Truants, delinquents to go to new Mahoning high school

By Harold Gwin

Academics, vocational training and behavior change will be its focus.

YOUNGSTOWN — High school students in Mahoning County facing expulsion for misbehavior will get a second chance to complete their education when Mahoning County High School opens this fall.

It’s a new charter school created to provide both academic and vocational education with a strong emphasis on behavior modification.

The goal is to do all that can be done to assure these children complete their education and graduate from high school, said Judge Theresa Dellick of the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center. She has been the driving force behind the development of the alternative school.

Dellick said the students will come through her court facing expulsion and juvenile criminal charges for offenses ranging from truancy to assault on a teacher.

They will be placed on probation and serve that probation by completing their education at the alternative school, or by improving their academic performance and personal behavior to the point where they can return to their home school, she said.

They won’t be incarcerated, but will be under the control of the court and school from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, Dellick said. They’ll spend their after-school hours doing homework and participating in other programs.

The exception will be students who have jobs and will be allowed to go to those jobs after class.

The school is looking at the Western Reserve Transit Authority or students’ home schools for transportation services.

Dellick said she is creating an Education Court, much like the juvenile Drug Court, to monitor student performance and behavior at the school. The court will in the school, and the students will initially appear before it once a week.

Each classroom will have a teacher as well as a student correctional officer whose task it will be to monitor every child in the room on a daily basis. Misbehavior in the classroom will draw detention, Dellick said.

Those who complete the program can have the charge against them dismissed, she said.

The school is being sponsored by the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, which also sponsors the Mahoning Unlimited Classroom and Youngstown Community School charter schools.

Cynthia Cairnes, director of pupil services for the ESC and one of five members of the new alternative school board, said the goal is to make Mahoning County High School a year-round program.

Current funding arrangements will provide financing only for the traditional nine months of school, but efforts are being made to track down funds to cover the summer months, Cairnes said. Students are expected to be enrolled for at least a full year, she said.

The state has provided $450,000 in federal school start-up funds to be spent at the rate of $150,000 a year over three years.

State student subsidies based on enrollment will help cover costs, and Dellick said money from the court will be used to hire the four student correctional officers. Various grants are also being sought to complete a funding package.

School traditionally begins in early September, but Dellick said the alternative school probably won’t open until October.

The goal is to start the first year with 45 students. A school planning committee has estimated that as many as 900 students in the county could be eligible for the program at any given time.

The location hasn’t been finalized, but Dellick said the school is looking at various possibilities, including leasing a vacant city school building.

The school has begun advertising for a “program manager” who will serve the functions of superintendent, principal and chief operating officer. Cairnes said 17 applications from “some very qualified candidates” had been received as of Tuesday.

The plan is to have that person on board in August and then move to hire teaching and support staff.

The initial focus will be on academics and behavior modification, Dellick said, noting that vocational training will come later.

It will take some time to assess each child’s ability to work with tools in a vocational setting, she explained.

The school is considering contracting with Youngstown’s Choffin Career and Technical Center to provide that part of the educational program.

gwin@vindy.com