Approval of bond issue would make Austintown ‘flagship of education’

By Jon Moffett

A replacement levy and school bond issue are before Austintown voters.

AUSTINTOWN — Township residents will be voting on more than just board members on Nov. 3; they also will decide some pocketbook issues.

The Austintown Local School District has a 2.9-mill bond issue on the ballot to raise the local share of a $50 million school expansion project, to replace the district’s elementary schools with two new buildings.

One building would house kindergarten through second grade, and the other would house grades 3-5.

The new buildings would be located on the current sites of Watson Elementary and Frank Ohl Intermediate schools and create a central campus.

The Ohio School Facilities Commission has secured about $23 million, or 47 percent of the total cost. The district would be responsible for the remaining 53 percent, or about $26 million.

“This would pave the way to have new schools and technology for every student, grades K-8,” said Superintendent Vince Colaluca. “It would do a lot for the students, and it would create a flagship of education in Austintown.”

The township, meanwhile, has placed a 0.6-mill replacement levy on the ballot, said Administrator Mike Dockry.

He said the purpose of the levy, which will raise $1.25 million over five years, is to replace lost millage from a 0.6-mill levy passed in 1979.

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