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State lawmaker prepares alternative plan; Youngstown board members get subpoenas
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
State Sen. Joe Schiavoni’s alternative to the Youngstown Plan would offer universal preschool for city school district residents, define quality school choice and extend the time before a failing school could be turned over to an outside operator.
Meanwhile, city school board members were subpoenaed for communication records dating from January 2013 to present as part of a lawsuit the board filed to stop the Youngstown Plan.
Under Schiavoni’s plan, free, universal pre-kindergarten would be available for all city school district residents beginning in the 2017-18 school year. The state would foot the bill.
“It would get students prepared and ready for kindergarten, addressing the poverty issue and some of those needs,” he said. “That came straight from the K-3 teachers I talked to. It would make sure every single student has access to a quality pre-K before they get to school.”
The Youngstown Plan, introduced and approved the same day in late June by both houses of the state legislature, is set to become effective beginning in mid-October.
The plan would establish a new, five-member commission that would appoint a chief executive officer to manage and operate the city schools.
That CEO, who would be paid by the state, would have broad authority to hire and fire administrators, reopen contracts and turn failing schools over to charter or other outside operators.
Shortly after its passage, the Youngstown Plan met with opposition from the school board, teachers union and members of the community.
Schiavoni of Boardman, D-33rd, began to meet with community groups and others to develop an alternative to address the district’s problems.
He, along with state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan of Youngstown, D-58th, was set to announce their plan’s provisions at a news conference next week. That event though, has been postponed.
Schiavoni said he wants to wait until after a Sept. 29 hearing in the lawsuit filed by the school district last month to stop the plan. He divulged some of his plan’s provisions this week to The Vindicator and 21 WFMJ-TV.
Another element is a definition of a quality choice. For charter schools, Schiavoni’s legislation requires an “A” from the Ohio Department of Education on the state report card for it to be considered “quality choice.”
“We want to make sure that quality choice truly means quality,” he said.
Though the Youngstown Plan requires the CEO to gather input from parents, teachers and the community, Schiavoni’s legislation goes further.
“There would be school action teams that we put in place,” he said.
“It’s not just advisory. The CEO doesn’t just have to listen to parent groups, teachers, members of the community. He would actually have to engage with action teams from every single school building. That gets to the core engagement.”
Schiavoni’s proposal would establish a community learning center at a city school. The aim of such centers would be to meet the needs of students and families which was the intent of the legislation before it was amended to become the Youngstown Plan.
The state senator’s plan also would push back from one year to two years the amount of time before a failing school could be turned over to a charter or other outside school operator.
“That would give them a good chance to develop the curriculum and develop programs and watch them work,” Schiavoni said.
The Sept. 29 hearing stems from a motion for preliminary injunction filed as part of a lawsuit filed by the school board and employee unions to stop the Youngstown Plan from taking effect.
Jackie Adair, a school board member, said she received her subpoena Thursday related to the case. It asks for any email or hard copy communication of anything related to the Youngstown Plan and district academics dating from January 2013 until the present.
Atty. Ted Roberts, who represents the school board, said they were subpoenas for records only.
“It was very broad,” he said.