Parents criticize school spending

One parent urged the administration to involve the community before making any consolidation decisions.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

AUSTINTOWN — After delivering a speech on the harsh financial realities facing the Austintown school district, Superintendent Doug Heuer sat down and heard a few harsh words in return.

Parents unhappy with Heuer for proposing closure of Davis Elementary School on Maple Avenue delivered criticism of the money spent on new administrative offices, new artificial turf for the football field and other athletic facilities, and the handling of the new Austintown Middle School.

“I don’t trust the way the board is run,” parent Jody West said toward the end of the more than two-hour meeting Monday night at the school.

West said township residents paid $24.5 million for Austintown Middle School, and yet the building is so cramped that some pupils don’t feel there’s room enough at lunch time to do more than eat a snack, she said.

Parent Pete Gabriel said the board and administration’s apparent drive to tear down all of the five community elementary schools so that it can someday build two new, larger ones is disheartening.

“The community elementary school has been a big part of my life. You’d be doing this community a big disservice if you do this,” he said.

Like many people speaking at the meeting, Gabriel said he moved into the neighborhood around Davis Elementary School because of the school. It is one of the only places where he could afford to buy a house in the $50,000 to $70,000 range that still provided a good education for his kids.

“This is a wonderful neighborhood,” he said, adding that closing the school would have a negative effect on property values.

Heuer has said the district will qualify for a dollar-for-dollar match by next school year from the Ohio School Facilities Commission to replace all five elementary schools with two new large ones. A bond issue would be needed to pay the district’s share.

During her presentation, parent Kathleen Bache noted that Heuer has sought employment at another school district, adding “his heart is outside of the district.”

Bache has read many of the reports compiled by consultants and the state and cited one report listing the cost for new roofs on the five elementary schools. They ranged from $174,000 to $490,000. She said the administration had information on the need for new roofs a couple of years ago but used its spare money on athletic facilities and new “luxury” board offices in the middle school.

Bache urged Heuer and board members Richard Zimmerman and Louis Chine, who were present, to involve the community in any consolidation discussions.

Heuer said Davis Elementary is the only building that needs a new roof within the next few years, making it his choice to close first. He told board members in a letter to decide by next Monday’s meeting whether to close a building.

If Davis were to close at the end of this school year, the board would have to start notifying the unions representing teaching and nonteaching employees by April 1.

Heuer cited a variety of reasons why the district is projecting a $5.6 million budget shortfall by the end of the 2008-09 school year. They included the increased cost of natural gas, electricity and gasoline and questions about cuts in state funding and possible undercollection of local property tax money.

Closing an elementary school would save around $500,000 per year, Heuer estimates.

runyan@vindy.com