YOUNGSTOWN State education department refuses to fund Legacy Academy

The state says Lucas County can't approve a charter school located in Mahoning County.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Department of Education is withholding funding from Legacy Academy on the city's South Side because it thinks the charter school was improperly approved.
"There has been no funding for it, and we don't intend to fund them," said Dottie Howe, an education department spokesperson.
The Rev. Norman L. Wagner, who leads Legacy Academy, indicated the school's future may be at stake.
"We believe the future of the school will be a positive one," he said.
But he added, "We would not be able to educate public school children if the public education system set up did not fund it."
School board lawsuit: The city school board filed a lawsuit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court this week maintaining that Lucas County Educational Service Center does not have the authority to approve charter schools outside of Lucas County.
Lucas County ESC approved a charter school contract in August for Legacy Academy, and the school opened in October at Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church on Oak Hill Avenue.
Legacy is Youngstown's fifth charter school; the other four were approved by the state education department.
Agrees with board: Howe said the state agrees with the Youngstown school board's lawsuit that Lucas County cannot legally approve charter schools outside Lucas County.
Therefore, the state has refused to recognize Legacy Academy as legitimate and has not and will not disperse state funds to the school unless ordered to do so, Howe said.
"We've been questioning this all along," she said. "So we do not intend to fund them."
Charter schools are privately operated, publicly funded schools that do not charge tuition. The schools receive about $5,500 a year in state funds for every pupil they enroll from the public school district in which they are located.
Legacy Academy opened in October and was due to receive funds that month, but did not, Howe said. She said she did not know how much the school was to receive.
The Rev. Mr. Wagner, Mount Calvary pastor who leads Legacy Academy, said the school has been receiving state funding, but he could not say how much.
He emphasized that the school, which has about 225 pupils from kindergarten to 10th grade, has a contract granted by Lucas County ESC to operate the school. He said the dispute appears to be between Lucas County and the local school board and state.
"I can only speak from the signed contract that we have from a legitimate sponsor of the state of Ohio," he said.
Tom Baker, Lucas County ESC superintendent, could not be reached.
Mr. Wagner said he first sought the approval of the state education department for the new school, but missed a filing deadline. He said state education officials referred him to Lucas County ESC for approval.
Howe was reluctant to talk about that claim. "This will be decided and discussed at the court hearings, whether or not that was the case," she said.
Former school closed: In 1976, Mr. Wagner started Calvary Christian Academy, a private, tuition-funded religious school located in the church on the city's South Side. The school moved to the former Princeton Junior High School building in 1995 under a lease arrangement with the city public schools.
After a legal dispute over lease payments, Calvary Christian vacated the building at the end of last school year and closed the school after 25 years of operations.
Within weeks, Mr. Wagner received approval from Lucas County ESC to open another school, this time a publicly funded charter school in classrooms attached to the church building and in six adjacent modular classroom units.