Colaluca interviewed for Mentor job

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

Austintown schools Superintendent Vince Colaluca is being considered for superintendent of another Northeast Ohio school district.

Austintown schools confirmed that Colaluca interviewed for the superintendent position at Mentor Public Schools.

Colaluca told The Vindicator it was a personal matter, and he had yet to make a decision.

Alex Benyo, president of the Austintown Board of Education, said Colaluca is an exceptional superintendent, and the district is always at risk losing exceptional employees to larger districts.

Colaluca kept the board informed, Benyo said, and the board will adapt if it needs to.

“He’s always had a strong team under him, and it’s our job to deal with what we have to deal with,” Benyo said.

Mentor Superintendent Matthew Miller will be leaving the district in mid-June, according to the News-Herald newspaper.

The Lake County district has about 7,800 students. Austintown has about 4,800 students.

Colaluca received a three-year contract extension from the Austintown Board of Education at December’s meeting, which expires in August 2020.

The extension passed on a 4-1 vote despite a petition against the renewal which received 2,000 signatures.

The Mentor job could provide Colaluca with a raise. His current salary is $111,189 while the Mentor superintendent receives $155,000.

Colaluca came to Austintown as a mentor for new employees in 2007. He was hired as superintendent in 2009 on a three-year contract. Before that, Colaluca had been the director of curriculum. In 2012, he entered into a five-year contract that was set to expire this August. Then the board granted him the three-year extension.