Youngstown Plan disbands current board, appoints new one

By Denise Dick | September 23, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

There will be a Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission next month. It’s the membership of that commission that’s in question.

The Youngstown Plan, a law approved by the state Legislature in late June, disbands the sitting commission in mid-October and appoints a new one in its place.

If that happens, the commission’s meeting Monday afternoon would be its last. That commission, although not the same members, has been in place since 2010.

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

The school board and district employee unions, however, have filed a lawsuit to have that law ruled unconstitutional and invalid. They’ve asked a judge from Franklin County Common Pleas Court to issue a temporary injunction to stop the law from taking effect until the case can be heard on the merits and resolved.

A hearing on the motion for the preliminary injunction is set for Sept. 29 in Columbus.

“It’s been an interesting year-plus for me,” said Joffrey Jones, commission chairman since last summer.

The Rev. Kenneth Simon of New Bethel Baptist Church, a commission member since earlier this year, said he also has enjoyed his time on the panel.

If the judge grants the injunction, however, the sitting commission will remain in place and meet at 1 p.m. Oct. 29 at the school administration building.

The Rev. Mr. Simon, one of the staunchest critics of the Youngstown Plan, worries that if school officials don’t explain the district’s 10.4-mill property-tax levy properly, the Youngstown Plan is an obstacle to its passage.

He agrees that the levy, which generates about $5 million annually for school district operations needs to pass.

“We need to talk honestly about what’s happening,” Mr. Simon said. “This is a plan to end public education not improve it.”

Voters are being asked to approve a levy and pay taxes for a school system they won’t have a say in how it’s run, he said.