Schools await voucher impact

Pupils in faltering schools can apply for scholarships to attend private schools.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The superintendents of the three local school districts with buildings targeted in Ohio's school voucher program don't know how many pupils they might lose this fall.
"You almost have to be a soothsayer," said Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent of Youngstown city schools. There's just no way of knowing which pupils might opt to leave, she said.
Youngstown has three schools on the official Ohio Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program list: Wilson High School, Hayes Middle School and West Elementary School.
The three schools have a combined enrollment of 2,055.
The state program offers financial help to pupils in academically troubled schools to enable them to enroll in a participating private school of their choice.
The possibility of losing pupils is a concern, said Dr. Kathryn Hellweg of the Warren city schools where Warren Western Reserve Middle School, with 939 pupils, is on the list.
Warren is making major academic changes in hopes of keeping its pupils, but Hellweg said she has no idea of the level of impact the voucher program will have at this point.
Double whammy
In East Liverpool, interim school Superintendent Rick Wolfe said his district has been focusing on intervention strategies to improve test scores to get its East Liverpool Middle School with 662 pupils off the state voucher list.
In addition to academic concerns at the school, East Liverpool is under state fiscal watch and has very limited resources to add programs designed to improve academics, Wolfe said.
"Our staff has been doing a whole lot more with a whole lot less," he said.
The application process for seeking a voucher, or scholarship as the state calls it, is already open and runs through June 9.
The Ohio Department of Education reports there are a total of 46,215 children in 99 school buildings across the state eligible to apply. Their school buildings have been rated in state Academic Emergency or Academic Watch, the lowest ratings in the state's Report Card system, for the last three consecutive years.
However, only 14,000 scholarships will be offered, covering tuition at a private school. The rate is set at $4,250 for elementary pupils and $5,000 for high school students, or the actual private school tuition, whichever is lower.
Parents could face additional charges for registration, materials and other fees charged by the private schools.
If more than 14,000 pupils apply for the vouchers, the state will conduct a lottery to see who gets the money.
How it works
Parents can't choose to send their child to just any private school. The school must register with the state as a program participant, and pupils have to meet the entrance requirements of the school of their choice.
The state advises that pupils will have to be accepted by the private school, which would then help parents complete an online voucher application.
Webb said she doesn't anticipate too many applications from West elementary pupils.
The district just built a new school there that opened this year and things are going well, she said.
Hayes is "one of our best-kept secrets," Webb said, indicating that academics and the overall school environment are improving, although the district's on-going rebuilding plan has Hayes targeted for eventual closure. Children there will go to a new Rayen school which will be rebuilt as a middle school.
Webb said the biggest impact will likely be at Wilson, which also has a limited future.
It will remain a high school for only one more year and then be rebuilt as a middle school.
Like the other schools, Youngstown has been focusing on beefing up academic programs to get off the state's list.
Hellweg said Warren is also building all new buildings, which should help with pupil retention.
Some people find that opportunities to attend private and charter schools are not always best for their children, she said. Warren has had children come back from private and charter schools because promises made to them at time of enrollment weren't delivered, Hellweg said.
gwin@vindy.com