Youngstown board seeks input from the public

July 10, 2010 at 12:06a.m.

By HAROLD GWIN

YOUNGSTOWN

The city school board will have a series of meetings Thursday asking staff, students and the public to help identify issues facing the district as it searches for a new superintendent.

Wendy Webb is retiring Dec. 31, and the board, with the assistance of the Ohio School Boards Association, is conducting a national search for a successor.

The OSBA will conduct a preliminary screening of applicants for the district, and then an 18- to 21- member search committee appointed by the school board will narrow the list to a group of finalists.

Those finalists will be invited to the community to participate in public community forums, and then the school board will begin the task of making a selection.

The goal is to have the new superintendent on board sometime in August to work with Webb over the first several months of school.

“We are asking stakeholders of the Youngstown City School District to help identify the major issues facing our district in the next three to five years, their expectations of the new superintendent and what personal and professional qualifications are important,” said Anthony Catale, school board president.

The information will be valuable to the board in its development of a candidate profile and throughout the search, he said.

All of Thursday’s meetings will be in the second-floor board room of the Irene L. Ward Building, 20 W. Wood St.

The sessions will begin with district teachers at 1 p.m., followed by administrators at 2 p.m. The classified staff will meet at 3 p.m. and the superintendent search committee gathers at 4 p.m.

Students and parents are invited to a 4:45 p.m. session, and members of the community are invited to a 5:30 p.m. meeting.

The meetings are expected to run about 45 minutes each.

Webb has served the district for 35 years, holding the position of superintendent since 2004. She will be leaving with about seven months left on her $122,500-a-year contract.

She announced her retirement in May, saying she was giving the board early notice so it will have adequate time to conduct a thorough search for the next superintendent, and she promised to assist in making the transition a smooth one.

“I think it’s a good time,” she said of her decision, noting the district has a new academic recovery plan in place and is recovering from financial emergency.