Funding changes puzzle some Valley schools

By Harold Gwin

Some districts don’t know why they’re slated for substantial increases in state subsidies.

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 had significant changes in demographics over the last several years, the superintendent said, noting the district is now classified as urban, 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 pupils, 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 pupils, well above the state district average of 10 percent to 11 percent, he said. On the disadvantaged front, 48 percent of Austintown pupils qualify for free or reduced-price lunches under federal guidelines, he added.

Not every local district will get 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 million 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 many districts similar to Struthers’ are scheduled to get much less 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.

Many state senators and representatives will be 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.

“I’m thrilled that they’re holding [steady] for the first year,” said Superintendent Wendy Webb, noting that the district had expected much worse.

The district has yet to see the new funding guidelines, but Webb said it appears that pupil population is a major factor. Youngstown lost nearly 39 percent of its enrollment between 1998 and 2008, so the district anticipated a loss of state funding.

Enrollment is a key criterion in the proposed new funding formula, but there are several others, said Amanda Wurst of the governor’s press office.

The unique needs of students in each district, the Ohio Instructional Quality Index (which looks at poverty, community wealth and college attainment rates) and current teacher salaries are other factors, Wurst said.

Finally, the governor has created a model educational plan that sets forth the characteristics of a quality education required for the workforce of the future, and the plan is to help schools demonstrating those characteristics, Wurst said.

Salem is scheduled to get an additional $1.9 million over the two-year period, a jump of 31 percent, but the district isn’t sure why.

“We really don’t know why it’s happening. We don’t have an explanation for why that percentage is where it’s at,” said Lou Ramunno, interim superintendent.

He said he’s approaching the issue cautiously but acknowledged that much of an increase “would really help our kids a lot. We could look at a lot of programs.”

“The governor has the right idea for education,” said David Wilson, superintendent of the Newton Falls schools. The governor’s plan shows Newton Falls getting no additional money the first year and $183,184 in the second.

Wilson said he sees a couple of reasons for the flat funding: Newton Falls already gets a lot of money because it is considered a low-wealth and low-millage district.

Its tax rate of 40 mills is the lowest in Trumbull County, he said, noting that state aid accounts for about 65 percent of the district’s operating budget now.