Superintendents weigh in on Obama’s education plan

By Harold Gwin

One superintendent wants to see the construction part of the stimulus package revamped.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ronald Iarussi believes that the education benefits found in President Barack Obama’s stimulus package are primarily designed to fund the shortcomings of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

The government created a lot of program requirements without providing the money necessary to run them, and stimulus plan money earmarked for special education and Title I intervention and other programs will help with that shortcoming, said Iarussi, superintendent of the Columbiana schools.

Columbiana is slated to receive some $240,000 in additional special-education money and just over $100,000 in additional Title I money, along with just more than $150,000 in construction funds.

“We would like to add two more special-education teachers, which we desperately need,” Iarussi said, noting that the stimulus package would result in job creation.

But the construction portion of the stimulus plan might need some rethinking, he said, suggesting that a survey of all public school buildings needs to be done to determine where the greatest need is. Money should be awarded accordingly, not based on other factors, Iarussi said.

Columbiana has a “shovel-ready” $18 million K-8 building project ready to go but has to come up with about $14 million in local funds to do it, he said, adding that voters have turned down a levy seeking to raise money for the project. The $150,000 earmarked for the district in the stimulus package won’t go very far, he said.

“There are a lot of unknowns,” said Robert Zorn, superintendent of the Poland schools.

His district is slated to get nearly $900,000 ($100,000 in Title 1 money, nearly $630,000 in special-education funds and $160,000 in construction money) in the stimulus package.

No one knows what restrictions will be placed on that money, Zorn said, expressing concern that any benefit it provides could be quickly wiped out by possible cuts in state foundation funding.

Ohio’s school districts are hearing that their state subsidy money could be cut by 5 percent or 10 percent, which could lead to a loss of up to $2 million in revenue for Poland, Zorn said.

He also expressed concern about where the money for the stimulus package will come from. Someone has to pay for that, he said, noting that debt may fall to our children and grandchildren.

Still, he said he will be grateful for any new federal money coming to the district. “It helps,” he said.

Joseph Jeswald, superintendent of the Girard schools, is particularly interested in the $565,000 in construction funds earmarked for his district in the package.

Girard plans to build a new junior/senior high school with a price tag of $26 million, which will require $5.2 million in local funding.

“We have to see what all the stipulations are,” he said, expressing hope that the stimulus money can be used to help offset the local share of the project.

The Title I and special-education money, targeted at about $800,000 over the two years, would provide additional instructors and more intervention programs, depending upon what guidelines are attached to the funds, Jeswald said.

gwin@vindy.com