AUSTINTOWN - Falcon Media, or ACTV, has been recording trustee meetings and community events as part of a partnership between Austintown township and the school district for more than 40 years. 

Now, that long partnership could be coming to an end.

Austintown Township Trustees will discuss cutting funding for the Austintown Local School District's student media program.

Trustees tell 21 News the Board has been paying $27,000 per year for Austintown Falcon Media to cover the Board's meetings and special events. The events and meetings recorded by Falcon Media are put on a cable TV channel, and on Youtube. 

After looking at the township’s finances, trustees are saying it is fiscally responsible to cut the funding.

“This Board of Trustees is fiscally responsible. We've been looking at every department, especially since after our police Levy. How can we stretch our tax paying dollars? How can we stretch the levies without going back to the voter, the taxpayer, and asking for more,” said Bruce Shepas, Austintown Township trustee. “We appreciate what ACTV has done, however, tough decisions have to be made.”

Robert Santos, Austintown Township trustee, agreed, saying it was not an easy decision. He said they are just trying to be good stewards of taxpayer money.

“It's $27,000 they come to about 12 of our trustee meetings, plus a few extra extracurricular activities that we host, which equates to about 15 visits, which is really we're paying them $1,800 for about an hour's worth of them coming out,” said Santos. “ We support all the education our school provides our children, and we think it's actually a great program. But when push comes to shove, we have to look at our taxpayer dollars and what it actually is being spent here at the township level.”

Trustees are already looking for cheaper alternatives for recording their meetings, like using zoom or a phone.

“We will definitely make sure our meetings are recorded for our residents. I mean, look, right now we're using Zoom. It's a free program. We can easily zoom our meetings, and we can pop it up on YouTube free of charge with help save the taxpayer dollars,” said Santos.

Shepas said he was assured by the school that the program will continue, even without their funding.

He says students in the program will still be welcome to cover township events, like the Fourth of July celebration, Christmas celebration, etc., but the township will no longer pay them for it.

In addition to township events, ACTV also covers events at school, like sports and school board meetings.

President Austintown Board of Education Kim Smrek says she understands the decision, and that the Falcon Media program will continue serving the students and school district.

Members of the board plan to discuss ways to maintain the program at a special meeting on Thursday. 

21 News also reached Superintendent Tim Kelty, who had no comment.