YOUNGSTOWN — A vocal critic of of the state-mandated chief executive officer model of leadership that was imposed upon Youngstown City School District in 2016 is now the board of education’s president.

Ronald Shadd, 45, said he will strive to work with CEO Justin Jennings in the repair and transition of the district, so it can eventually return to local control, with the school board and superintendent working together to improve operations.

“There is a meeting already scheduled with Jennings, the chair of the Academic Distress Commission (John Richard), and myself,” Shadd said.

Jennings said he is fine with having meetings with the school board president, as long as the sessions are substantive.

“I reached out to Mr. Shadd when I learned he was named the board president,” Jennings said. “He emailed Dr. Richard and myself, saying he would like to meet with us once a month.”

Jennings said he met with former school board president Brenda Kimble periodically and invites board members to his monthly CEO updates to keep them informed on what is being done in the district.

“I want to work my way out of a job,” Jennings said of his CEO position. “Then, if they choose, I want them to consider me for the superintendent’s position.”

Jennings said he would like to collaborate with the school board in looking at restructuring in the model of traditional superintendent and school board, as well as curriculum.

Shadd, a board member since 2014, was elected its president after Kimble decided not to run for another term. Shadd was the only person who sought the seat in January.

Kimble is Shadd’s mother.

BACK IN BUILDINGS

Shadd would like to see the district’s children back in the school buildings to receive their education. But he does not want their return to be forced by a schedule dictated by anything other than conditions that ensure the health and safety of all people in the buildings and those with whom they contact.

Gov. Mike DeWine would like Ohio students returned to their buildings by March 1. The governor did not specify whether the schools should be open five days a week or through some type of hybrid program, where students are in their buildings two to three days and learning online on the other days.

There are more than 334,000 people working in PK-12 th grade schools across the state, according to Ohio Department of Education statistics.

School districts across the state are expected to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines in February. The vaccines will be available to teachers, administrators and other staff members, including substitute teachers.

“They should not return to school until all our school employees are vaccinated and there are sufficient vaccinations in the the community that make it safe,” Shadd said. “COVID-19 has hit African-American and minority communities especially hard. The majority of our students are from these communities.

“Although some say the virus has not been spreading among students, they go home to their parents and grandparents.”

There are 1,350 employees in the Youngstown City School District who will be eligible to receive vaccinations once an official program is established, according to schools spokeswoman Denise Dick.

The district does not have a firm plan for the distribution, but will be working with the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.

“We await additional direction and guidance from the state,” she said. “We would like to have the vaccines administered at our YOUCare Quickmed clinics at East and Chaney high schools, but whether that will be permitted isn’t certain.”

Youngstown students did not return to the buildings after schools closed last March, and Jennings has not announced plans for bringing students back into the district. He has concerns about the amount and availability of vaccines.

RECENT HISTORY

Shadd became involved in the Youngstown schools in 2010 when he was working with Neo Healthforce in doing career pathway training. He was working with various school districts throughout the area in encouraging them to consider post secondary education in the medical field.

“At the time, I was getting response from every school district but Youngstown,” he said.

He worked to help get the 2012 school levy passed and then a year later decided to run for a school board seat.

“When I first joined the board (2014), the district definitely was having its troubles,” Shadd said. “The state already had come in because we were in academic distress, but the district was governed by local elected officials. We were making improvements every year.”

House Bill 70 is legislation approved in 2015 that created the rules allowing the state to take over failing school districts, putting chief executive officers in place to operate them with little input from elected school board members.

Only three Ohio school districts — East Cleveland, Lorain and Youngstown — have been assigned CEOs under the legislation.

“There has not been any academic improvement since this model was introduced,” Shadd maintained. “One person should not have sole decision-making authority over educational institutions. Even at universities there are boards that provide some level of oversight.”

The school board filed suit against the state over the implementation of HB 70, which ended in the Supreme Court. That suit was settled in 2020 by the court in favor of the state.

From 2016 through 2018 the school district spent $343,292.24 in legal fees in connection with the board’s fight against HB 70. In 2018, however, Krish Mohip, the district’s previous CEO, signed a resolution stating the district would no longer pay legal fees to fight HB 70. This was based on a Franklin County judge’s decision to deny a permanent injunction against the state and other defendants. The law firm has since submitted bills regarding HB 70 to the school district totaling $51,637.73.

Although the board lost its court fights, Shadd said the board’s efforts should not be seen as failures.

“We were able to keep them fiscally accountable,” he said. “We brought issues to the community, including that the district had a deficit; programs that were taken away, including foreign language and STEM; and the hiring of administrators that earned more than $100,000 per year.”

Shadd said the board’s legal attempts brought to attention to the weaknesses of HB 70, and led to the moratorium that prevented 14 school districts from being placed under CEO leadership.

“We worked collaboratively with our local state representative and senator to end HB 70,” he said. “It was good for those other districts that were not placed under the CEO system.”

Shadd said some of the changes made due to the pandemic, including providing students with technology, internet connectivity and opportunities to do remote learning, should be maintained even after the pandemic ends.

The board will have a retreat Feb. 6-7 to outline its goals for the next year, including issues of student achievement, parental engagement, financial stability, racial justice and management of district facilities.

It will have a parent meeting on Feb. 16.

“Now, more than ever, parents are involved in their childrens’ education,” Shadd said. “We have to engage parents and make sure we provide meaningful information they can use.”

rsmith@tribtoday.com