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In a 4-1 vote, the Switzerland Board of Education approved the suspension of five administrative employees' contracts which will save the district more than $750,000 a year, according to officials.
The board held a special meeting Thursday evening to discuss Superintendent Phil Ackerman's recommendation to suspend the contracts of Cyndi Brill, associate superintendent; Suzanne Holland, director of food and nutrition; Linda O'Conner, director of business operations; James Ruble, director of adult education; and Chad Stephens, system analyst.
Ackerman said his recommendation to suspend the employee contracts will save the school district over $750,000 annually. Although the school district has been in a "favorable position" financially due to the oil and gas industry in the county, he said in the next few years that could change.
"Solar power, wind power and other non-fossil resources will generate more and more of our electricity. The school district must confront the fact that the amount of the school district's revenue generated by wells currently operating in Monroe County will be reduced. There are any number of public school districts in Ohio who have power plants that at one time generated excessive revenues for the school districts but are now facing financial issues because the power plant factories are closed," he said.
Ackerman said the district must start planning now for the loss of revenue to ensure the schools will have sufficient financial resources to provide students a quality education for years to come. He said the district currently has more administrative employees than it needs. The ratio of administrators to students -- 1 to 50 -- is one of the highest in the state, he said. He recommended the board combine and consolidate the administrative positions which share similar duties.
"I've identified five administrative positions which can be reduced without adverse consequences to the school district's educational program and which will result in savings to the school district," he said.
Board members Ron Winkler, Greg Schumacher, Bev Anderson and Jerry Gust voted in favor of the recommendation while Sarah Smith voted against it. The motion was passed.
Following the meeting, Smith said she was disappointed with the decision and does not believe the administrative positions can be easily absorbed.
"The knowledge and qualifications of those people can't be replaced. … Those are director positions that have people underneath them. It's a very sad day for Switzerland of Ohio school district," she said.
The suspension of the five contracts will become effective on Sept. 18.