Youngstown distress commission expects to hire CEO by June 7

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission expects to select a school district chief executive officer by June 7.

Brian Benyo, chairman, acknowledged it’s a tight time line that’s outlined in the Youngstown Plan, state legislation approved last summer that calls for a CEO for the school district that has struggled with academic troubles for years.

“We want to honor the time line, but we’re not going to hire the wrong person for the sake of the time line,” he said this afternoon.

The commission will enlist the Mahoning County Educational Service Center to conduct the CEO search, which will be national.

Members also considered hiring a search firm to do the work, but Benyo listed the cost and the need for quick turnaround as drawbacks to that approach. To retain a search firm, the commission would have to advertise for requests for proposals, review the proposals and select a firm before the search would even start.

The CEO will have broad authority in the management and operation of the school district, including hiring and firing administrators, reopening collective bargaining agreements and closing failing schools or turning them over to charter or other outside operators.

Although the law says that the CEO need not have an educational background, Benyo said the majority of the panel prefers someone who does.

Read more about the situation and what happens after the hiring in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.