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Academic commission hears of progress
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown Academic Distress Commission on Tuesday heard presentations from school leaders about district progress in response to an Ohio Department of Education review.
Clairie Huff-Franklin, Ohio Department of Education Academic Distress Commissions & Education Reform director, last June presented the ODE review, conducted in the district March 19-23, 2018.
Challenges and recommendations for the school district included a lack of communication to all stakeholders about progress, inconsistent educational evaluations, elementary school leadership teams without improvement plans, a lack of shared accountability, the selection of “instructional resources not aligned to Ohio’s Learning Standards” and support systems not fully implemented.
During the YADC’s quarterly meeting, the presentations included recommendations to address the district’s challenges and their impact.
District spokeswoman Denise Dick discussed how the district has developed a communication plan. This plan includes incorporating video into social media. The goal for social media was to grow followers of each site by at least 10 percent this school year, or 10 percent more followers by the end of this school year (2018-19) than there were in late summer 2018.
Other recommendations are work on improvement plans, streamlining educational evaluations, aligning building improvement plans with district plans, improving professional development and ensuring consistent messages regarding expectations.
Another aspect was highlighted by Christine Sawicki, chief academic officer, who said the district is working heavily on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. Without the right behaviors, Sawicki said, you can’t expect the grades to go up.
Although the YADC appreciated the data shown during the meeting, YADC member Maria Hoffmaster said, “We don’t want a cemetery of data, but we want the impact of that data, too.”
The next ODE review will be March 18-21.
In other business, the YADC chose members Nick Santucci and Benjamin McGee to be on the financial advisory committee. The role of the committee is to assure Youngstown City Schools have appropriate fiscal resources. Board of education member Tina Cvetkovich was also selected for the committee, which is advisory in nature. Santucci is chairman of the committee.
Citizens have yet to be chosen for the committee, but those interested should contact Santucci at nick@regionalchamber.com or 330-744-2131, ext. 1103.
The committee’s duties include: reviewing the annual state audit, reviewing the five-year forecast, reviewing the revenue and expenditures for the district, ensuring best financial practices and reporting back to the YADC.