Youngstown school board awaits training schedule from state

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

Youngstown

The president of the city school board expects to learn more today about when training for school board members will begin as required in the updated academic recovery plan.

The plan, which still must be approved by Richard Ross, state superintendent of public instruction, to become final, was developed by the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission, the panel charged with guiding the district out of academic difficulty.

The updated plan outlines goals, priorities and strategies for academic improvement in the district.

One of the priorities is leadership and governance.

“Create trust and a sense of cooperation between the board of education and the administration of the YCSD,” the plan says. “The current conflict between the board and the district administration is counterproductive to the goal of improving academic performance of the children within the district. Creating trust and cooperation will require new ways of doing business and changes in communications practices between the board, the district and the commission.”

One of the strategies it lists is the arrangement of training sessions for the school board “in an effort to clarify roles of the board and the professional staff and to eliminate micro-managing actions by the board.”

The training will be arranged by the commission and paid by district funds.

Richard Atkinson, school board president, said at today’s regular school board meeting that he planned to talk today with Joffrey Jones, commission chairman, about the training.

“I’d like to know what they feel we need training on and why,” said Brenda Kimble, board vice president.

Read the complete story in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.