Monday, February 27, 2017
By Justin Wier
AUSTINTOWN
Dr. David Ritchie remembers the first time he ran for a seat on the Austintown Board of Education in 1967. He said some people had approached him about running, and they made some primitive signs to promote the campaign.
“I was told, ‘You’ll never make it,’” he said. “But 50 years later, I guess we did.”
Ritchie, a retired podiatrist, still sits on the board. He’s served with 10 different superintendents and more board members than he can count. All four existing school buildings were built under his tenure, and so was the football stadium. When he came in, the district didn’t even offer kindergarten.
“He has had more influence on the Austintown schools than any other single person,” said Jay Morgan, former Austintown Fitch High School principal.
Superintendent Vince Colaluca said that as a first-time superintendent, the ability to draw on Ritchie’s knowledge has been invaluable.
“His contribution has been endless,” he said. “He’s been a mentor to me ... and a stable force in our district.”
Many people think serving on a school board is an easy job, Ritchie said, but there are always new problems to address. He said it’s challenging, but it’s an honor to serve.
“It’s only as good as you make it,” Ritchie said. “If you hang in there and do what you’re supposed to be doing, I think it’s rewarding.”
A major achievement was building the football stadium. Ritchie said the school district involved the community and several different people in the process.
“I think that was a big plus,” he said. “That way it was their stadium, and they were the people that really got it together.”
Ritchie said realizing the vision of a consolidated campus for Austintown schools was another major achievement. It was met with some resistance because people like having their own neighborhood schools, he said, but it helped with busing expenses, among other things. The school district had been discussing the concept since the late ’90s.
The real challenge, according to Ritchie, has been finances and declining state funding. The school district hasn’t passed an operating levy since 1996. The board has been able to get by through obtaining grants and moving money around, but he said it’s still a daily issue.
“You’re never sure what kind of expenses you’re going to have,” Ritchie said. “That we’ve been able to stay competitive and stay afloat ... that’s an A-plus for us.”
Going forward, he said he thinks competition from charter schools will continue to present a challenge.
At the Jan. 11 meeting of the board of education, Morgan donated $2,000 to honor Ritchie by establishing the Dr. David Ritchie Legacy Foundation. Board of education President Alex Benyo matched Morgan’s donation.
Colaluca said they will be fundraising throughout the year with the ultimate goal of setting up a scholarship in Ritchie’s name (donations can be made by contacting the treasurer). More immediate impacts will include renaming the board of education offices after Ritchie.
They had to put things in place without asking for Ritchie’s permission, Colaluca said, because if they had asked him, he would have said no.
Ritchie said he was taken aback when the announcement was made at the meeting. He said he was honored, but a lot of other people also deserve to be honored.
“I’m not there looking for pats on the back,” he said. “I just want to see the schools do well and the students do well.”
He’s been attempting to do that for 50 years. When asked how much longer that will be the case, the 79-year-old demurred.
“That would be something that I would have to evaluate each and every year,” he said. “But if somebody would show me that there’s somebody that’s going to do a better job, I’m out tomorrow.”