Austintown board approves curriculum adoption, food‑service and service contracts; amends family engagement policy

The Austintown Local Schools Board of Education approved a package of contracts, an adoption of a new middle‑school English language arts curriculum and a revision to board policy at its regular meeting on April 17.

The board approved routine consent items and several district agreements recommended by Superintendent (name not specified in the transcript), including food‑service contract renewals, an Educational Service Center agreement for special‑education transportation, a Medicaid‑services agreement and a county solid‑waste partnership. The board also adopted Amplify ELA for Austintown Middle School and amended board policy 2111 to clarify how the district will engage families from specific populations.

Why it matters: the actions update contracts and curriculum used across the district and formalize the district's stated approach to family engagement. The Medicaid services contract and the curriculum adoption carry operational and budget implications for the coming school year; the policy amendment addresses how the district will balance targeted outreach with nondiscrimination.

The meeting included brief school reports and routine superintendent comments but no public comments were recorded.

Key approvals and details

- Food service contract renewals (Item 10): The board approved food‑service renewals for the 2025–26 school year listing vendors in the motion as Badg Cove North LLC doing business as Papa John's Pizza, Prairie Farms Dairy (formerly Smith Foods) for dairy products and Nichols Bakery Inc. for bakery products. The motion carried on a recorded roll call with all voting members recorded as "yes." No dollar amounts for the renewals were specified in the meeting record.

- Educational Service Center of Eastern Ohio agreement (Item 11): Approved an agreement for transportation for special‑education classroom services as presented. Outcome: approved by roll call.

- United Way of Youngstown in Mahoning Valley agreement (Item 12): Approved as presented. Outcome: approved by roll call.

- Medicaid services agreement with Julian and Group (Item 13): Approved a contract to provide Medicaid services in accordance with Ohio Administrative Code 5160‑35‑04(K)(2) for fiscal years ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027, at a cost not to exceed $2,400 per year. Outcome: approved by roll call.

- Mahoning County Solid Waste Management District agreement (Item 14): Approved an agreement between Mahoning County Board of Commissioners (Mahoning County Solid Waste Management District) and Austintown Local School District as presented. Outcome: approved by roll call.

- Resolution declaring transportation impractical (Item 15): The board adopted a resolution declaring transportation impractical for a named student listed in the record. The motion carried by roll call. The transcript does not specify the student's name or the reasons beyond the motion language.

- Adoption of Amplify ELA for Austintown Middle School (Item 16): The board voted to adopt Amplify English Language Arts for middle‑school ELA courses at Austintown Middle School. Outcome: approved by roll call.

- Board policy amendment to 2111 (Item 17): The board amended policy 2111 to add the following language (as read at the meeting): “The district shall ensure that any particular attention paid to parents who are economically disadvantaged, are disabled, have limited English proficiency, have limited literacy, or of any racial or ethnic minority background does not result in any disfavoring of other families who are not part of these groups. This line is meant only to ensure that engagement is appropriate for all families.” The board discussed the amendment only as presented and approved it by roll call.

Other meeting notes

- School reports: Kathy Barbish (AES) delivered updates about end‑of‑year testing, upcoming concerts, spring sports, field trips and events at Austintown Elementary School (AES), Austintown Middle School (AMS) and Fitch (Fitch High School). She noted a recent visit by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to Fitch on April 3, during which students practiced voting on real machines. Lauren McNally presented a certificate of recognition from the Ohio House of Representatives to AES.

- Personnel and recognition: The board welcomed new math teacher Matthew Kidd and offered retirement congratulations to Christopher Burney (retiring staff member as read in the record). Superintendent comments welcomed new staff and praised district accomplishments, including AES's recognition by the governor.

- Community partnerships: The board approved a Story Trail partnership with Austintown Township Park and the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning Valley; the story trail will be installed soon in the park and come to Austintown Elementary in late August. Stories will rotate every four to six weeks.

- Next meeting: The board scheduled its next public meeting for May 15, 2025, with a work session at 4 p.m. and a board meeting at 5 p.m. in the AMS cafeteria.

Votes at a glance (recorded roll calls)

All recorded items listed in this report were approved on roll call with the following board members recorded as voting "yes" for the items: Missus Mach (presiding), Missus Mock (name variant in record), Missus Smrek, Mister Markham, Mister Porter and Mister Sherwood. The transcript records unanimous "yes" votes for each listed item; no "no," "abstain" or "recused" votes are recorded in the meeting transcript.

No public comments were recorded.

Source material for this article consists of the board meeting transcript of Austintown Local Schools Board of Education, April 17, 2025.