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Colaluca applies for position in Canton
By JUstin Dennis
AUSTINTOWN
Schools Superintendent Vincent Colaluca has applied for the superintendent position at Canton City Schools, Canton school officials confirmed Tuesday.
“I’m looking at options for me and my family. It’s a personal thing,” Colaluca told The Vindicator.
Colaluca’s contract with Austintown School District expires in August 2020, and he expects to “continue to work with the board,” he said.
Lisa Reicosky, Canton City Schools communications coordinator, said, however, the district’s current interim superintendent is set to leave in July, and board members “want to bring in someone immediately.”
Canton school board members are reviewing 29 applicants and expect to make a decision at a May 20 board meeting, she said.
“They would probably come on-board when they’re available,” Reicosky said.
Colaluca has been district superintendent since 2009.
Austintown school board President Don Sherwood said the board renewed Colaluca’s contract for three years in 2016. Colaluca’s current annual salary, $120,814, is contractually increased each year, he said.
“I would venture a guess that all 29 applicants are employed somewhere right now. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Sherwood said, adding he spoke with Colaluca on Tuesday and informed the board of his application.
In 2017, Colaluca was in the running to lead Mentor Public Schools, but that school board rejected his application in May of that year, walking back an announcement that he would take the superintendent role.
At the time, Colaluca blamed it on a vocal group of detractors in the Austintown community, some of whom urged the Mentor board to pass him over. An online petition to keep the Austintown board from extending his contract gained more than 2,000 signatures.
Also in the applicant pool for Canton City Schools superintendent is Kenya Mandeldove-Sadler, deputy chief of transformation for Youngstown City School District, Reicosky confirmed.