43
Fights, filibusters, Goal Four mark Youngstown schools meetings
YOUNGSTOWN
Gallery
Fights, filibusters and succeeding in Goal Four of CEO Krish Mohip’s Strategic Plan took up more than four hours of the Youngstown Board of Education’s meeting Tuesday night.
Board members spent three hours discussing nominees for president to no avail. They will continue in special emergency session at 5:30 p.m. today.
Board member Jerome Williams nominated Brenda Kimble.
Members Corrine Sanderson, Dario Hunter and Jackie Adair spoke for 20 minutes each as to why they believe Kimble is unfit for the position.
They all agreed by stating in their addresses: “We need change.”
“Our children have suffered too long in the academic ooze that is Youngstown City Schools,” Adair said.
Hunter blamed Kimble for The Youngstown Plan legislation, calling it “the Brenda Kimble Plan.”
The Youngstown Plan enables a chief executive officer, Mohip, to lead the district and to have a state-appointed academic distress commission to have oversight, while leaving the elected board of education in place.
Adair concurred with Hunter, saying, “This district could have been taken out of academic distress with proper leadership. It is time for a change.”
Board member Ronald Shadd, Kimble’s son, defended Kimble by saying she “stood against insurmountable odds.”
“She is the only person who has worked with the CEO to bridge the gaps,” he said. “[Kimble] even worked with Mohip for his smooth transition and collaboration with the board.”
Hunter and Adair nominated each other for the president post.
“I would help us get out of this academic rathole we’ve been in,” Adair said.
Further, she said, she would better collaborate with Mohip for better overall transparency.
“I will bring clarity of office and accountability,” she said.
In most of the time allotted for discussion about Hunter and Adair’s nominees, Sanderson, Adair and Hunter instead furthered their argument against Kimble.
A news release sent to The Vindicator shortly after the meeting explained the length of the meeting.
“Jackie Adair, Dario Hunter and Corrine Sanderson decided to take a stand. Their plan: to conduct an unprecedented filibuster of [Kimble’s] nomination for President at the Tuesday Jan. 10th reorganizational meeting,” the news release said.
Members will continue their filibuster until Kimble is no longer running for president and their fellow board members agree to pick a more reasonable consensus candidate, the release continued. Hunter said the mismanagement of the board is embarrassing, and referred to its meetings as “sideshows” with a “systemic pattern of abuse.”
Board member Williams interrupted the discussion about the nominees, saying, “I want to know, what about the kids?”
“We’ve been here for more than an hour trying to vote about a president,” he said.
“We have people saying something just to say something. How about they say something about saving our damn kids. ... Let’s move forward to saving our kids.”
Adair also said the board meetings lack a student-based goal.
“When is the last time you have heard about or read about academics being discussed at our meetings?” she asked. “You haven’t. Academics are rarely discussed.”
At one point, the conversation got so heated, Mohip had to physically step between Adair and President Pro Tem Michael Murphy.
The two were arguing about a speech Adair refused to give until all board members were present after Shadd excused himself for a bathroom break.
Mohip’s CEO Update meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., was to follow the three-hour board meeting. but Mohip said he would wait until the board completed their meeting.
“If I have to give it at 2 a.m., I’ll give it at 2 a.m.,” he said.
Kimble called attention to board members Hunter, Adair and Sanderson leaving before the CEO Update. The CEO Update provides much of the information requested by board members during their own meeting.
“This is what we call grandstanding,” she said.
During the update, Mohip announced his new hires, part of moving toward Goal Four of the Strategic Plan – to build a “world-class” workforce.
Some of the hires include: Greg Slemons as chief financial officer on a 12-month contract at an annual salary of $133,000; John Laplante as chief information officer on a 12-month contract at an annual salary of $123,000; Joe Nohra as chief of operations on a 12-month contract at an annual salary of $115,000; and Pat Lowry as director of strategic initiatives on a 12-month contract with an annual salary of $75,000.