Poland voters’ rejection of tax levy for schools paves way for pay-to-play

By Ashley Luthern | March 20, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

POLAND

The school board met for more than two hours Monday to discuss fallout from the March 6 levy defeat and appeared to reach two short-term conclusions: All-day kindergarten will remain through next school year, and pay-to-participate athletics are on the way.

All board members said they would vote “no” to cut kindergarten to half-day and agreed that pay-to- participate athletic fees are necessary, though the proposed amounts range from $150 per high-school sport to $300 or $500 per high-school sport. The board is expected to decide fee amounts at its meeting next Monday.

Also still up for discussion is charging a fee for all extracurricular activities and possibly a transportation fee for marching band. The board also is considering placing an additional levy before voters in the fall.

But in the long-term, board president Dr. Larry Dinopoulos said the board must decide its philosophy: add more cuts and accept reduced enrollment, or look at open enrollment and generate about $5,700 per pupil that open-enrolls.

The board has requested current and projected enrollment information and operating costs for each of the K-4 elementary schools, as it explores a plan that would reorganize the schools — for example, placing kindergarten and first grade in one building instead of K-4 in each — or possibly closing a building.

Any school closure, however, would likely take “a couple of years” to organize, Dinopoulos said.

Superintendent Robert Zorn agreed and said when the district closed Union Elementary in 1983, “it wasn’t done March to May. It was looked at for several years before it was in place.”

Union Elementary was closed because of declining enrollment and reopened in 1996 as the district’s largest K-4 building.

In January, The Vindicator received the following enrollment information from the district:

Poland’s peak K-12 enrollment was 3,087 in 1971-72 with class sizes above the today’s state limit of 25 students per one full-time teacher. The district’s 2011-12 enrollment is 2,310, including prekindergarten and county special education.

Dinopoulos said the district would need all available space if the board decides to open enroll. The superintendent and some board members asked about what they termed limited open enrollment. One option, for example, was allowing the children of Poland alumni to open enroll.

But the district’s counsel Atty. Alan Wenger said the board has only three options under state law: To have total open enrollment, offer open enrollment to areas that border the district or have no open enrollment.

Sandra DiBacco, a Poland resident and retired Struthers superintendent, urged the board to analyze the biggest chunk of district costs, personnel and buildings, and to consider hiring an outside consultant or agency that could recommend cost-cutting measurers that “are not emotionally-driven.”