Youngstown schools distress panel aims to engage community in new plan
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
The newly constituted Youngstown schools academic- distress commission has begun to devise a new plan to dig the district out of academic difficulty, setting late February as a target date for plan completion.
Commission members adopted provisions during a meeting Thursday at the Chaney Campus, aimed at raising community engagement.
The Raymond John Wean Foundation wrote a letter to the commission, offering its help in that effort.
“Such an effort recognizes the legitimate voice of parents, families, students, teachers, administrators, businesses, the faith-based community and other stakeholders, and builds ownership for a long-lasting set of working relationships to engender greater success for an academic-improvement plan,” the letter said.
The foundation offered to provide funding for a community-engagement endeavor, and suggested the Harwood Institute of Bethesda, Md., to facilitate it.
The community-engagement process is to focus on “increasing community expectations and aspirations for high achievement by all students,” according to the action adopted by the panel.
Also as part of the process, the school district will identify new partners to work with the district to raise student achievement.
Commission Chairwoman Adrienne O’Neill said that at a meeting last November, Stan Heffner, state superintendent of public instruction — who by law appoints three of the five commission members — said he expects the panel to have a new plan in place for the school district by late February.
The school board president appoints the other two members. Heffner is expected to make another appointment after Richard Ross’ resignation this week. Heffner appointed Ross, along with O’Neill and Michael Garvey of M7 Technologies, last November, replacing the three appointees of the previous state superintendent. When Ross, who was chairman, resigned, Heffner moved O’Neill, president of Stark Education Partners, into the chairwoman spot.
The academic-distress commission, put in place in 2010 after the district failed to meet adequate yearly progress for four consecutive school years, is Ohio’s first and only such commission. By law, it will remain in place until either the district earns a report card designation of continuous improvement for two consecutive years or the state superintendent determines the commission is no longer necessary. The district was designated academic watch on the most recent state report card, one step below continuous improvement and a step above academic emergency.