Tue, Nov 10 2009
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Published June 25, 2008 06:35 pm - To grasp how pervasive low-wages and poverty are in Ashtabula, take a look at the state report cards for the buildings in the Ashtabula Area City School District. School statistics reflect low wages Nearly 92 percent of students at Thurgood Marshall classified as ‘economically disadvantaged’ By CARL E. FEATHER - Lifestyle Editor - cfeather@starbeacon.com Star Beacon To grasp how pervasive low-wages and poverty are in Ashtabula, take a look at the state report cards for the buildings in the Ashtabula Area City School District.
The cards include an “economically disadvantaged” percentage for each school. The figure is based upon the number of students receiving free or reduced-rate lunches, says Patrick Colucci, who administers the district’s federal aid programs. A child from a family of four is eligible to receive free lunches if the family’s total income is equal to or less than $26,845. The child qualifies for reduced-rate lunches if the income is $38,203 or less. The former figure translates into $12.90 an hour, the latter to $18.36. Both are higher than what many of the manufacturing, retail and hospitality jobs pay in this area. Indeed, the former figure is higher than per capita income in Ashtabula County. It’s little surprise, therefore, that districtwide, 61 percent of Ashtabula City Schools students are classified as “economically disadvantaged.” At Thurgood Marshall Elementary School at least 91.8 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced-rate lunches. The burden on the educators is staggering, says Joseph Donatone, district superintendent. “There is absolutely a difference with regard to the socio-economic level of the student and the way in which we educate them,” says Donatone, who has the unique perspective of having worked for both the county’s wealthiest and poorest districts. “In Ashtabula Area City Schools, because it is a low-wealth district, we must provide more resources in terms of personnel and dollars on intervention.” The district receives about $7 million annually from state and federal sources to help students overcome the roadblocks to learning that accompany them to school every day. That is almost 20 percent of the district’s $36 million annual budget, $22 million of which comes from outside the city. “We get a lot of money because of the low socio-economic level of these students,” Donatone says. Like her counterpart in Ashtabula, Mary Zappitelli, superintendent of Conneaut Area City Schools, deals with the double-edged sword of overseeing a district where more than 50 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged. The district receives $655,000 annually in poverty-based assistance (PBA), which is used to fund the all-day kindergarten program. Zappitelli feels the money is best spent giving the youngest students a good start on their 13 years of public education. “Poverty does create its own set of issues, and we need to help overcome those issues when (disadvantaged students) get into the school system,” Zappitelli says. No administrator wants to get caught stereotyping financially disadvantaged students, yet the realities are undeniable because of the tremendous stress low wages place on family life. It takes a certain amount of money to raise a family, and when that amount is not in the paycheck at the end of the week, it has to made up somehow. For many low-income families, it’s a sacrifice of time — a second or third job — that must be made. “It doesn’t make you a bad parent,” Zappitelli says. “It makes you a parent who is trying to keep a roof over your child’s head.” Without parental involvement and/ or the money to purchase educational materials for the home, youngsters come to school ill-prepared to learn. “These kids come with a lot of baggage,” Donatone says. Although much of it falls outside “education,” districts with a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students first must address the students’ physical and emotional issues if instruction is to be effective. 
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