Ashtabula school board honors Niemi
ASHTABULA — The Ashtabula Area City School Board honored former member Bill Niemi after accepting his resignation at a meeting Wednesday.
Niemi stepped down after seven years on the school board because he is moving out of the district. Niemi's resignation became effective Monday.
'I sat up here [as superintendent] with you for two and a half years, but I've been here for 28 years, so I've been here for all seven years that you've been here,' AACS Superintendent Lisa Newsome said. 'We truly appreciate everything you've done.'
Newsome said Niemi was dedicated to serving district families during his time on the board.
The board tabled replacing Niemi on the A-Tech board until his spot on the AACS board was filled.
Board member Donald Rapose said he was interested in taking the spot, but wanted to wait to see if Niemi's AACS replacement was interested.
Interested applicants for the position can submit a letter to District Treasurer Mark Astorino, at 541 West 34th St., Ashtabula, no later than 4 p.m. today.
Applicants must be at least 18, a United States citizen and have resided of Ohio for one year and in the county and school district for at least 40 days.
The board approved the district's five-year forecast.
Astorino said not much has changed from what the board heard at an April 28 work session.
'We're basically using the house version of the current budget bill to model a projection,' he said.
Astorino said the district should not be affected by bills lowering how much money districts can carry over.
Newsome said staff have to be supported, and the district will have to function in a balanced budget.
Board President Scott Yopp said the district will have to focus on not incurring additional costs.
'It's not that we have to watch spending,' he said. 'It's that we have to make sure spending is effective.'
Money should be put toward keeping great teachers around and fixing busses to retain families in the district, Yopp said.
Board Vice President Laura Jones it is hard to know exactly how the budget will impact the district.
'It's kind of a waiting game,' she said.
The board voted to modify its agreement with the architect providing professional and construction administration services for the Lakeside High School reconstruction project, Olsavsky Jaminet Architects, to compensate the company an additional $1.62 million.
Astorino said the board could not vote to pay the full amount before, because they did not have the undisputed payment from the insurance company yet.
The board originally agreed to compensate the company $200,000. The architect's total compensation now is $1.82 million.
The high school's roof collapsed during the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm, making it unusable.
The board declared it necessary to renew a 1.25-mill levy, which funds district textbooks, educational technology and instructional equipment.
The board approved a contract for Astorino to continue serving as the district's treasurer from Aug. 1 2026, to July 31, 2029.
The next board work session and regular meeting will be June 18, at 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., respectively.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
10 minutes ago
- Fox News
Cuomo attacked during debate by fellow Dems for allegedly lying to Congress about COVID nursing home scandal
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was blasted by fellow Democrats running against him to be the next mayor of New York City for lying to Congress, an allegation pushed by Republicans that the Trump administration is currently investigating. Cuomo repeatedly dismissed questions throughout Wednesday night's debate on whether he lied to Congress about his role in drafting a New York State Department of Health report that officials determined had undercounted the number of nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Cuomo blasted the current investigation as a symptom of partisan politics and insisted the report in question "did not undercount the deaths." "The people died and he still won't answer your questions," Cuomo's opponent, Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman from the Bronx, said after Cuomo failed to provide a straight answer. Blake's retort resulted in one of the debate moderators asking Cuomo once again to respond to the allegations that he lied to Congress about his role in drafting the report that undercounted the number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths. This time, he engaged. "No, I told Congress the truth," Cuomo relented. "No, we did not undercount any deaths," he added. "When they are all counted, we're number 38 out of 50, which I think, shows that compared to what other states went through, we had it first and worst, and that only 12 states had a lower rate of death – we should really be thanking the women and men who worked on those things." "It's just a yes or no question," the moderator shot back at Cuomo. "Were you involved in the producing of that report?" However, Cuomo still did not address the question directly, leading to laughter from his opponents. "It's not only that Andrew Cuomo lied to Congress – which is perjury – he also lied to the grieving families whose loved ones he sent in to those nursing homes to protect his $5 million book deal," said Brad Lander, New York City's comptroller. "That's corruption." Last month, the Trump administration's Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation to get to the bottom of whether Cuomo lied to Congress about the decisions he made during the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as governor. In March 2020, Cuomo issued a directive that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. The directive was meant to free up beds for overwhelmed hospitals, but more than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were ultimately released from hospitals into nursing homes under the directive, which was later rescinded amid speculation that it had accelerated outbreaks. Subsequently, a report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller found Cuomo's Health Department "was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes" and it "understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%" during some points of the pandemic. New York Attorney General Letitia James similarly released a report amid the pandemic showing New York state nursing home deaths had been undercounted.
