School board training will address team building

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Training for city school board members, Superintendent Connie Hathorn and other members of the administration will address team and consensus building and parliamentary procedures.

The Youngstown City Schools Academic Distress Commission approved two resolutions at a meeting Thursday detailing the training, which is a requirement of the updated Academic Recovery Plan for the city school district. The updated plan was adopted by the commission earlier this month. It awaits approval by Richard Ross, state superintendent of public instruction, before it’s final.

The cost of the training is not to exceed $5,000 and will be led by Mark Freeman, a former superintendent of the Shaker Heights School District.

Besides group training, Freeman also plans to meet with individual school board members, said Joffrey Jones, commission chairman.

“He wants to hear independently from each board member what their concerns are to design the training for that,” he said.

The plan says the training is necessary “to clarify roles of the board and the professional staff and to eliminate micromanaging actions by the board because micromanaging can slow down or even upend critical decisions and actions that affect student achievement,” the draft plan says.

An August review by a panel hired by the Ohio Department of Education noted a lack of understanding among board members of their roles and responsibilities.

The commission also heard a presentation from Kevin Harris of Kevin Harris Enterprise International LLC, based in Atlanta, a consultant who offers to increase parental involvement in the schools. It was the same presentation made at the school board meeting earlier this week.

Harris, a city native and graduate of the former Woodrow Wilson High School who went on to earn a doctorate and become a school principal, said he and his company visit homes and help parents learn how to work with schools.

Jones said there’s a lot to be said for teachers and administrators making home visits, although he acknowledged the collective-bargaining agreement limits what can be required.

“Children like to see their teacher in their home,” he said.

When he taught at Kent State University, young teachers initially were intimidated to visit the homes of their students, he said. When they did it, however, they were transformed by the experience.

Betty Greene, commission member, said many teachers who are afraid to go into their students’ neighborhoods have preconceived ideas. She said it’s an issue of cultural competence.

She agreed with Jones, saying children want to see the people they see in school every day in their home.

It tells them, “‘I’m not too good to come to your home,’” Greene said.

She said groups such as the Parent Student Union and the African American Achievement Coalition have been working to bolster parental involvement in the district.

“I think it just needs to involve everybody coming together and sitting down with the superintendent,” Greene said.