Alternative school offers a last chance to students

There are between 900 and 1,000 public school students in Mahoning County who, for a variety of reasons, face expulsion — and a future that is certainly bleak. It’s difficult enough to find a job in this region, especially given the worsening national economy. It’s just about impossible to get hired without, at least, a high school diploma.

Thus, the prospect of having such a large group of young people at loose ends or worse, behind bars, in an area struggling to improve its economic condition has prompted Judge Theresa Dellick of the county juvenile court and others to search for ways to prevent them from becoming a drain on society.

But as they looked around for possible solutions, they found few that are designed to keep students facing expulsion where they belong: in a controlled setting that focuses on education and job-preparation endeavors.

Hence, the question, what about an alternative school? That question was the basis for months of discussions involving Judge Dellick and members of a group that she had brought together.

In the end, the judge asked Dr. Harold Yiannaki, an administrator emeritus at Youngstown State University, and Cynthia Cairnes, an administrator with the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, to develop a proposal for an alternative school to serve the entire county.

While details of the plan are still being worked out, one of the ideas being explored is to have two campuses, one in Youngstown and the other in the county, that would provide the students with year-round learning.

Charter school

Federal money would be used, and now there is talk of making the school in Youngstown a charter school. A $450,000 state grant would provide the seed money.

Indeed, the state has indicated that it would like to make the alternative school a pilot project. It’s an acknowledgment that Mahoning County isn’t alone in having to deal with the problem of students on the verge of being expelled.

Under the plan envisioned by Dellick, Yiannaki, Cairnes and others, the alternative school would have two assignments each day: First, spend the mornings preparing the participants academically; second, use the afternoons to focus on career opportunities, and training in the construction industry, technologies, the health care profession and more.

This last chance before expulsion is not only important for the young people of our area, but it represents a major step toward regional cooperation.

The involvement of the Youngstown City School District is crucial because about the half the target population comes from Youngstown.

In joining with the countywide program, the city school district relieves itself of a major burden — at a time of huge challenges. Not only are the superintendent, board of education members, administrators and teachers working hard to improve the district’s proficiency test scores, but the superintendent and the board also are focused on erasing millions of dollars of red ink.