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ACTION requests meeting with school board
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
A religious-based community group wants the city school board to participate in a community meeting about the future of the city school district with the pending departure of Superintendent Connie Hathorn.
“We want the school board to be more accountable,” said Rose Carter, executive director and lead organizer of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods. “One of the things, they did not work real well with Dr. Hathorn.”
ACTION sent a letter last week to the board, inviting it to a parent and community meeting May 21 at the main branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County “to discuss the path forward and answer questions from parents and members of our Youngstown community.”
Hathorn, superintendent since 2011, submitted his resignation earlier this month, effective June 30. He will become superintendent of Watson Chapel Schools in Pine Bluff, Ark.
“We want more cohesiveness” among the board, the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission, parents and the community, Carter said.
ACTION also wants the board to exercise its rights.
“They’re not working together, and unless they work together, we’re not going to be able to continue with our schools,” Carter said. “We’re not bashing the school board. We want to work with them and see what their views are.”
Brenda Kimble, school board president, said she’s open to a meeting — it’s just a matter of scheduling.
“I’d like to have every board member there, or at least the majority,” she said.
Kimble said she’s waiting to hear from other board members about their availability.
Carter said the organization doesn’t believe the school board should look outside of the district to fill the superintendent job.
“We don’t feel they should try in someone new to try to start all over again,” she said. “Doug [Hiscox, deputy superintendent for academic affairs] is there. He knows what’s going on. He’s very close to Dr. Hathorn. To bring in someone new, I don’t think would be beneficial to our students, No. 1.”
Hiscox is noncommittal.
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I believe that there are a lot of other interested groups that need to weigh in and formulate a process to select the next superintendent,” he said.
Carter believes Hathorn served the district well.
“I feel that he’s done a great job. I don’t feel he got the total cooperation that he needed” from the administration, she said. “We’re sorry to see him leave, but that’s his choice. I don’t think we should start over.”
The format proposed for the meeting in the letter is to have a third-party facilitator lead the discussion of questions from parents and community members addressing the best practices and areas of progress, areas that need improvement or corrective action, counter measures that need to be considered to overcome obstacles to improvement, areas of school operation that need to be curtailed or stopped — and the strategy and vision of the Youngstown Board of Education for the future of the school district and the tactics, resources and timeline needed to accomplish that strategy.
The letter is signed by Carter, the Rev. Dr. M. Rosie Taylor, ACTION president; and Carl James, leader of the organization’s Education Task Force.