Youngstown school board can’t justify a boost in pay

In the fall of 2014, the then Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission issued an appropriate and necessary edict: School board members will be paid for only two meetings a month.

The state superintendent of public instruction at the time, Dr. Richard Ross, endorsed the decision.

Needless to say, members of the board weren’t happy about losing the goose that had laid golden eggs for so long. They’re paid $125 a meeting.

At the time the commission acted, the seven-member school board had racked up a whopping $30,000-plus tab for 36 regular and special meetings in fiscal year 2014. The irony is that the more often the board met, the worse the district got academically and financially.

From 2006 to 2011, the urban school system was under state-declared fiscal emergency. Then in 2011, the state again stepped in – this time to place Youngstown in academic emergency.

The emergency gave rise to creation of the academic distress commission. Under state law, the commission had significant control over the operation of the district, which caused great consternation among school board members.

The restriction on the number of paid meetings was the straw that broke the crippled board’s back.

From an outsider’s perspective, the edict was appropriate given that the members had very little decision- making authority and yet were participating in numerous paid meetings. In other words, they were fattening their wallets with taxpayer dollars for doing virtually nothing of importance.

And, the limit on compensation was necessary because the district still was facing an uncertain economic future.

Unfortunately, the restriction on the number of paid meetings is no longer in effect. The distress commission was disbanded last year after a new state law was enacted that created the Youngstown Plan.

Under the plan, developed by a group of Mahoning Valley business and community leaders, passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and signed into law by GOP Gov. John Kasich, a new five-member academic commission has been created. That resulted in the original commission being disbanded.

The centerpiece of the Youngstown Plan is appointment of a chief executive officer by the new commission. The CEO will have total authority over the district – and will be paid by the state of Ohio.

In other words, a new academic and fiscal era will dawn in Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN PLAN DELAY

Much to our regret and chagrin, a legal battle over the appointment of one member of the five-member commission has put the brakes on the plan.

The four already on board are: Brian Benyo, the chairman, president of Brilex Industries; Dr. Laura Meeks, retired president of Eastern Gateway Community College; Jennifer Roller, president of the Raymond John Wean Foundation; and Dr. Barbara Brothers, retired Youngstown State University dean.

Benyo, Meeks and Roller were appointed by Ross, the former state superintendent of public instruction. Brothers was named by Youngstown Mayor John McNally.

The president of the Youngstown Board of Education names the fifth member, who must be a teacher. And therein lies the problem.

President Brenda Kimble named Carol Staten, a retired teacher and now an administrator in the school district, to the position. Kimble and Staten are related.

The union representing the teachers has gone to court to block the appointment, saying Staten is not now a teacher.

A Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge found in favor of the union, but he also prohibited the four members of the commission from meeting.

Kimble appealed the ruling, and the case is now before the 7th District Court of Appeals.

Thus, the current board of education is in charge and members are now free to meet as often as they want – and get paid for those unnecessary sessions.

The unvarnished truth about the board not earning its keep comes from someone who should know. Member Jackie Adair had this to say about the $125 a meeting the members rake in: “We don’t do anything at board meetings. We get nothing done except entertain students and pass superintendent recommendations. We get paid for doing nothing.”

Given that reality, we believe the only hope for the troubled school district is implementation of the Youngstown Plan. The appeals court should act expeditiously.