YOUNGSTOWN Crucial schools chief vote set

Newly elected board members take their seats in January.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The four newly elected members of the Youngstown Board of Education face the possibility of not being involved in the search for a superintendent with whom they will be required to work.
A critical decision will be made by current board members Thursday, some seven weeks before new members take their seats.
Jamael Tito Brown, Kathryn Hawks Haney, Shelley Murray and Michael K. Write begin their terms in January and will make up the majority of the seven-member board.
Replaced are Terri O'Connor-Brown and vice president Geraldine Sullivan, who lost re-election bids; Clarence Boles, who has been elected to city council; and Tracey Winbush, who lost a race for city council president. They make up the current board with president Lock P. Beachum Sr., John Maluso and Jacqueline Taylor.
The group meets in special session at 6 p.m. Thursday to decide whether to appoint Assistant Superintendent Wendy Webb to the post or launch a national search.
The new superintendent will replace Benjamin L. McGee, who retires at the end of this school year to pursue a doctorate degree.
Divided views
Boles, Taylor and Winbush have said they support Webb. O'Connor-Brown and Sullivan want a national search.
Beachum has declined to comment. Maluso said he wants to discuss the matter further with other board members to further understand various positions and issues, and hopes the board will reach a "group decision."
Under a time line created by a search firm consultant, opening the process to a national search would mean that outside candidates would not be interviewed by the board until mid-January, meaning the four new board members would participate in the selection.
Write said he supports Webb because she has demonstrated a commitment, been a great asset and "has her finger on the pulse of the community."
"If on Thursday they're going to make a recommendation, I think it should be made in favor of Wendy Webb," Write said. "If there's going to be a national search, I think the current board should leave that until January and let the new folks make the decision.
"We're going to be there four years. I think it's imperative we have input on who the new person is."
Wants to keep looking
Murray isn't convinced that Webb is the right person for the job.
"We should hire the person who is the most qualified, and if Wendy Webb is that person, she'll stand up to anyone a national search would find," Murray said. "People have had problems with Ben McGee. I'm concerned, with him being her mentor, what she is going to be like."
Brown said it will be a moot point if the board selects Webb on Thursday. If she's not selected, he pointed out, she may become offended with the process. He supports looking internally first.
"It's my understanding that she has been the most qualified of the internal candidates," he said. "She met the criteria, so that was the reasoning to hire her. ... She knows the social atmosphere, she knows what we're facing as a district. I don't know why they're going for a national search."
Hawks Haney could not be reached.
Keeping options open
O'Connor-Brown and Sullivan said their election loss has not changed their opinions to pursue a national search, even if that means the choice of new superintendent is not theirs -- and even if it means they have to say no to Webb.
"I can't say I don't want Wendy Webb, but I can't say I do want her either," O'Connor-Brown said. "There are some good people out there."
When overseeing a district with a $95 million budget, "I don't think it makes sense to talk to one person and appoint them," Sullivan added.
"I think the new board needs an opportunity to talk to some people," she added.
"The new board will choose appropriately."