Colaluca, Oles address the future of Austintown

By Elise Franco

AUSTINTOWN — Children today need more classroom interaction than they did 20 years ago, Austintown schools Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said.

Colaluca discussed this as well as other issues Friday morning during Good Morning Austintown! at the Regency House on Mahoning Avenue. The breakfast was hosted by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

Colaluca and Trustee Lisa Oles spoke about recent and upcoming happenings in the township.

Colaluca, who took over as superintendent at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year, focused on the district’s growing reliance on newer technology to help assist teachers and students.

“Sit a fourth-grader down at a computer, and they can do more than any of us can,” he said. “Children are wired differently now.”

Colaluca said a technology committee has enabled the district to make changes such as updating the computers in every school, which were all more than 10 years old, and installing interactive whiteboards in some classrooms.

He said the district also has formed a partnership with Turning Technologies in Youngstown to get a student-response system.

“The students each have a clicker, and every kid can respond to one question,” he said. “The teacher immediately sees what percentage of the students understand the concept.”

Oles focused mostly on the importance of grant writing in Austintown. In 2009 the township secured more than $1.5 million in grant money for various departments, including fire, police and parks. Oles said a large chunk of the grant money went to the fire department, which secured enough money to buy a new firetruck and begin renovations on the station on Raccoon Road.

She said the township also was very aggressive in applying for grants to help alleviate flooding in some problem areas.

Oles and Colaluca both discussed failed ballot issues. A 0.6-mill replacement levy was voted down. It would have raised an additional $1.25 million for the township over five years.

Oles said the money raised would have been used in the general fund as well as for police, fire and other government entities.

“I’m hoping if it’s put on again, the residents will see we’ve put their tax money to good use and pass it next time around,” she said.

The school district’s proposed 2.9-mill bond issue failed by about 1,300 votes. Colaluca said the issue will be back on the ballot in May, and in the meantime the administration will be working even harder to help residents understand its importance.

“Did we do everything right this time around? No,” he said. “We didn’t get the information out there to everyone, and that’s one thing we need to evaluate.”

Passing the bond issue would fund the school district’s share of a $50 million facility expansion project. The school district would fund about 53 percent of the cost — roughly $26 million — and the state would fund the remaining 47 percent at about $23 million.

Colaluca said May is the district’s last opportunity to cash in on state money. He said if the issue doesn’t pass in May, the district will not pursue it in a special election because of the cost — about $26,000.

“If we don’t pass it, we’ll become a lapsed district,” he said. “The fear is that the money will be taken back for use in the state’s general fund, and we may never get this offer again.”

efranco@vindy.com