YOUNGSTOWN

While he has issues with the law that requires him to appoint a new five-member Youngstown school board, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said he’s prepared to carry out the responsibility.

Brown said he’s meeting Friday in Columbus with Gov. Mike DeWine and members of his administration to talk about the process.

“Whether I like it or not, it’s here,” Brown said Wednesday. “âI like local control and I like people to elect their members. But I’ll serve to the best of my ability. We have to do something. Is this the right something? I guess we’re going to try.”

Under House Bill 70, referred to as the Youngstown Plan and signed into law in 2015, academically failing school districts were taken over by the state. Youngstown was the first, followed later by East Cleveland and Lorain. The state passed a moratorium in July on having other poor-performing school districts lose local control.

HB 70 also calls for school districts under state control to dissolve their school boards if they don’t get an overall grade on the state report card of C or higher in the fourth year after three failing years. Youngstown last week received an overall F grade for the fourth straight year. That will eliminate the existing elected seven-member school board effective Jan. 1.

The law calls for the mayor to appoint a five-member board to replace it.

Read MORE in Thursday’s VINDICATOR Edition of the Tribune Chronicle.