5 finalists picked for Youngstown schools chief

By Denise Dick

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The list of people being considered for the next city schools superintendent is down to five.

Members of a search committee culled the list of 31 applicants to five finalists recommended to the school board: Pamela Brown, assistant to the deputy superintendent, School District of Philadelphia; Christina Dinklocker, deputy superintendent, Parma City Schools; Timothy Dortch, director, Kent City Schools; Connie Hathorn, executive director, Akron City Schools; and Thomas Robey, superintendent, Campbell City Schools.

“They’ll be coming in for interviews Aug. 25, 30, 31 and Sept. 1,” said Anthony Catale, school board president.

In addition to interviews with the school board, the finalists will meet with Superintendent Wendy Webb and her administrative team, tour school facilities and be interviewed by members of the Academic Distress Commission, Catale said.

Forums allowing members of the public to meet the prospects also are planned as part of the visits.

Webb, superintendent of the roughly 6,800-student district since 2004, is retiring at year’s end.

A special board meeting is expected early next month at which board members will make a decision.

Two of the finalists talked of a desire to bring collaboration to the district.

Dinklocker is in her eighth year with the 12,700-student Parma district. She’s served as deputy superintendent or assistant superintendent in five districts.

Dinklocker said that if selected, she would bring three things to the job.

“First is respect for the past,” she said. “No matter how complicated things get in a district, there are many, many good things that are happening in the schools.”

The second is competence for the present, Dinklocker said.

“As the deputy or assistant [superintendent] in five different districts, there isn’t too much that I haven’t seen,” she said.

“The third is a collaborative spirit to create the future,” she said.

Her expertise is academics, she said.

Of the districts where she’s served as deputy or assistant superintendent roles, four of the five have excellent ratings on their state report cards. Parma rated effective on the 2008-09 report cards.

“I know what an excellent school district is, and I know what it takes to keep it there,” Dinklocker said. “I don’t know if the other candidates can say that.”

She believes the district needs to focus on academic improvement.

“The scaffolding of academic improvement is behavior of students,” Dinklocker said.

Dortch also believes he would bring a lot to the superintendent position.

“I think fundamentally I would bring on one level, honor, integrity, hard work, commitment, trust, a sense of collaboration and participatory leadership,” Dortch said.

As far as working with the fiscal oversight and academic distress commissions in place in the city, he said he would first want to talk with those who devised the academic recovery plan as well as those involved with the financial commission to get a sense of their ideas for making the recommendations reality.

“Once I understand the nuances of the plans, I would be in a position to help bring about effective growth for students as well as financial stability,” Dortch said.

He’s worked at the 3,800-student Kent school district for 14 years. That district earned a continuous improvement status on the 2008-09 school report card.

Robey declined to answer specific questions, preferring to leave that for his interviews with board members.

“It is my privilege and honor to be considered for the Youngstown superintendent vacancy,” he said. “I look forward to sharing my thoughts with the board and other respective groups regarding the improvement of educational opportunities of the student of Youngstown City Schools.”

Campbell, with nearly 1,300 students, received an excellent rating on its most recent report card.

Brown and Hathorn couldn’t be reached.