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Academic commission terminates Chaney principal again
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
The contract for the former principal at Chaney High School has been terminated — again.
The Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission OK’d a resolution Thursday terminating Sharon Butler’s contract. The city school board last week had rescinded its earlier termination of her contract, saying there were some “timing issues.”
Superintendent Connie Hathorn had recommended Butler’s contract not be renewed last May, citing performance. Both the school board and the commission at that time approved the nonrenewal. Butler was principal at Chaney for a year and had served as an assistant principal for a year before that.
The resolution approved by the commission says that panel isn’t required to comply with portions of Ohio law that dictate the schedules required for termination of school personnel.
That law requires that an administrator be provided with a copy of his or her evaluation at least 60 days before any action by the board on the employee’s contract of employment.
“We advised the board that they should rescind [Butler’s nonrenewal] and probably let the commission do it” since the commission isn’t required to comply with that code section, said Joffrey Jones, commission chairman.
Richard Atkinson, school board president, asked which entity would be sued if Butler decides to file a lawsuit.
“I don’t know who would be sued,” said Atty. Michael T. Fisher of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, who represents the commission. “The commission took the action, not the board. I don’t represent the board.”
The commission passed two more resolutions related to action taken by the school board last week.
One was to hire John T. McMahan, former Southington schools superintendent, as the new principal at Taft Elementary School. School board members narrowly rejected McMahan, who was recommended by Hathorn, for the job last week. He will earn $75,219 this school year.
The other directs the school district to accept $97,374 donated by four organizations and foundations to help pay for the continued work of the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations. The remainder of the funding will be paid with district Title I funds, the resolution directs.
Last week, the school board tabled a resolution to accept the funding for the Quaglia work until they heard a report about the group’s work in the district.
Jackie Adair, school board member, said the board wasn’t planning to reject the money. Members just wanted a report of Quaglia’s work.
“We’ll have spent almost $1 million in three years,” she said.
The Ohio Department of Education paid for the company’s work for the first two years. This marks the first year the district had to find the funds to pay for it.
This will be the third and final year the Maine-based company has worked in the district.
Jones also asked Doug Hiscox, deputy superintendent for academic affairs, to forward to board and commission members an annual report from Quaglia regarding its work in the schools.
A Quaglia representative also will attend the commission’s Aug. 28 meeting to give a report, Hiscox said.
In other business, the commission heard about the inclusion goals for the district. This year, the district is launching a co-teaching initiative plan.
The district began inclusion — including special-education students in the same classrooms with general-education students — many years ago, but several self-contained classrooms remain throughout the district.
The district plans to increase the number of students receiving inclusion services and decrease the number of self-contained classrooms.