Stimulus to fund counseling for YEC students

By Harold Gwin

Grants used to pay for the services last year are no longer available.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city school district will tap federal stimulus funds to continue a counseling program for students enrolled at Youngstown Early College.

The school board approved a plan last week to use $211,502 in stimulus money to pay for intervention and support services for the 250 students enrolled.

The money will be paid to YSU, which will provide the staff for those counseling services, said Superintendent Wendy Webb.

Anthony Catale, school board president, questioned if the services provided shouldn’t already be covered by the tuition paid on behalf of YEC students taking YSU courses.

This is academic advisory in nature and goes beyond the normal services students might receive as part of the tuition they pay to take YSU courses, Webb said.

Integrating the high school curriculum with the college curriculum requires more monitoring and advising to ensure that the students move on to college after completing their high school program, she said.

YEC is a joint Youngstown City School District/Youngstown State University project now entering its sixth year.

It allows selected high school students to earn college credit while completing their high school education, and it is located in Fedor Hall on the YSU campus. Admission is a competitive process.

Webb has called it a “best practice” school, and it is a shining star in the district’s efforts to improve overall academic performance.

YEC is rated as an “excellent” school by the Ohio local report card and is the only school in the Youngstown system to achieve that designation.

The counseling service provided by YSU is a continuation of a program that operated last year but was paid for with grant funds, Webb said. That grant is no longer available, she said.

“We need that help at the university,” she said, explaining that the service is provided through YSU’s student-affairs office and includes tutoring.

Meanwhile, the district continues to search for funding sources just to keep YEC running.

The program lost about $600,000 in state financial assistance this year that had been used in the past to pay the college tuition cost for the courses YEC students take.

That shortfall is being made up by YSU and the city school district for this school year, but no funding guarantee has been offered beyond that to cover the expense.

That’s only part of the cost of the program. The school district picks up the $1.3 million annual tab for teachers, books and other materials and remains committed to covering that expense. YSU provides the space.

gwin@vindy.com