April 4 Joint Board of Review meeting
Covered by Documenter Jackie Jantzi (see her notes here) Correction: The story was updated to clarify that the unallocated funds are leftover bond money, not income tax. A headline was changed to reflect that the Joint Board of Review is working to decide how they are permitted to allocate the money. The JBOR has not met recently because the Akron Public Schools' building project, which it was tasked with overseeing, was completed in 2022.
For the first time in nearly three years, the Akron Joint Board of Review (JBOR), formed to oversee the partnership between the Akron Public Schools and the City of Akron related to the construction and renovation of the Akron community learning centers, met April 4 to re-establish regular meetings and determine the best use of $17 million in unallocated funds.
The money is leftover from the bonds issued against the city’s .25% income tax increase approved by Akron voters in 2003 to support the renovation and rebuilding of nearly all schools in the district.
Spearheaded by then-Mayor Don Plusquellic, APS and the city agreed to a 30-year formal partnership, where the district would receive updated schools that would also function as community centers for Akron.
Following the approval of the income tax, the JBOR was created in May 2003 to oversee the building projects — it ceased its regular meetings in 2022 after the completion of Garfield Community Learning Center, the last school built under the agreement between Akron and APS.
Members of the JBOR include the president of City Council, the chair of council’s Finance Committee, three members appointed by the mayor and five appointed by Akron Public Schools.
$17 million in unallocated funds prompt meeting
While both sides acknowledge there is nothing malicious about the delay, approximately $17 million remains unallocated as the construction and renovation stages of the 2003 cooperative agreement conclude (see below for full agreement).
Stacey Hodoh, the district’s spokesperson, said the $17 million is from the “Local Fund Initiative [LFI] funds that were provided to APS during the [Ohio Facilities Construction Commission] project to build the various CLCs” in certain phases of the project. These funds remain with APS as the district continues to work with the OFCC state team to close out current open segments.
“Once the close-out occurs,” Hodoh said, “APS and the city need to determine how the funds in the LFI account held by APS can be used legally in regard to the original passage of the levied income tax.”
The amount of money in the fund is what prompted Akron Board of Education members, APS administrators and Akron officials to hold the JBOR meeting in April.
Although the JBOR did not decide how to utilize the money at this meeting, members worked to clarify what type of projects could and could not use the funds, asked some general questions concerning the specifics of the 2003 agreement and committed to holding regular meetings.
Lack of insurance hinders CLC access
The two groups also discussed issues around the lack of community access to the CLC buildings. The fees from community use are supposed to offset building costs, but few of the CLCs are operating in the manner intended.
An informal community learning center advisory committee, comprised of APS staff, the Youth Success Summit and city staff, has been working on an operations handbook to help streamline community use, said Richelle Wardell, education and health strategist for Akron.
Wardell added that the cost of liability insurance coverage for community members’ use was hindering access to the CLCs.
Akron School Board Member Gregory Harrison said that the city and APS work to establish a citizen committee to advise on CLC access, as outlined by the original CLC agreement, although no formal plan was agreed to at the meeting.
Recommended next steps
While the committee did not select a date for its next meeting, APS and Akron leadership agreed that Wardell and APS Chief of Staff Angela Carter would serve as the points of contact between the groups.
In the meantime, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said that finance information be shared between APS and the city. He wants the group to determine how the remaining funds can be spent and then take the necessary steps to formalize the citizens’ advisory group for CLC access.