New school board member speaks his mind

January 26, 2016 at 8:43p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

One of the city school board’s newest members has become one of its most vocal.

Dario Hunter, elected last November as a write-in, made a motion to place a resolution on Tuesday’s meeting agenda that any board legal action — including court appeals — require a majority vote of the full board.

“I think it’s important and we need to make collective decisions,” Hunter said.

It affects the board’s credibility with the public, he said. He referred to the ongoing case of the teachers union against Brenda Kimble, board president, regarding the appointment of Carol Staten to the academic distress commission.

Kimble appointed Staten, her distant cousin, to the commission while Staten was working as a substitute principal. The teachers’ union contends the appointment should be a teacher. Under the Youngstown Plan, a new five-member academic distress commission will appoint a state-paid chief executive officer to manage and operate the city schools. Three members are appointed by the state superintendent, one by the mayor and one, a teacher, by the school board president.

Kimble said she’s always come to the board to get members’ consensus.

The majority of the board voted against Hunter’s motion to put the resolution on the agenda. Only Hunter and Jackie Adair were in favor. Kimble, Ronald Shadd, Jerome Williams, Michael Murphy and Corrine Sanderson voted against.