YOUNGSTOWN School adjusts schedule for transportation service

The city schools will be able to accommodate the charter school, an official said.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Academy of Excellence, the city's newest charter school, will adjust its school day schedule to be more in line with transportation services offered by the Youngstown City Schools.
The charter school, located in the former Roosevelt School on Rigby Street, started classes last week on an 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily schedule and asked the city school district to provide transportation for some if its pupils. State law requires the city district to provide that service.
However, the schedule didn't fit with Youngstown's policy of providing student transportation between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The school district was unwilling to alter that time frame.
Parents surveyed
Rudy Gonzales, a spokesman for the charter school, said Tuesday that the school surveyed its parents and found that 98 percent or them felt the school schedule should be adjusted. Accordingly, the school will run on a 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. schedule beginning Monday, he said.
The school has an enrollment of 102 in kindergarten through the fifth grade, and about 55 of its pupils are believed to be eligible for transportation.
Anthony DeNiro, Youngstown's assistant superintendent of school business affairs, said Youngstown should be able to accommodate the charter's school's new schedule.
A final transportation list is being prepared and school transportation will begin Monday, DeNiro said.