UPDATE | Youngstown Plan goes into effect Wednesday for city schools

COLUMBUS

A chief executive officer will be appointed to manage and operate the Youngstown City Schools after a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge denid a motion to stop the plan’s provisions from starting today.

The Youngstown School Board and its employee unions filed a lawsuit in August to have the plan declared invalid and unconstitutional. They asked the judge for an injunction to stop the law from taking effect until the merits of the case are determined.

Judge Jenifer French of Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday denied that motion, saying that attorneys for the board and unions didn’t prove their arguments.

Brenda Kimble, school board president, isn’t sure what the board’s next move will be but is disappointed in the judge’s ruling.

“Our attorneys stuck strictly to the law and for Judge Jenifer French not to give us the injunction, I would say she’s part of their plan and not part of the solution,” she said.

The plan, approved by the state legislature in late June and signed by Gov. John Kasich in early July, dissolves the academic distress commission in place in the district since 2010.

In its place, a new commission will be appointed and that new panel will appoint a CEO by December.

The new five-member commission includes three members appointed by the state superintendent of public instruction, one by the mayor and a teacher, appointed by the school board.

The CEO will have broad authority including the power to reopen contracts, hire and fire administrators and turn failing schools over to charter or other outside operators.

Richard A. Ross, state superintendent of public instruction, issued a written statement in response to the ruling:

“Having been in education for more than 40 years, there is nothing worse than seeing our boys and girls trapped in failing schools without the opportunity to achieve their dreams. I look forward to continuing to work with districts, teachers, parents and communities to give students in struggling districts the best opportunity for success.”

Read much more in Wednesday's Vindicator.