Winning hearts and minds in Youngstown isn't easy

As the November election clearly demonstrated, voter distrust runs deep when it comes to the Youngstown City School District. With 11,769 residents of the school district saying no to a 9.5-mill operating levy -- 9,571 voted yes -- the question that now confronts board members, Superintendent Wendy Webb and other stakeholders is this: "What will it take to win the hearts and minds of the majority?"
The answer needs to be found sooner rather than later because the state Financial Planning and Supervision Commission overseeing the district's recovery from fiscal emergency status has directed the school board to place another tax levy on this November's ballot.
The size of the levy will depend on what the state auditor certifies as the operating deficit for the next school year. Superintendent Webb and her staff have been working with a 12 million estimate, but Roger Nehls, state commission chairman, says the number will be higher based on preliminary reports.
Thus, the school board and the administration have already been given their marching orders: Reduce spending by at least 8.95 million for the next school year.
Academic rating
But will such action, along with all the other cost-saving measures already in place, and with an improvement in the district's academic rating, be enough? If the election were held today, we'd have to say no. Remember, last year the district had implemented 8.5 million in staff cuts and other reductions and had announced an additional 14 million in similar reductions for the next two years. Additionally, improvements in the academic rating and in attendance and graduation rates were evident.
Yet, a majority of the Youngstown voters who went to the polls in November weren't swayed. That's troubling.
We support Dr. Webb's desire to have an independent survey of parents and others in the community to assess their perceptions and issues before launching the tax levy campaign.
"We owe it to the community to hear their voice," she said last week.
By the same token, the community needs to hear an independent voice. We would suggest that Nehls and other members of the state Financial Planning and Supervision Commission join school board members and administrators when they go out into district to campaign for the levy to lend credibility to the arguments being made.
The voters need to hear clearly what's in store for the Youngstown City School District if the tax issue is defeated in November.
As it is, the budget cuts Webb and her staff are contemplating for the next school year will mean an elimination of 80 teachers and eight administrators, along with a reduction in such things as the cost of utilities.
It is also important to point out that employees who are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the crafts union have agreed to wage freezes and to pick up a share of their health insurance premiums.
The district is currently negotiating with the teachers union.
District residents will be watching closely to discern whether shared sacrifice is, indeed, the order of the day.
Passage of the levy will depend on how successful the system is at winning the hearts and minds of increasingly cynical residents.