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Austintown’s superintendent responds to open enrollment statements
AUSTINTOWN
Township schools Superintendent Vince Colaluca said despite public discontent about open enrollment, Austintown schools are doing well.
“We have not heard a valid complaint yet about open enrollment that substantiates a reason to say that the kids that are coming here are doing anything inappropriate,” he said. “I take offense to any of the parents that are talking negatively about students regardless of where they’re from.”
Colaluca said there is no question that open enrollment has kept Austintown schools financially stable.
“It’s a two fold for us for open enrollment – it gives students an opportunity to be successful in a different school district, but is also a revenue generator for the Austintown schools,” he said.
Many parents voiced the need to have stipulations and restrictions for the open enrollment process at the Sept. 21 board of education meeting.
Parent Mandy Richmond said at the meeting that she thinks it’s worth questioning whether open enrollment is worth what’s happening to Austintown schools.
“We need some tabs on this, some accountability for the students these families are bringing into our district,” she said.
Colaluca said according to Ohio Department of Education laws governing open enrollment, no public schools are allowed to be review the applications in a discriminatory fashion.
“We’re not allowed to discriminate against grades, attendance and any type of ... race, ethnicity, poor or rich – none of that,” he said.
The only restriction the schools can and do implement is on students who were suspended for more than 10 days or expelled in their last semester prior to applying for entry into Austintown.
“We follow that to a T,” Colaluca said. “Otherwise, it’s a violation of someone’s civil rights.”
Something Colaluca said the schools are working on improving is working with the open enrollment students to better assimilate them to the “Austintown way.”