District faces exodus of pupils

Open enrollment could cause a $20 million deduction, the treasurer says.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATE EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- More than 3,000 public school-age children in the city aren't getting their education in the city's public school system.
More than 2,300 are attending various charter schools across the city and nearly 700 are taking classes at 18 other public school districts in the region, thanks to the state's open enrollment program.
Under that program, a school district can opt to allow pupils from neighboring school districts or from across the state to enroll in classes.
State reimbursement money follows the pupils, which means that the district that gets the pupil also gets the money. The amount depends on the individual district's reimbursement rate from the state.
Big monetary loss
Carolyn Funk, Youngstown School District treasurer, said the state has estimated that Youngstown will be hit with a $20,333,852 deduction in its reimbursement this year as a result of pupils' going elsewhere.
The loss of pupils continues to grow, according to Superintendent Dr. Wendy Webb.
She presented the school board with a report this week showing that the number of Youngstown pupils attending charter schools has grown by a couple of hundred over the past two years while the number of pupils taking advantage of open enrollments to go to other districts has more than doubled.
It appeared that Youngstown might have recovered from the increasing pupil losses when Webb reported in early September that enrollment stood at 9,237 with the opening of school, up 700 from the number enrolled at the close of the last school year.
The number was also significantly higher than the 9,000 enrolled at the same time last fall.
However, her report to the board this week showed that enrollment had declined by 362 pupils and stood at 8,875 by early October.
Open enrollment is responsible for most of that loss, Webb said.
School officials concerned about the district's economic future have called for the development of plans to attract those pupils back to Youngstown.
The fact that Youngstown is rated as being in "Academic Emergency" status under Ohio's Report Card System is a likely factor in some pupils' choosing to go elsewhere. It's the lowest rating.
For example, Lowellville is the local public school with the highest number of Youngstown pupils enrolled this year, according to Webb's report. Lowellville, which allows open enrollment, has had an "Excellent" Report Card, the highest rating, for at least the past two years.