YOUNGSTOWN Schools will search for chief within the ranks

Looking internally first is a matter of managerial respect, board member says.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The board of education will consider applications from within the city district's staff before it decides whether to advertise nationally for a new superintendent.
Board members reached that consensus Tuesday evening, and a letter will be faxed conveying that decision to Marvin Edwards, a consultant with the search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & amp; Associates Ltd. of Glenview, Ill.
The board will post the position internally, and the firm will interview and evaluate internal candidates and report back to the board.
Treasurer Carolyn Funk said about five people now working for the district have superintendent's certificates that would qualify them to be considered to succeed Benjamin McGee, who will retire next summer.
"I'm very pleased that we're going to look inside first. It's a sense of managerial respect. The people in this district work very hard," board member Tracey Monroe-Winbush said after the meeting. "It doesn't make sense to bring someone from the outside in if you already have what you need."
Winbush said she thinks the board should consider appointing assistant superintendent Wendy Webb as interim superintendent for one year. "There are many options and we have to weigh them all," Winbush said.
Time frame
With 14 candidates on the November ballot for four board seats, board member Clarence Boles said he thinks the board, which now has experienced members, should expedite the process and name a new superintendent before the end of the year.
"I don't feel that it's practical to leave that decision to new individuals," Boles said.
"If it takes longer than the 90 days to find the best superintendent to serve the district and the children of this district, I think we should take as long as it takes," said board member Geraldine Sullivan.
Sullivan and Terri 'Connor-Brown are running for re-election. Boles and Winbush are not.
"My bottom line is to find the best qualified superintendent. I just want to make sure that we take the time to do the community and the children justice," said board president Lock P. Beachum Sr.
The board approved general fund appropriations totaling $102 million for fiscal year 2004, which began July 1, some $5 million higher than last year. Funk said the increase was due to salary and other operating increases.