What’s new in Youngstown schools? Buildings, contracts, programs

By Harold Gwin

YOUNGSTOWN — Different buildings, new academic enrichment programs and a behavior contract pupils and parents are expected to sign are just some of the changes city schoolchildren face when they return to class Sept. 3.

Schools Superintendent Wendy Webb said district parents and guardians can expect to see a behavior contract arrive for their signatures shortly, something the district has said would be coming this fall.

Pupils will be required to sign it as well, she said.

It spells out a requirement for pupils to be on their best behavior at after-school and extracurricular events — and the penalties to be imposed on those who misbehave, said Webb. Those penalties could range from two weeks of suspension to a ban on any extracurricular or after-school participation for six months to a year.

Those activities are privileges, not rights, and misbehavior won’t be tolerated, Webb said.

Webb began publicly suggesting a behavior contract in January after an altercation between two students attending a basketball game that resulted in officials’ halting the game.

Youngstown will open two new elementaries this fall as part of a 14-school, $190 million rebuilding program.

Paul C. Bunn Elementary, which has been located in the old Jackson building, will be ready for its 350-400 pupils at Sheridan Avenue and Sequoya Drive in Boardman Township.

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, which was called North Elementary in the old Haddow building, will open to about the same number at its new facility on Mariner Avenue.

Some schools will be relocated in older buildings, said Webb, as the district continues the rebuilding program and closes old structures.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on vindy.com.