Youngstown board OKs pact

The superintendent said she expects to make a statement with the union about a new contract.

By D.A. WILKINSON

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Board of Education approved a new three-year contract with its teachers Tuesday — but wouldn’t release any information about it.

Dr. Wendy Webb, the district’s superintendent, said she would not comment until the contract went to the state Financial Planning and Supervision Commission, which oversees the district’s finances.

Webb said the commission will meet Sept. 13.

The pact, as approved by the school board and teachers, is retroactive to July 1 of this year.

The superintendent said that sending the contract first to the commission has been the practice in the past.

Members of the Youngstown Education Association approved the proposal Monday.

Webb said she anticipated that she and YEA officials would make a joint announcement about the contract.

The school board’s unanimous vote came after the district has eliminated 250 jobs and cut spending by $17 million in the past two years.

Seeking levy

The school board plans to seek approval in November of a 9.5-mill, five-year levy that would generate about $4.3 million a year. Voters turned the same issue down in November 2006.

The district had a $15 million debt in this past school year.

If the levy is approved, the district would spend about $104 million a year and have expenses of abut $112 million. The proposed levy would cover about half the annual debt, leaving the district to cut about $4 million annually.

School board member Lock Beachum told district Treasurer Carolyn Funk he wanted a plan, in writing.

“Right now, we need a plan,” Beachum said.

Funk said she would prepare one, but Beachum stressed that he wanted a plan that showed the district’s finances if the levy passes or fails.

In other action, board President Mike Write said the board would form a committee to get comments about naming schools.

The William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society wants a school named for educator William Holmes McGuffey. Another group wants to see a school named after civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King.

wilkinson@vindy.com