LocaL PostaL customer ecrWss/eDDm
Volume 57, No. 5
stanDarD Postage & Fees PaiD WiLLoughby, oh Permit 42
CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967 West Geauga Schools
BOE Places Substitute Levy on Nov. Ballot By Emma MacNiven macniven@karlovecmedia.com West Geauga Schools Board of Education decided to expedite their next levy, moving it up from the spring 2026 ballot to this fall’s ballot before any more potential changes happen to the state budget. During a July 31 special meeting, the board unanimously passed a resolution to place a continuous, 4.82-mill substitute levy on the Nov. 4 ballot. If passed, the levy would yield $6.05 million per year and cost home-
owners $169 annually per $100,000 property valuation, according to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office. “This … is something that’s Beers actually been suggested to us by some community members, as well as the (Geauga County Budget Commission) that we should go (with) this substitute levy,” Vice President Bill Beers said during the meeting. “So, this isn’t an action that we’re
Claypool
Pavlat
kind of taking frivolously, right? It’s something that has been in consideration for a while and it’s also been sort of accelerated because of the changes in what’s going on at the state as far as property tax.” Last month, state lawmakers
set a 40% limit for school district cash balance carryover and disqualified emergency and substitute levies, leaving West Geauga Schools in a lurch. District officials had been considering replacing two current emergency levies — a 1.87-mill levy that collects $2.35 million and a 2.95-mill levy that collects $3.7 million annually — with a substitute levy on the May 2026 ballot, said district Treasurer Karen Pavlat last month, adding the 3.7-mill levy is See Levy• Page 5
There Will Be a New Voice at WG Football Games By Brian Lavrich sports@karlovecmedia.com Over the last 30 years the West Geauga football program has had many changes. There have been different coaches, athletic directors and of course many different players. One constant however has been Randy Sciria. Sciria, 63, has been the voice of West G football the past 30 years. If it’s happened on Howell Field, it’s very likely Sciria has seen it. As we approach the 2025 season, Sciria has decided to step away from the mic and will no longer be the announcer for Wolverine football games at Howell Field.
“I’m not retiring, I’m just stepping down,” Sciria said. Sciria has lived most of his life in Chesterland with his wife Jenny, who is a West G graduate. He played nose guard and linebacker for the Wolverines during his freshman and sophomore years before moving briefly to attend Mayfield High School where he he graduated. Sciria’s interest in announcing started when his father Paul took him to Browns games. “At Browns games, I would listen to the announcer,” Sciria said. “It caught on. I would critique the Browns announcer.” In 1995 Sciria approached then See Voice • Page 3
SUBMITTED
Randy Sciria, left, has been the voice of West Geauga football for the past 30 years. Sciria, who has stepped down as the public address announcer at Howell Field, was introduced to broadcasting from his father, Paul, right, who was a reporter with NBC.
West G Alum Aims for Career as Airline Pilot Staff Report
SUBMITTED
Bella Pollack, 20, is congratulated by her flight instructor Stephen Millsap. She recently earned her private pilot’s license after spending several years studying and flying at the Geauga County Airport in Middlefield.
A 2023 graduate of West Geauga High School is cruising down the runway toward a career in aviation, all stemming from a visit to the Geauga County Airport in Middlefield, said Outreach Coordinator Patty Fulop. During her senior year, Bella Pollack, of Parkman Township, had an opportunity for an internship with airport Manager Ric Blamer. Pollack said her father, Paul, introduced her to Blamer when she was a junior at West Geauga High School.
They had driven by the airport many times and when she expressed an interest in flying, her father took her for a visit. “We walked in on a meeting one day and they were very welcoming,” she said. “Ric showed me around and took me up for a flight. I thought it would be pretty cool, but I didn’t realize how much I would actually enjoy it.” Blamer took her under his wing and offered her an internship at the airport, giving her a solid background in the world of aviation. See Pilot • Page 3
facebook.com/chesterlandnews @chesterlandnews