Sykes plans hearings on his own

The Toledo school system's budget crisis is exposing at least one rift on the Board of Education.

Without board approval, member Larry Sykes announced two additional public hearings for Monday and Tuesday that he personally would host.

That adds to the two officially scheduled for next week to give residents a chance to comment on school system budget priorities.

Mr. Sykes told The Blade that residents need more opportunities to comment on the crisis that could threaten hundreds of teaching positions and the existence of the system's sports teams.

He said he earlier asked the board to schedule six additional public hearings but was rebuffed.

Official public hearings can be called only by board President Bob Vasquez, or by a majority vote of the five-member school board.

Mr. Sykes, who said he would "host" the public meetings, announced the hearings in a written release on district letterhead. He plans to hold the hearings at two area schools.

Contacted separately by The Blade last night, Mr. Vasquez and board member Lisa Sobecki said they had not heard about it.

Mr. Vasquez said he didn't plan to attend the hearings.

He said using district letterhead might give the false impression the meetings were sanctioned by the board.

"I'm not the keeper of the letterhead," Mr. Vasquez said. "But whatever Mr. Sykes is doing, he's doing on his own. The consensus of the board was that two hearings was enough to gather information."

Ms. Sobecki said she was surprised. "He did not contact me as a board member."

She said conflicts on Monday and Tuesday related to other school meetings would prevent her from attending.

Board members Jack Ford and Brenda Hill could not be reached last night.

After hearing from the public, board members must come up with two lists of proposed budget cuts - one that would close a projected $30 million budget shortfall next fiscal year, and another to cover a $17.5 million shortfall.

The second plan would go into effect if voters approve a 0.75 percent levy on earned income on May 4 that would raise about $18 million annually.

The board plans to approve the two lists of cuts on March 23.

The board initially scheduled just one hearing for Wednesday. Another was added later for Thursday evening.

The four hearings will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on:

•Monday in Waite High School cafeteria, 301 Morrison Drive.

•Tuesday in Robinson Middle School cafeteria, 1075 Horace St.

•Wednesday in Start High School auditorium, 2010 Tremainsville Rd.

•Thursday in Rogers High School auditorium, 222 McTigue Drive.