Youngstown BOE to fight school pullout

By Harold Gwin

Half of Coitsville would go to Hubbard and half to Lowellville under the proposal.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City School Board will fight an attempt by Coitsville Township residents to leave the city school district.

Voters in the township handed the school board two petitions March 18 asking that the northern section of the township be allowed to join the Hubbard school system and the southern section become part of the Lowellville schools.

City school officials said Tuesday the result would be a $225,500 loss in annual real estate tax and state subsidy revenues.

The board voted to oppose both petitions, which already have been forwarded to the state board of education for consideration.

William Johnson, Youngstown schools treasurer, said the revenue loss would translate into an automatic tax increase equivalent to about 1 mill for the remaining city school taxpayers.

Board member Anthony Catale said those taxpayers wouldn’t get a vote on the increase they would have to pay.

The 51 voted mills now in place in the district would automatically adjust to cover the revenue loss, Johnson said, explaining that those mills are designed to provide a specific amount of money.

The amount an individual pays generally decreases as property values rise in the district. The loss of Coitsville real estate tax revenue, however, would mean individuals still in the district would have to pay more, Johnson said.

Board member Lock P. Beachum Sr. said only 11 of the 81 school-age children living in Coitsville attend city schools now. The other 70 attend charter or other public open-enrollment schools, he said.

Johnson said Youngstown already is losing about $390,000 a year in revenue on those 70 children. Losing 11 more would cost Youngstown another $61,000 in state subsidy, Johnson said, noting that is part of the overall $225,500 revenue loss.

Coitsville Township residents have been unsuccessful in past attempts to get out of the Youngstown school system, with the state board of education turning them down in 1974, 1989 and 2001, said Atty. Ted Roberts, city school board solicitor.

The township has tried to join the Lowellville and Struthers school districts in the past, he said.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections has examined the latest petitions and determined that 267 people signed them, well above 75 percent of the 274 who voted in the last general election, the benchmark the township residents had to reach to qualify their petitions.

The state board is expected to appoint a referee to hear arguments in the case in May, Roberts said.

The state board ruled in 2001 that allowing Coitsville to leave would force the district into deficit spending, resulting in a tax increase for the remaining taxpayers, he said.

The board also determined the move would add to racial isolation in the city schools, Roberts added.

gwin@vindy.com