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Webb’s future was cloudy
On the side...
Big meeting: The Mahoning County Democratic Party will meet at 6:45 p.m. June 2 at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman to elect party officers.
Those wanting to run must give Richard “Oz” Ouzounian, the party elections committee’s co-chairman, a letter of intent for the position they’re seeking as well as their address, phone number, and the signatures and addresses of five precinct committee members by noon May 26. The information can be mailed or hand-delivered to Ouzounian at 6630 Seville Drive in Canfield.
The party’s election committee will notify qualified candidates on May 28 that their letters met the requirements.
Chairman David Betras is running for re-election. Betras said he has the support of about 210 precinct committee members. There are 287 precincts with three or four of them unfilled.
The other seats up for grabs are executive vice chairman, vice chairman for labor relations, vice chairman for minority affairs, secretary and treasurer. Betras said the incumbents are seeking re-election.
It was long overdue — Wendy E. Webb is resigning as superintendent of the Youngstown school district, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
With a growing dissatisfaction in her job performance by members of the school board as well as some in the community, it was highly unlikely that Webb’s contract would be renewed when it was to expire next summer.
In Webb’s most recent evaluation, in December 2009, the school board wrote that unless specific improvements were made, her job performance “will continue to be unsatisfactory to us.”
When asked about the evaluation at the time, board President Anthony Catale said without improvements the district was prepared to “move on,” and that getting rid of Webb was “always an option.”
Of particular concern was the school district’s state designation of academic emergency.
The annual state report card had Youngstown as the only public school district in Ohio with that designation, the lowest rating given. Youngstown met only two of the state’s 30 educational standards.
The district is also in fiscal emergency.
City officials and business leaders have told me over the years that one of the biggest challenges facing Youngstown is the poor performance of the school district.
While it’s unfair to blame the school district’s epic failure on only one person, as the superintendent since November 2003, Webb was part of the problem.
National search
Catale wants the district to conduct a national search for Webb’s replacement and find someone with urban administrative experience who can move the district in the right direction.
Of course that’s what the district needs. I wish the board the best of luck in finding that person because it’s going to need it.
One of the city school district’s problems was the loss of students to community schools, Webb said.
Only hours before Webb announced her resignation, the state auditor’s office issued a scathing financial report of Eagle Heights Academy, Youngstown’s largest community school.
“Extensive fiscal mismanagement” led to more than $1 million in illegal and improper financial transactions at Eagle Heights in the fiscal year between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2007.
The most incredible discovery was the school collected $454,381 in federal income tax and Medicare withholding from its employees but never gave the money to the IRS.
It looks like the failure to pay taxes to the IRS could go back to the 2004-2005 fiscal year, and probably totals well over $1 million.
The state is closing Eagle Heights next month because of its poor academic performance.
Add poor fiscal performance — including nonexistent oversight over what appears to be criminal activity by at least one person at the school — to Eagle Heights’ embarrassing legacy.