Districts to get honors for 5 years of excellence

Nearly 40 individual schools in the three-county area scored top ratings.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Three Mahoning County school districts are getting special banners from the Ohio Board of Education for earning "Excellent" designations on their Local Report Cards for at least five consecutive years.
Poland has made the top mark for the last five years, and Canfield and South Range have done it for six.
The three are among only 47 districts across the state to reach the five-year mark.
They, along with Lowellville and Western Reserve in Mahoning County and Champion in Trumbull County are among 111 districts across the state getting congratulatory letters from the state board for achieving "excellent" ratings for the 2004-05 school year.
The local districts have all held that rating for at least two years.
The report cards measure pupils' performance on standardized tests.
Eight other local districts will get letters of congratulations and certificates for test scores that moved them up to a higher report card designation.
All of them moved from "Continuous Improvement" to "Effective," the second highest ranking.
They are: Struthers, Hubbard, Joseph Badger, Mathews, Weathersfield, East Palestine, Lisbon and Salem.