YOUNGSTOWN Leaders promote minority hiring

Minority hiring must be made a priority or it won't happen, one leader said.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Black leaders want the city school board to step up efforts to include minorities in the school district's $163.5 million building project.
"We're just asking everyone involved to do what they said they were going to do," said Willie Oliver, president of the Youngstown NAACP.
NAACP lawyer E. Winther McCroom and Ron Miller, Youngstown Area Urban League president, told school board members Tuesday they want to see evidence that the board will keep promises that 20 percent of the construction work will go to minorities and 20 percent to women.
"We see that the project is proceeding on various levels ... except we haven't got any indication for the provisions set in place for minority participation," Miller said.
"We want to see some concrete manifestation that that is happening."
Backed by NAACP: McCroom said the NAACP supported the bond levy that made the construction project possible, in part because of the school district's commitment to minority participation.
He said the district has hired a construction manager and architect, who are touring school buildings to assess renovations and construction.
"We know of no effort that you have taken on the crucial issue of complete and equal participation of the minority community," he said.
"It needs to be a very high priority, set out and pursued ... or it won't happen, and that is unacceptable," Miller said.
School officials assured McCroom and Miller that they will stand by the minority- and female-hiring pledges.
School official's view: "This board is not about to break the partnership with this community that stood 100 percent behind us in passing this levy," board president John Maluso said.
Superintendent Ben McGee said the district required a sustained effort to get the levy passed.
"We will need the continued big push to make sure these things we promised and we genuinely want to do, do occur," he said.
Voters approved a 4.4-mill tax issue in November to provide the $33.2 million local share of the project. The Ohio School Facilities Commission will provide $130.2 million.
In addition to major renovations and/or additions to 12 buildings, the building plan calls for constructing three new elementary schools and a new high school.
Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2002 and last about six years.