Austintown schools cutting district principals by 1

AUSTINTOWN

Austintown schools will reduce the number of principals in the district from 13 to 12.

Superintendent Vince Colaluca said the move is an attempt to reduce costs as the district expects 250 fewer students in the 2017-18 school year.

This year the district had three principals in the elementary school, intermediate school and middle school and four in the high school.

In the new arrangement, the elementary and intermediate schools will have only two principals. A new assistant principal of instruction and continuous improvement will serve both schools.

Colaluca said the administration took the opportunity after assistant high-school principal David Purins announced he was leaving the district.

“It’s a model we talked about years ago,” Colaluca said. “We could implement it now that we’re a little bit short with staff and students.”

The district expects 100 fewer residential students and 150 fewer open-enrollment students next year. Colaluca attributed the decline to “the small group of negative people” who have criticized the administration. He thinks those criticisms have led other parents both within and outside of the district to enroll their children elsewhere.

Read more about the situation in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.