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Open enrollment proves successful
By Elise Franco
By Elise Franco
Austintown
Allowing open enrollment in the district’s schools has proved successful in its first year, the superintendent said.
Vince Colaluca, superintendent, said the district began taking new students through open enrollment in the 2009-10 school year. The plan was to make up some of the money lost each year when students leave Austintown for other public, private and charter schools.
Colaluca said about 250 students left the district in the 2008-09 school year. Each student who leaves takes with him or her $5,700 in state funding, which cost Austintown about $1.5 million.
“We had about 200 come into the district through open enrollment [last year,]” he said.
These new students brought about $1.15 million back into the district, Colaluca said.
He said many of the students came from Youngstown city schools, Canfield, Poland and Mineral Ridge.
“I’m overjoyed because I’ve been in the position to have to hand out pink slips to teachers before,” he said. “This influx of money has helped us to not lay people off.”
Colaluca said some parents, residents and even teachers had concerns that open enrollment could cause a decline in the district’s quality of education. That was never an issue, however, he said.
“Yes, they’re public education students, but their parents have chosen a different academic avenue than their home school,” he said.
“When parents are that invested in a child’s education, the child is usually pretty darn good at school.”
Colaluca also said discipline was never an issue with the open enrollment students.
“Out of all the expulsion hearings I held last year, not one was an open enrollment student,” he said.
Dr. David Ritchie, school board president, said he’s heard from many of those who were concerned at first.
“A number of people who were really concerned or questioned the move have seen that it’s been a positive for the district,” he said.
Colaluca said Austintown will have full retention for the 2010-11 school year and have signed up an additional 116 students.
The superintendent said the district hopes to draw in between 50 and 75 new students each year from here on out.
He said overcrowded classrooms haven’t been an issue.
“We have capacity for about 400 total open-enrollment students,” he said. “We’re sitting at 25 to 28 additional students per grade.”
Dr. Ritchie said the board stands behind its decision to open up Austintown schools.
“I think the numbers have increased, which puts us up in funding, of course,” he said. “Many of our programs are filled because of numbers, which is a good thing.”