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Youngstown school board rebukes academic panel, Supt. Hathorn
YOUNGSTOWN
School board members strongly criticized the academic distress commission that makes final decisions for the district and Superintendent Connie Hathorn for ignoring their advice and for the lack of improvements in the school system.
The criticism, ongoing for quite a while, took a turn Friday with some school board members saying they want to hire an attorney to determine whether the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission is complying with state law.
School board member Jacqueline Adair, who raised the issue of an attorney, said of the commission: “I don’t like the way they’ve been treating us.”
Board member Michael Murphy said the district doesn’t have the money to fight the commission in court. But Jerome Williams, another board member, said, “I think we can spend the money. It’s wise money to spend if we’re helping the kids.”
Adair added that she didn’t want to use the money for a lawsuit but to receive legal advice about the power of the commission.
“I agree we need an attorney to explain the law and what can be done,” added board member Marcia Haire-Ellis.
The commission was appointed in 2010 after the school district failed to meet adequate yearly progress for four consecutive years on the state report card.
Until Youngstown can meet those goals for four straight years, the commission will remain. The district has yet to meet those goals for even one year.
Regarding the commission, Adair sarcastically said, “Your expertise hasn’t gotten us further. After four years, we are still in the same place. What has the commission gotten us?”
The board members specifically said the commission overturns a number of their decisions and are supposed to discuss issues with them, but doesn’t.
“They’re supposed to assist the board,” Williams said. “Instead, they’ve taken over the district.”
The commission has final say under state law, board members acknowledge. But they said the commission ignores the board.
Adair described the situation as “an academic rat hole.”
The criticism comes about a week after Richard Ross, state superintendent of public instruction, told The Vindicator that he was “disappointed with the lack of progress” in the Youngstown school district, and asked the community to step forward and help.
“Whether it be the school board, the administration or staff or the academic distress commission, the bottom line is they haven’t gotten done what needs to get done,” Ross said last week.
Also last week, a team of reviewers hired by the Ohio Department of Education reported that Youngstown school board members “do not have an understanding of their roles and responsibilities,” and recommended training so the members knew what they should actually do.
At Friday’s meeting, some board members openly criticized Hathorn, who was in attendance.
Board Vice President Brenda Kimble told Hathorn that it was “hard for us to work with you,” and that the superintendent says the district should work “as a team, but you’re not doing that. We can’t trust you as superintendent because you don’t work with us.”
Williams added: “Dr. Hathorn, you want us to fail.”
Hathorn didn’t say anything of consequence in response, except to dispute a statement Kimble said about him “running to commission.”
Also Friday, officials with the NAACP’s Youngstown unit criticized Ross, the commission and Hathorn at a news conference.
George Freeman Jr., chairman of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s education committee, said Ross’ statement about the community stepping forward is an “attempt to transfer his legal responsibility under [state law] to the general public.”
Freeman said Ross, Hathorn and the commission should “have developed an academic recovery plan, implemented it, succeeded and the commission should have already ceased to exist,” as is required under state law.
Hathorn pointed out that the commission created such a plan shortly after it formed in 2010 and has updated it annually with this year’s plan close to being finished.