New York Times
10 minutes ago
- New York Times
On a Search for an Old E.V., Jay Leno's Car Obsession Came Up Clutch
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. As an energy reporter on the Business desk of The New York Times, I often cover the transition to electrify the world around us, including automobiles and heating and cooling systems. But until I spoke with the historian at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, I did not know that electric cars rattled down city streets as far back as the mid-1890s. A century ago, roughly a third of taxi drivers in New York City shuttled passengers around in electric cars. I set out to write an article about these cars, and a time before lawmakers gave deference to the oil industry by offering numerous tax breaks, paving the way for gasoline-powered vehicles. But finding an original E.V. that I could ride in proved difficult. Most of them sit in museums and personal collections. Enter the comedian — and car collector — Jay Leno. My editor suggested I reach out to Mr. Leno after learning about his 1909 Baker Electric, housed in his famous garage. Mr. Leno's team gave an enthusiastic 'Yes' in reply. When I arrived at his warehouse garage in Burbank, Calif., in April, Mr. Leno had his Baker Electric charged and ready to hit the streets. The 116-year-old car, which had been refurbished, looked like it had just rolled off the showroom floor. Still, the wooden high-top body, 36-inch rubber wheels and Victorian-style upholstery whispered the car's age. It was basically a carriage with batteries, enabling drivers to free horses from their bits and harnesses. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
11 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump's Travel Ban Could Shake Up International Sporting Events
The proclamation President Trump's signed this week banning travel to the United States by people from a dozen countries makes an exception for athletes, coaches and support staff for 'major sporting events,' including the World Cup and the Olympics. What qualifies as a major sporting event remains to be seen. Mr. Trump's proclamation declaring the ban, issued on Wednesday, says that the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will determine which events can receive an exemption. A host of international sporting events are planned in the United States over the next months and years. While some of the countries on the ban list, like Chad and Yemen, are not traditional sporting powers, others, like Iran and Haiti, could well expect to send athletes to the United States for a range of competitions. Mr. Trump also imposed a lower level of restrictions on seven other countries, including Cuba, a strong player on the international sporting stage, and Venezuela. Decisions will have to be made quickly. The CONCACAF Gold Cup, the men's soccer championship for North American, Central American and Caribbean nations, begins June 14 and will be played at sites across the United States (and one in Canada). Haiti has qualified for the competition and is scheduled to play games in San Diego, Houston and Arlington, Texas. The Club World Cup, the world championship for men's club soccer teams, also begins June 14 in several U.S. cities. No team based in a country on the banned list has qualified, but the teams involved include players and staff members from all over the world. CONCACAF, which runs the Gold Cup, and FIFA, which runs the Club World Cup, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Other events coming to the United States this year — including the under-19 softball World Cup and the world skateboarding championships — are less likely to be considered 'major' events. There are also big races, like the Chicago and New York marathons in the fall. Mr. Rubio may find himself facing a lot of judgment calls. The implications for college athletics, where rosters in many sports are dotted with international students, are also unclear. Both events that are explicitly exempted from the ban — the men's soccer World Cup and the Summer Olympics — are coming to the United States after this year. The World Cup is scheduled for 2026, and Iran has already qualified. (Hosting duties will be shared with Canada and Mexico.) Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics in 2028.
