SPECIAL EDUCATION Hire new teacher, official urges Austintown board

A board member said the board should seek to rescind employee raises.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A school official says the financially strapped school board needs to hire another teacher to help address increases in the enrollment of special-education pupils.
Special Education Coordinator Becky Morris said that as of December, 866 special-education pupils were enrolled in the district. That's 87 more than were enrolled last year and more than double the 1992 special-education enrollment of 380.
Because of the increase, the district's special-education classes are close to being considered full by the state, Morris said. Another teacher is needed to keep class size under state limits, she said.
Morris asked the board to hire another special-education teacher at a work session before the board's meeting Monday night. The district's special-education staff has five psychologists, five speech therapists, 14 tutors and 26 teachers, several of which are paid by the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.
Can be costly
Superintendent Stan Watson said because of the different needs of the pupils, special education can be expensive. The district's latest five-year financial forecast, approved by the board Monday, predicts that the district will have a total deficit of $2.1 million at the end of next school year.
The board did not make a decision on Morris' request Monday night.
Morris said in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, only the Youngstown and Warren school districts have a greater percentage of special-education pupils enrolled. She said special-education pupils represent 16 percent of approximately 5,000 pupils in Austintown, while they represent 18 percent of the about 11,000 pupils in Youngstown. She did not give the figure for Warren.
In the last two weeks, seven new special-education pupils have enrolled in the district, Morris said. Three are from Youngstown, one is from Warren and the rest are from outside of the Mahoning Valley, she said.
Morris said she thinks the pupils come here because it offers a high-quality special-education program.
What's required
Board Member Michael Creatore stressed that school officials need to make sure pupils are eligible to attend Austintown schools.
Austintown pupils must live with a family member in the district to attend the schools, as the district does not have open enrollment.
Watson said checking to make sure pupils live in the district is a "full-time job," and added that special-education pupils typically don't fake addresses.
Creatore also said the board needs to hold special meetings soon to address the district's financial problems, and that he thinks school officials should seek to rescind the 3.5-percent raises given to school employees under union contracts this year.
He said he hopes the unions will be willing to rescind raises, as it is in the best financial interest of the district.
Watson, however, said that opening the contracts to rescind the raises "is not going to go."
Director of Instruction Ann Marie Hiznay said the state requires the board to decide by April 30 if it will cut any programs to save money next year. "We're like a boat headed for the breaker wall," Creatore said. "The end result is not pretty."
hill@vindy.com