Qualifying seniors given option to stay at previous city high school

YOUNGSTOWN — Qualifying seniors may remain at the Youngstown City School District they previously attended, even if it does not adhere to CEO Krish Mohip’s new neighborhood schools plan.

Seniors must have a 95 percent attendance rate and minimum 2.0 grade point average during the last school year. They also must find their own transportation.

“We understand that some students have an emotional attachment to the high school they attended for three years and want to graduate from that same school,” CEO Krish Mohip said.

The plan announced earlier this year established nine preschool-to-eight-grade schools and two high schools. The primary schools feed into either East or Chaney high school.

Of the district’s 311 students who will be seniors this fall, 98 meet the GPA and attendance requirements that allow them to keep attending the same school if theirs has changed. Only 22 of those students will be attending a different school next year. About half of qualifying seniors attend Youngstown Early College, which is a specialty school unaffected by the neighborhood schools plan.

This opportunity will not be available to future students.

“This is a one-time grandfathering in, and it’s only for seniors this coming year,” Mohip said.

Letters are being sent to those students’ homes to determine their preferences.