the elimination of some Geauga County ESC programs and potential layoffs.
Of county ESC’s 182 employees, 168 are assigned to county school districts and 14 are employees of the Lake-Geauga Computer Association. Most are Geauga County residents who pay more than $37,000 annually in payroll taxes, he said.
Over the years, the local ESC has brought services provided to local students in other counties, including Lake County, back to Geauga County, Galemmo said.
“This isthe whole purpose why we have classes in Geauga County school buildings so kids can go to classes here, not be bused elsewhere,” he added.
Galemmo said he has no idea what might happen if the Cuyahoga County ESC takes over these services, although school districts that pull out of the Geauga County ESC can continue to use some of its services if they choose to pay for them.
