School board needs to refocus

School board needs to refocus

The resignation of Dr. Wendy Webb saddens me. As a former school board member I had a vested interest in hiring Dr. Webb in 2004 and in her success. She was hired mainly because of her professional credentials. Nothing has changed or altered my respect for her or her passion for our children. She wants them to believe bigger than the disbelief around them.

The board that hired Dr. Webb expressed extreme confidence in her and her well-researched recommendations on education-related issues. Maybe this board should take time to read Dr. Webb’s doctoral thesis. Dr. Webb’s ability to communicate issues to the board and to the general public is her paramount skill. Dr. Webb’s local pedigree was an added bonus.

This board has not done its due diligence. The board must give a superintendent the accountable funds, qualified personnel and all educational related material to perform the duties of the position. This board is in over its collective head and unable to root out, evaluate, analyze or solve the deep-seated cultural baggage that contribute to its collective incompetence and carelessness.

It is unfathomable that this board has failed to communicate to its educated and articulate superintendent-employee, Dr. Wendy Webb, the board’s mandated fiduciary duties that relate to the superintendent’s job description and goals.

It is and should always be the elected board of education members confronting and educating the citizen-voter-taxpayers. President Catale has abdicated his position to the Y.E.A. by not opening negotiations to consider a change in contract language to secure the additional funds provided by “Race to the Top.”

There is a commercial running these days with a company slogan, “Re-think Possible.” The Youngstown city school board should give that some thought.

Clarence Boles, Youngstown