Board OKs creation of charter school

The school's flexible structure would adapt to student needs.
By KANTELE FRANKO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown City Board of Education has voted to begin the process of creating a charter school sponsored by the district.
The move allows district representatives to work toward a formal contract with the governing board of the proposed school, the Tri-County Opportunity Center, Superintendent Wendy Webb said.
Negotiations would solidify details about the district's sponsorship -- the donation of start-up funds -- and the operation of the school, she said. Charter schools are public schools created with a legal charter that operate independent of the local district. They often earn a profit and operate with an untraditional daily schedule or curriculum structure. The agreement would not be finalized until both the school board and the center's governing board approved it.
The board passed the resolution by a vote of 4-0 in a special meeting Wednesday night. Citing a lack of information, board members Lock Beachum Sr. and Kathryn Hawks Haney abstained from the vote, and John Maluso was absent.
Targeted students
The sponsorship proposal states that the school, which would be housed in the current Horticulture Building at the Choffin Career and Technical Center on East Wood Street, would serve high school students from Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties "who have been experiencing difficulty in the regular school setting." Though the public school would accept any student who expressed a desire to attend, its purpose is focused on students who have academic or behavioral problems and those who have jobs, Webb said.
A Web-based curriculum and a flexible schedule that might require a student only to check in with an instructor creates an operating structure more appropriate for these students, she said.
"We just don't believe that you can meet all the needs we have in this district unless we're willing to be flexible," Webb said.
If negotiations lead to a sponsorship agreement, the center's governing board would apply for a charter from the state. The district likely would absorb the costs of leasing the building and would pay for start-up costs the first year, which could amount to between $140,000 and $150,000, Webb said.
Though the charter school would receive state funding for those students rather than the district, the most important benefit is meeting students' needs, she said.
Negotiators hope between 100 and 130 students would attend the school, which would employ about four instructors and a principal or other lead authority figure, Webb said.
Union's concerns
But who those instructors would be is causing concern for some teachers. William Bagnola, president of the Youngstown Education Association, the teachers union, spoke at the meeting about concerns that substitutes would be used instead of more experienced, full-time teachers.
The charter school and its sponsor -- which eventually could receive a percentage of the school's profits -- might benefit more by using substitutes, who are paid less than full-time teachers. That decision would be made by the governing board. But experienced teachers might work better with students who have struggled in traditional settings, Bagnola said.