Thurs. 10:30 pm: Vocal crowd demands new district leadership
AUSTINTOWN – Under threat of an organized campaign to vote them out of their seats, the Austintown Board of Education tabled a plan to renew the superintendent’s contract for three years at a boisterous meeting Thursday attended by hundreds.
Parents, students, district staff and even a few police officers filled the Austintown Fitch High School cafeteria and first listened to an hour-long presentation by the principals of the four schools who spoke of their achievements, followed by a presentation by assistant Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor, who defended the district’s open enrollment policy.
The bullet points did not alleviate tension in the crowd, which called for the board not to renew eight-year Superintendent Vince Colaluca’s contract for three more years, citing adverse effects from high open enrollment numbers – a program Colaluca supports in the face of recommendations made by the Ohio Auditor of State – and a culture speakers described as intimidating and without transparency.
Audience members called the powerpoint presentations “smoke and mirrors” and “propaganda.”
Read more in Friday’s Tribune Chronicle.
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