YOUNGSTOWN East High name will carry on

There also was discussion that the new high school bear the Rayen name.
& lt;a href=mailto:viviano@vindy.com & gt;By JoANNE VIVIANO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Cheers and applause erupted from onlookers wearing blue and gold as the Youngstown Board of Education voted 4-to-3 to resurrect the name East High School for the school to be built on the city's East Side.
Moments later, as board President Lock P. Beachum Sr. rested his gavel to signal the end of the meeting, the crowd broke into hugs and handshakes and smiles mixed with tears.
Roughly 100 people had filled the school board meeting room Tuesday night in an effort to tout their causes. Seventeen stepped up to a podium to plead with the board, with seven asking for the East name.
Favors P. Ross Berry
Some, led by the Rev. Lewis W. Macklin II, pastor of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, had asked that the new school be named the P. Ross Berry High School in honor of the black architect who built various city structures, including the Rayen building, which now houses the school board offices, in the Civil War era and into the 1880s.
The blue-and-gold-wearing "Golden Bears," many members of the East High School Alumni Association or East High Hall of Fame, supported the East High name.
Another group, speaking out for the first time, asked the board to name the new school The Rayen School, after the current North Side high school that will be converted to a middle school. They wanted to have a high school with the Rayen name.
At the close of their comments, Beachum moved that the board adopt a resolution naming the school East High. He was seconded by board member Terri O'Connor-Brown.
Also voting for the name were Gerri Sullivan, board vice president, and board member John Maluso.
Against it
Voting against the resolution were board members Clarence Boles, Jacqueline Taylor and Tracey S.M. Winbush.
"This is an issue I had hoped would not be divisive. We couldn't even look each other in the eyes tonight," Boles said. "That's how divisive this issue has been in the community and on the board."
Some who spoke had suggested either naming another building after Berry, erecting a statue, or adding his history to the district's curriculum.
Plans for the new school are part of the district's $182.5 million facilities improvement project. Voters approved a 4.4-mill tax issue to provide the $33.2 million local project share. The state School Facilities Commission will pay the rest.
In addition to the new East High School, the district will see a new middle school and four new elementary schools, and 10 buildings be renovated.
When the project is complete, the district will have just two high schools -- East, and Chaney High School, on the West Side. The Rayen School and Woodrow Wilson High School are being converted to middle schools.
East High School is slated for a fall 2005 opening.
The Rayen Trust
Supporters of moving the Rayen name to the new school said that they wanted a legal review of the Rayen Trust, which provides scholarships, equipment and supplies for high school students. A concern is that the money would be lost if The Rayen School were not a high school.
Earlier in the meeting, O'Connor-Brown reported that the business committee she chairs had recommended the P. Ross Berry name. Other committee members are Boles and Sullivan.
O'Connor-Brown and Sullivan said they changed their minds since the committee meeting was held late last month.
"This is the most difficult decision I have had to make during my four years on the board of education, and I have not slept well," Sullivan said.
Procedure issue
Winbush said she thinks the board violated process and procedure by ignoring the recommendation of its business committee. A resolution for the P. Ross Berry name should have been rejected before another name could be considered, she said, and the committee should have met again to come up with another option.
Winbush said she is especially concerned about the Rayen Trust fund issue.
But Beachum defended his action by saying, "This was a democratic process."
Boles said he thinks the board listened to the "voice of the people" but wishes there had been more discussion.
"There's no hurry," he said. "The school won't be built until 2005."
Critical of method
The Rev. Mr. Macklin said the choice does not negate his support of the school system, but he criticized Beachum for a "ramrod" approach to having the resolution passed. He said the board "erred on the side of public pressure" and it would have been more prudent to gather further public input, especially after the Rayen Trust issue was introduced.
Further, he added, Beachum had signed a petition in July in support of the P. Ross Berry name.
"The result I can accept," Mr. Macklin said, "But justice was circumvented in terms of process."
The board, he added, could have helped start a healing process by passing an additional resolution naming the new East Side middle school after Berry.