Some Valley school districts question state funding plans

By Harold Gwin

Some districts don’t know why they’re slated for substantial funding increases.

YOUNGSTOWN — Douglas Heuer said he knows why the Austintown schools are slated to receive nearly $4 million in additional state funding over the next two years under Gov. Ted Strickland’s new budget plan.

Austintown has been undergoing some significant changes in demographics over the last several years, the superintendent said, noting the district is classified as an urban district with low median income and high poverty.

The governor’s education funding proposal relies heavily on money from the pending federal stimulus package — which targets new federal money for special education and disadvantaged students, Heuer said.

“We have qualified for a significant increase in two areas on the federal level,” he said.

Austintown’s special education population has grown to 17 percent of its 5,000 student body, well above the state district average of 10 to 11 percent, he said. On the disadvantaged front, 48 percent of Austintown’s pupils now qualify for free or reduced lunches under federal guidelines, he added.

Not every local district will be getting more money under the governor’s proposal, and some that are scheduled to get more aren’t sure the money will ever get here.

Struthers is slated to receive $1.7 more over the next two years, but Superintendent Robert Rostan isn’t sure the district will ever see that much.

Speaking from a meeting in Columbus last week where he met with other superintendents, Rostan said there are a number of districts very similar to Struthers that are scheduled to get much less or even experience a reduction in state aid.

No one seems to know why, he said, adding that he doubts the early numbers coming out of the governor’s proposal will hold.

There will be a lot of state senators and representatives pushing to aid districts in their areas when the budget moves through the House and Senate, and the numbers will likely be adjusted, Rostan said.

Youngstown city schools are shown to receive no funding increase in the first year and will lose nearly $1.1 million in the second year.

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