Youngstown teachers protesting BOE president's distress commission choice

YOUNGSTOWN

The appointment by the city school board president to the academic distress commission is drawing the ire of the teachers union.

Brenda Kimble, school board president, announced Friday that she had appointed Carol Staten, a part-time administrator and retired principal, to the commission.

The commission is the panel that will appoint a state-paid chief executive officer to manage and operate the city schools.

The law says that the school board president’s appointment is to be a district teacher.

Paula Valentini, a spokeswoman for the Youngstown Education Association, the teachers union, said the group isn’t happy with Kimble’s pick.

“Carol Staten was a very respected administrator in our district,” she said. “She retired and was rehired and substitutes in various schools as an administrator and perhaps at times as a teacher. She is not a current teacher in the Youngstown City Schools.”

Kimble is aware that the teachers were disappointed that they had only one seat on the commission, Valentini said.

“Larry Ellis, who is our union president, did send her names of teachers in the district who would be willing to serve on that committee,” she said. “He did not receive a response from Mrs. Kimble. We’re very disappointed that with the wealth of excellent teachers in this district, Mrs. Kimble would choose to select somebody who is not currently an educator in the Youngstown City Schools.”

Read more about the situation in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.