Four people, including three incumbents, are running for three seats on the governing board of the Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio.

NAME: Suzanne Barbati

AGE: 69

PRIOR ELECTED OFFICES: Appointed to board to fill the unexpired term of Kathi McNabb Welsh.

3 GOALS:

1. Serving as the governance team for the district with other elected members, being a positive and responsible liaison between the school district and community.

2. Employing the superintendent and treasurer and working closely with them to establish and set policy, vision and long-range goals and be accountable for the fiscal health and opportunities provided to the district’s students and families.

3. If elected, I will fulfill these responsibilities to the best of my abilities, by being present and utilizing decades of experience with educational institutions throughout the state of Ohio.

NAME: Richard J. Ferenchak

AGE: 58

PRIOR ELECTED OFFICES: None

3 GOALS:

1. First I would like to have the ESC take over and administer the College Credit Plus program rather than having it run by each individual school district as it is now. The College Credit Plus program allows high school students with the required ACT scores and high school grade point average to enroll in college courses and receive both high school and college credit for passing the courses early. Unfortunately, most local school districts, while offering CCP as is required by state mandates, do little or nothing to encourage eligible students to participate in CCP as they must then pay the costs of the student’s tuition and books. I would like to see the ESC take the lead in identifying appropriate students (and their parents) and informing them of their eligibility to participate in CCP and the advantages both academically and financially the program offers them. A similar recruitment of students who have shown interest in or have been identified as potential candidates for vocational or apprenticeship programs should also be a goal for the ESC.

2. My second goal if elected is to reign in some of the excessive spending I found after I requested and received employee contracts from the treasurer of the ESC. For example, the superintendent of the ESC had her contract renewed in October of 2023. She was awarded a five-year contract that leaves me as an employee in the private sector wondering what the board members were thinking when they approved it. Some of the benefits are as follows: a salary that rises from $168,544 in Year One to $198,544 in Year Five of the agreement. In addition, an annual annuity paid by the ESC that starts at $22,500 Year One rising to $42,500 in Year Five of the contract. The ESC also picks up (pays directly) the superintendents share (14% of salary at time of the contract) of her retirement contribution each year of the contract, the employee’s share of their medicare tax (1.45% of salary), provides the superintendent with the same very generous (as a pharmacist I would describe them as “Cadillac”) health, dental, prescription and vision benefits, a $350,000 life insurance policy, disability insurance, pays for professional growth and organizational membership expenses, provides the superintendent with 40 vacation days with 25 days being allowed to be paid out if not used at an inflated per diem rate based on 210 days rather than the 260 days of the contract, and all paid holidays given to other 12-month employees, a severance of up to 70 accumulated but unused sick days (again at the 210 day inflated per diem rate), and a $600 per month expense stipend. Now I am in no way bringing this up to disparage the current superintendent, who I believe is doing a good job. However it is inconceivable to me that any governing board member actually approved a contract so lavish in its benefits.

3. My third goal is to reduce the cost to the member districts of the ESC of the services they purchase from the ESC. If you look at the five-year financial forecasts of local school districts, you will find the line item “purchased services.” By examining five-year forecasts, year to year you can see this line item usually has been increasing, often by substantial amounts. The vast amount of “purchased services” are provided to local school districts by the ESC and include staff training (teacher and administrator inservice programs and the like) and services provided to students in the districts, often those with learning and other disabilities. Like the taxpayers who foot the bill, local school districts are increasingly finding it difficult to balance flat revenue from taxes and government grants with increasing expenses like employee wages, benefits, utilities and “purchased services.” It is imperative that the amount the ESC charges local districts for the services they provide be kept in as tight a control as possible. To achieve this, a complete examination of the current expenses of the ESC should be undertaken, waste and excesses identified and cuts implemented to reduce operating expenses.

NAME: Jeff Good

AGE: 62

PRIOR ELECTED OFFICES: Member of the ESC board 2017 to present. Member of the South Range Board of Education 2012 to 2016.

3 GOALS:

1. To continue Mahoning County ESC transparency of costs to our school districts.

2. Increased services to our member districts.

3. To see an increase in our total member districts outside of Mahoning County.

NAME: Richard S. Scarsella

AGE: 71

PRIOR ELECTED OFFICES: Mahoning County recorder, member of the governing board from 2005 to 2024.

3 GOALS:

1. Good fiscal audits: The wise use of funds is important. Excess and extravagance are not acceptable. I have advocated for ongoing professional development for the treasurer’s office to ensure the best practices in accounting and expenditures. The whole department has professional development requirements. The result? Good fiscal audit findings by Ohio.

2. Low-cost services to member districts: The Educational Service Center of Mahoning County is funded primarily by school districts paying for professional services in areas such as professional development, teaching and learning, special education and compliance. I urge the superintendent, treasurer and all administrative leads to provide the best comprehensive services at the lowest possible costs. I monitor the process and progress. The result? We are known to offer the lowest apple-to-apple costs for comparative services.

3. Expansion of services: Our service district has expanded over the years to include five counties, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. School districts in Mahoning, Columbiana, Trumbull, Stark and Portage counties all are contracting for services. Serving for 20 years, as a governing board member, I have actively supported our administrative team to expand our service area, so we can take advantage of economies of scale and pass on savings to member school districts. As a founding member of the ESC entity, the Mahoning Valley Regional Council of Governments, I contribute my expertise to allow this enterprise to hire and manage over 700 substitute teachers, which is a great assistance to member school districts. The result? We are attracting school districts as members from surrounding county educational service centers.