City school board candidates target finances, academics

Student behavior and cultural diversity also are listed as priorities.

By Harold Gwin

YOUNGSTOWN — Faltering academics and financial instability are key issues on the minds of the five candidates in the November race for the Youngstown Board of Education.

Three are incumbents.

Youngstown has been under state-mandated fiscal emergency since November 2006, and the district slipped back into academic emergency — the lowest academic rating — on its 2009 state report card, which measures student achievement.

The district needs to do whatever it takes to get out of academic emergency and meet the state educational standards, said Lock P. Beachum Sr., who is seeking a fourth term on the board. The district needs its superintendent to show strong leadership, he said, calling for governance with accountability.

Youngstown needs to get out of academic emergency within one year, he said, adding that he believes the superintendent has the tools to make that happen. If that goal isn’t met, the board needs to look at what the superintendent has done and, if board criteria hasn’t been met, take steps to address the issue, he said.

There is a need to make sure there are effective teachers in the classrooms and that education in Youngstown is designed to meet the state academic standards, he said, adding that a state Academic Distress Commission due to come to Youngstown later this month should help toward that end.

Jacqueline Taylor, who is seeking a third term on the board, said she favors implementing an improvement process that effectively uses student performance data to make decisions, close the achievement gap and engage the community — all while efficiently managing finances.

She said she is committed to providing the resources needed to improve teaching and learning opportunities and to holding the superintendent accountable for developing effective principal leadership and administrators.

Taylor said she sees a lot of “micromanaging” on the part of the school board. The board needs to understand its role and the role of the superintendent and then work together in a common direction to achieve district goals, she said.

The state has identified the fact that not all of Youngstown’s curricula being taught in classrooms are in line with the state standards, and that’s an issue that needs to be corrected, she said.

Improving academics and fiscal accountability are the top items on the list of Dominic Modarelli, who is seeking a second term on the board.

Test scores must be raised to get the district out of academic emergency, he said, and the board needs to be able to assure the taxpayers that it will be able to stay out of the red based on past and pending spending cuts it has made.

The district has predicted it could end this fiscal year in the black, a first since being placed in fiscal emergency.

Modarelli said there is also a need to promote cultural diversity in both the schools and the community. Restoring the city schools’ reputation and competitiveness in athletics is also a reason he seeks re-election, he said.

Andrea Mahone, who hasn’t sought public office before, said finances and academics are key issues to be addressed but that she would also like to continue the Increase the Peace movement launched several years ago to decrease violence.

Youngstown needs school board members who like the city schools and have a heart of compassion to build the district and not tear it apart, she said.

Mahone proposes the creation of in-school committees of students to judge their peers in disciplinary matters and the creation of special-interest projects to help retain students.

Principals could remove the top 10 disruptive or ill-behaved students from the classroom and place them in in-school suspension, Mahone said. If their behavior doesn’t improve, they should be removed from the school, she said. Parental involvement might be improved by requiring the parents to attend at least one parent-teacher conference before their child is allowed to participate in activities such as field trips, she said.

Rachel Hanni, another first-time candidate, suggested that two approaches be taken with students to encourage them to achieve academically — the promise of reward and the threat of reprisal.

There are many incentives that can be offered to encourage students to improve academic performance, she said, citing the successful free Kanye West concert offered to Chicago public school students if they improved academics and school attendance rates while reducing behavioral incidents. Youngstown could do something similar, she said.

Discipline is perhaps the main distraction in the classroom, she said, suggesting that those who consistently disrupt the classroom should be removed from regular classes and taught at alternative sites.

Her top priority is to restore the reputation of the city schools, Hanni said. The only way to do that is to adequately educate students so they can perform on levels consistent with state and national averages, she said.

gwin@vindy.com

LOCK P. BEACHUM SR.*

Age: 75

Home: 915 Colby St.

Education: Master of science degree from Youngstown State University; bachelor’s degree in education from Fayetteville (N.C.) University; graduate of Burrell-Slater High School, Florence, Ala.; advanced study in education administration at Kent State University.

Employment: Retired city school administrator and teacher.

Family: Wife, Janice; a son and a daughter.

Priority: Strong leadership from the superintendent coupled with accountability; move the district out of academic emergency.

RACHEL HANNI

Age: 24

Home: 3663 Glenmere Drive.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Youngstown State University in 2009; Chaney High School graduate.

Employment: Substitute teacher in the city schools; restaurant server. Family: Single

Priority: Restore the reputation of the Youngstown city schools; improve student education so they can perform on levels consistent with state and national averages.

ANDREA MAHONE

Age: 45

Home: 309 N. Belle Vista Ave.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications from Kent State University; South High School graduate.

Employment: Community youth director for the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.

Family: Single

Priority: Continue the Increase the Peace movement; develop strategies to remove the district from financial and academic emergency.

DOMINIC MODARELLI*

Age: 38

Home: 3041 Decamp Road.

Education: Chaney High School graduate.

Employment: City of Youngstown waste- water department.

Family: No information given.

Priority: Improve academics to get out of academic emergency and fiscal accountability.

JACQUELINE TAYLOR*

Age: 58

Home: 778 Liberty Road.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics form Youngstown State University; graduate of The Rayen School.

Employment: Research economist at Youngstown State University.

Family: A son and a daughter.

Priority: School improvement while maintaining fiscal solvency.