Austintown should not demolish ‘well constructed’ Fitch High

Opinion: February 13, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

The Austintown taxpayer community — especially the Austintown homeowner — needs to voice displeasure with schools Superintendent Vince Colaluca and the five members of the Austintown Board of Education over their decision to place another school levy on the May 2014 primary for a new high school.

There is nothing in dire need outside of yearly and daily maintenance with the present high school that would warrant destroying the well constructed, valuable high school.

In addition, all of Austintown school board meetings are routinely held every third Tuesday of each month. I believe a recent “special meeting” was conducted on a Wednesday for the prime reason not to have any representation and/or knowledge of the people of Austintown or a discussion before the levy proposal was submitted to the Board of Elections.

If Superintendent Colaluca continues to defy the necessity of such super expense with the Austintown community, then a measure needs to be instituted that this superintendent and any future Austintown superintendent needs to reside in Austintown so that he would pay the Austintown school taxes in the same manner as everyone in Austintown.

His prime reason for replacing Fitch High School is that it is “50 years old.” Well, then most all of the houses within a 5-mile radius of this school property need to be destroyed for they are over 50 years old. Generally, a homeowner does not destroy his present house to modernize but to make the necessary modernization and/or remodeling as the “funds are available.”

They fail to view the pages in the Youngstown Vindicator with the listing of “delinquent taxes” owed by the Austintown community. That alone should be their basic thinking before making any decision on any unnecessary levies and/or additional school levies for the Austintown homeowner.

Finally, if the state of Ohio does not have the money or funds to share with the public needs such as road construction and/or modernization of Ohio, how are they able to provide 47 percent of the cost to build a new school? Also, there are limits that Ohio states in providing any school funds. They can’t be used for an auditorium or gymnasium, for example.

This additional school levy needs to be withdrawn by the Austintown Board of Education. Just make the necessary improvements to the roof, install a new furnace, and maybe add onto the side of the school at the western portion. In short, I believe the present Austintown High School is solidly built, but it just needs a normal daily and yearly maintenance program without any additional school taxes.

Neil D. Frasca, Austintown