GIRARD — The Board of Education has begun interviewing candidates for the school district treasurer position.

Board President Diane Alejars said at Thursday’s board meeting there were eight applicants, with one person having since withdrawn their application.

Board member Joseph Datchuk said the board is still reviewing the applicants.

Alejars said a first round of interviews has been held with plans for additional interviews.

School officials refused to provide the names of the applicants.

While the board is searching for a replacement, Stacy Foster from the Trumbull County Educational Service Center was approved to serve as interim treasurer handling the duties at the treasurer’s office. School officials said they hired Foster so there would be no break in the treasurer’s office and to ensure all financial matters are being addressed and bills are being paid.

The treasurer position became open when Mark Bello resigned. Bello had served since the 1990s as treasurer.

His resignation came after a state audit showed he was paid $461,000 in one fiscal year after a retire / rehire contract.

The board approved the contract last year, which gave him a 1% stipend of all district revenue.

A state audit of the district for fiscal year 2023 in a section indicated the the treasurer’s contract, the stipend was changed from 2.5% of all federal, state and local grants / CCIP / awards / private revenue of the district to 1% of all revenue of the district.

In fiscal year 2022, Bello was paid $188,683, of which $115,114 was his base salary and $58,932 was the 2.5% stipend.

In fiscal year 2023, Bello was paid a total of $461,187, of which $118,078 was his base salary and $325,918 was the 1% stipend. He also received a leave balance payout and his monthly car allowance increased to $500 per month starting in September 2022.

According to the audit, Bello got a pay bump of almost $326,000 for the fiscal year 2023, part of a retire / rehire agreement approved in 2022.

The audit states, “Inquiry with board members revealed that certain board members were aware of the percentage change in the contract but were not aware of the language change to ‘all revenue of the district’ and there was an expectation of reduced payment to the treasurer.”

The audit states the amount paid to the district treasurer “as a retire / rehire was excessive.”

The audit also states, “the increased stipend amount of 1% of all district revenue that the board approved in the treasurer’s new contract from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023 for the same treasurer service was excessive.”

SCHOOL YEAR PREPARATION

In other business, Superintendent Bryan O’Hara said several projects have been completed this summer or will be for the start of the 2024-25 year.

He said new outdoor digital announcement marques of $25,000 each from Daktronics will be placed at Prospect Elementary School and at Girard Intermediate School.

Other projects completed include a new public address system at Prospect and GIS, new security access entrances at the school buildings and new turf placed at Girard stadium for $600,000 by Astro Turf.

O’Hara said two school resource officers from Girard police were approved at a cost of $100,000, with one to be for grades K-6 building and the other 7-12 building.

Additional staff was also hired for the new school year, which includes Kelly Clausen as third-grade teacher, Casey Henderson as sixth-grade math teacher, Peter Kalan as high school science teacher, Noelle Hannon as speech pathologist, Ceara Rasley as visual arts teacher and Megan Miller as music teacher,

Several staff will also move to new positions, as Tara Morgan will move from first grade to fifth grade language arts, Casey Brookhart from fifth grade language arts to junior high language arts and Jonathan Camuso from kindergarten to first grade.