Hathorn urges contract renewals

BOARDMAN — Youngstown’s schools superintendent will recommend that contracts for all city school principals be renewed for next year.

Connie Hathorn said at an Academic Distress Commission meeting today that it would be unfair to hold principals accountable if they haven’t been trained to provide instructional leadership.

Some principals have told consultants that they were hired to get discipline under control, and to manage the school building.

That instructional leadership training is being provided this year, he said.

“We’re going to make progress,” Hathorn said.

His comments were in response to a Vindicator article Sunday that detailed January reports from Mosaica Turnaround Partners, one of the consultants contracted to implement the district’s academic recovery plan.

The report said that while 14 principals were making progress, three were having trouble implementing improvements. The article also said that the district’s website had job postings for elementary, middle and high school principals for next school year.

Hathorn said those postings are a proactive approach in case a principal decides shortly before the start of the school year not to return.

For the complete story, read Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com