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Youngstown school board wants meeting restriction lifted
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Limiting the number of meetings for which city school board members get paid denigrates them by “allowing the inference that board member conduct is motivated by receipt of statutory compensation rather than the interests of the district,” a letter from the school board’s attorney says.
The March 4 letter from Atty. Ted Roberts, who represents the school board, to Michael Fisher, an assistant attorney general who represents the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission, asks that the restriction be rescinded.
That appears unlikely.
In a March 19 response, Fisher says the restriction doesn’t limit the number of unpaid board meetings and that the commission has the authority to establish a budget for the district and approve district appropriations and expenditures.
Last fall, an updated Academic Recovery Plan written by the commission and approved by Richard Ross, state superintendent of public instruction, limited to two the number of monthly meetings for which city school board members would be paid.
Members are paid $125 per member per meeting attended. The board conducts two regular meetings per month, but special meetings were a frequent occurrence last year. Before the commission’s action, there was no limit to the number of meetings for which members were paid.
Roberts also wrote in his letter that the commission didn’t consult the board on expenditures. Board training, which also was required by the recovery plan, cost about $5,000 — the amount paid to a consultant — so the amount saved by the meeting restriction was miniscule when compared to district expenditures, the letter says.
The commission’s restriction on the number of paid board meetings is therefore viewed as “an attempt to restrict the voice of the board, the duly elected representatives of the citizens of the district,” Roberts wrote.
Fisher’s letter says the commission’s action “not only preserves the district’s budgetary resources related to board compensation, but it also preserves the resources spent by the administrative staff in preparing for, and attending the additional meetings that often last three to four hours.”
Roberts’ letter acknowledges that Joffrey Jones, commission chairman, has improved communication with the board but says the board still has concerns: The commission should work on collaborative efforts with the board. The board president or a member should be included in all commission executive sessions and to attend the weekly telephone conference among the commission chairman and representatives from the school district and the Ohio Department of Education. The commission’s meeting agenda also should include an item for input from the school board.
Those suggestions were rejected, too.
The commission will continue to seek board input on the district’s academic recovery, Fisher’s letter says. Recent commission meetings have included follow-up sessions among Jones and school board President Brenda Kimble, two additional board members, Superintendent Connie Hathorn and ODE representatives.
The board president has on occasion been invited to commission executive sessions, too, Fisher’s letter said.
“However, the commission chairman does not wish to open the weekly phone conference with the administration and ODE to additional personnel,” it said.
Regarding board input on the commission agenda, the assistant AG wrote that anyone who wants to be heard on any commission matter can do so during the panel’s public comment portion.
Kimble said she didn’t expect everything requested in the letter to be granted, but she wanted to open the lines of communication between the commission and the school board.
The commission is supposed to assist the school board, she said, but the recently updated academic plan excludes the board from some decisions, the board president said.
“There are two bodies sharing governance over our Youngstown City School District,” she said.
Since she’s been on the board, however, she said there’s been a lack of communication from the commission.
“This is not just about compensation. That’s just a small part of my concerns,” Kimble said. “It’s about not having any input on what happens with our district.”
The academic plan, for example, gives authority for hiring school-district administrators to the commission rather than the school board.
“It’s the district’s hope and my hope that the commission will cease to exist,” she said, referring to its dissolution when the district meets academic goals. “The commission is a temporary board in the district and will be gone one day. Board members are long-standing members of the community.”
The board will be charged with continuing to run the district when the commission dissolves, Kimble said.
She said she believes that Jones is open to communication and has called her in recent weeks, discussing school business and requesting her input.
“I think he’s working with us,” Kimble said. “It’s going to take time to get to where we need to be, but it’s worth continuing the line of communication.”