MAHONING COUNTY Board praises plans for new school

Changes in revenue and spending lowered next year's projected deficit.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- School board members got their first look at preliminary plans for the district's new $26 million middle school, and they liked what they saw.
"I can't wait for my 6-year-old daughter to go there," board member Brad Gessner said, adding that the school, set to be at the corner of South Raccoon Road and Falcon Drive, would provide "a new environment for my daughter to learn in."
Board president Ray Slivochka called the preliminary plans "great" and "fantastic."
The plans were unveiled to the board by John DeFrance, architect for Olsavsky-Jaminet Architects of Youngstown, at a work session before the regular board meeting Tuesday night at Davis Elementary School.
During the regular meeting, the board unanimously approved the plans and contracts for Olsavsky-Jaminet to serve as project designer and for R.P. Carbone Co. of Mayfield Heights to serve as project construction manager. The cost of the contracts was not immediately available.
Public meeting planned
Superintendent Stan Watson noted that the preliminary plans are a starting point for the project and that changes may still be made.
A public meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 26 at Fitch High School so local residents can comment on the plans.
The plans call for the construction of a 174,668-square-foot school.
Watson said part of the outside of the classroom section will have a red brick fa & ccedil;ade as homage to 88-year-old Austintown Middle School, a red brick building on Mahoning Avenue. School officials decided to build the new school to replace Austintown Middle School.
The school board will borrow the $26 million needed to build the school through a 2.9-mill bond issue approved by voters in November. Bonds for the project are to be sold Thursday.
Construction could begin in late summer, DeFrance said.
Pay for teachers
The board also approved an agreement Tuesday with the teachers union stating that the pay scale for teachers will not increase next year. That means teachers will not receive pay raises except those based on seniority and increases in their level of education.
District Treasurer Barbara Kliner noted that the "large majority" of teachers will not earn raises for seniority and level of education next year. She said the board is expected to spend about $22 million on salaries next year; the same amount it planned to spend this year.
Teachers union representatives have said they agreed to the pay scale freeze to help the district during difficult financial times.
The district's latest five-year forecast, approved Tuesday night, shows it is slated to have a $1.5 million deficit at the end of next year.
Kliner said that figure was revised down from $2.1 million because of increases in projected revenue as well as reductions in spending. She added that the cost of insurance did not increase as much as expected this year.
The school board also voted Tuesday to require pupils to wear shirts that can be tucked in and have sleeves, beginning next school year. Officials said some girls have been wearing shirts that do not reach the top of their pants and do not have sleeves, and it has been distracting some male pupils.
hill@vindy.com