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Poland property owner disputes school district designation
VINDICATOR EXCLUSIVE
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
A Poland Township property owner disputes the Mahoning County auditor’s determination his property is in the Struthers City School District.
A 41-acre parcel on Clingan Road was recorded as being in the Poland Local School District until the Arthur Dean Worsencroft Trust, which owns the parcel, received a letter from county Auditor Ralph Meacham dated Oct. 31, 2016, saying the parcel had been assigned to the incorrect school district.
The auditor’s office changed the record, which now shows the property as residing in the Struthers district.
A lawsuit filed this week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said records show the parcel has been part of the Poland Local School District since at least the 1950s and “there is no reason to believe that the Worsencroft Parcel has ever been a part of a school district other than PLSD.”
The lawsuit also states the owner was never provided notice that the auditor was considering reclassifying the parcel.
Alan Wenger, an attorney representing the Worsencroft trust, said residential development on the property is underway.
“The applicable school district is a big deal,” Wenger said. “It was developed and the road put in and the planning done under the belief that it was Poland schools.”
The lawsuit claims the property owner is suffering irreparable harm because the action is causing delays and uncertainty within the development.
Wenger said there are four parcels on which the school district of record has changed from Poland to Struthers. His client owns one. There is a house on the other three parcels, and the owner of those parcels is appealing separately, Wenger said.
The lawsuit claims “the auditor is as a matter of law without authority and discretion to unilaterally transfer parcels of property between school districts.”
The change must be approved by the Ohio Department of Education, Wenger said.
The lawsuit asks the court to order Meacham to reclassify the parcel as part of Poland schools, which it says will not harm anyone because it maintains the status quo.
“I hope it can be placed back where it was,” Wenger said. “We believe this parcel has been in Poland schools as long as there have been school districts in Mahoning County.”
Meacham declined to comment because the matter is under litigation.