State Sen. Michael Rullie, R-Salem, is encouraging the public to call, write and email to the governor's office to make sure he supports legislation that would eliminate Academic Distress Commissions throughout the state. Rulli, a former school board member for eight years, believes in local control.

YOUNGSTOWN — Some local leaders reiterated their support Monday for efforts to eliminate academic distress commissions and restore local control to school districts in Youngstown, Lorain and East Cleveland.

Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown, and state Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, during a news conference, said they would like to see the elimination of the commissions by the same April 1 deadline that is set for completion of state EdChoice legislation.

Although the bulk of the legislation being discussed by the Senate’s education committee is focused on the future of the EdChoice voucher program, language in the current proposal also would eliminate the commissions and state control.

“Getting this done as quickly as possible will allow the school districts now under ADC the opportunity to restore local control and begin moving the districts forward,” Lepore-Hagan said. “We’re asking the governor and the Senate to support legislation that will eliminate academic distress commissions.”

Rulli added: “If the governor gets 400 to 500 calls and emails about eliminating academic distress commissions, he is going to react.”

The first-term senator said he is contacting his colleagues in Lorain and East Cleveland to encourage their constituents to also bombard the governor’s office with calls and emails.

Youngstown schools are under the supervision of a chief executive officer who reports to the Youngstown Academic Distress Commission. The arrangement came about after years of inadequate academic performance in Youngstown and the other districts and other state action to try and solve the problem

STALLED

Lepore-Hagan and Rulli are pushing for the Senate to approve House Bill 154, which was approved by the Ohio House in May 2019, but has not gotten out of a Senate committee.

“House Republicans and Democrats worked collaboratively and swiftly on a bill that would save our kids in Youngstown, East Cleveland and Lorain,” Lepore-Hagan said.

The goal was to end these commissions, she continued. But hearings on the bill in the Ohio Senate Education Committee have stalled since late September.

In the meantime, the Ohio House recently included an amendment to Senate Bill 89, which now is scheduled to be taken up in conference committee.

“The House has passed two bills that would effectively eliminate the distress commissions, but they have not passed the Ohio Senate,” Lepore-Hagan said.

SB 89 would not only eliminate distress commissions across the state but prevent the start of any new ones until after 2024.

She said she hopes they may be able to get traction for the elimination of the commissions now because some high-profile school districts, including Columbus and Dayton, are at risk of being taken over by the state based on current regulations.

AFTERWARD

The legislators emphasized that members of the board of education, the Youngstown Education Association and others have been discussing what to do if the distress commission and the chief executive officer positions are eliminated.

Lepore-Hagan said the legislation has a school transformation board that would work with the locally elected school board to develop plans for individual schools and districts.

“The local school boards will be able to control the direction of the school district,” she said. “There will be turnaround teams to help the school districts that were under ADCs.”

The Rev. Kenneth Simon of New Bethel Baptist Church, who attended the news conference, said the school district has seen no improvement in its academics since the state took over. “The “F” grades the district has received over the last 10 years were while the district was under the ADC,” he said. “They eliminated programs that were beginning to work.”

He added: “Prior to the implementation of the Youngstown Plan, HB 70, the district had more than a surplus of $23 million. Three years later, the district was nearing a deficit because of the unchecked decisions of this model and no accountability.”

School board member Ronald Shadd added: “We are spending less on education programs than before we were placed under ADC. … Currently, the district spent more than $4 million in legal expenses during a three-year period under the ADC.”

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