Youngstown schools commission to be led by Brilex chief

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The state superintendent named a city businessman to lead the Youngstown City Schools Academic Distress Commission.

Richard Ross appointed Brian Benyo, president of Brilex Industries, as commission chairman Friday.

Benyo, of Berlin Center, also is a member of the Western Reserve School Board and founding member of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition.

“I am honored to serve as the commission’s chairperson,” Benyo said in a news release. “I think I speak for the entire commission when I say we are eager to get on with the work required to help turn around Youngstown City Schools. It’s going to require a commitment by everyone in our community to work together to create and carry out a strong plan. Our children, their future and our city’s future [are] at stake.”

The new commission’s first meeting will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the city school administration building, 20 W. Wood St.

Benyo’s appointment as chairman starts the clock ticking, allowing 60 days for the panel to select a chief executive officer to manage and operate the city schools. The CEO, who will be state-paid and have broad authority, will devise a plan to turn around the school district.

For years, the district has struggled with low student test scores and declining enrollment.

The new commission, which replaces the one established in 2010, came out of the Youngstown Plan, a law approved in June by both houses of the state Legislature and signed into law in July by Gov. John Kasich.

The law has drawn much criticism by the city school board, teachers union, community leaders and some Mahoning Valley legislators who contend they were left out of discussions regarding its development.

The school board and employee unions filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court last August seeking to have the law declared invalid and unconstitutional.

The commission will include five members – although appointment of one remains in dispute.

Besides Benyo, Ross appointed Laura Meeks, retired president of Eastern Gateway Community College; and Jennifer Roller, president of the Raymond John Wean Foundation; and Mayor John A. McNally appointed Barbara Brothers, retired dean of Youngstown State University’s former College of Liberal Arts.

The president of the city school board also gets one appointment with the requirement that the appointee be a city schools teacher.

Brenda Kimble, board president, named Carol Staten, a retired school principal who works as a substitute principal, to the post.

Earlier this week, Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court granted a temporary restraining order, requested by the teachers union, to halt Staten’s appointment.

The Youngstown Education Association, the union representing city schools teachers, argues the seat should go to an active classroom teacher.

A hearing on the union’s request for a permanent injunction is set for Dec. 14.