YOUNGSTOWN — A formal contract that will outline Justin Jennings’ compensation and duties as the next Youngstown City School District superintendent is expected to be written and signed within the next 30 days, according to a resolution approved by the board of education on a 4-to-3 vote.

School district Chief Executive Officer Jennings, who was appointed by a state academic oversight commission, is now expected to become the district’s next superintendent on Aug. 1 and to serve through June 30, 2027, according to the resolution approved Wednesday.

“The superintendent contract will indicate, among other things, that the (state) department of education shall continue compensating Mr. Jennings under the terms of his CEO contract until the board affirms it will begin and continue to compensate Mr. Jennings under the terms of his employment contract as superintendent.”

The state will pay Jennings as long as the district is operating under an academic improvement plan assembled last year at the state’s direction. This could take three years, or longer.

Jennings will begin working as the interim superintendent July 1 through July 31, at which time he will become the superintendent, according to the resolution. He is now paid $190,000 annually.

Tuesday’s resolution to hire Jennings supersedes a resolution approved in December that the district would hire the Ohio School Boards Association to begin a national search for a superintendent. The school district never made a formal request to hire the OSBA to do a search.

School board President Tiffany Patterson said no one should have been surprised the board would discuss hiring Jennings during this week’s board of education meeting, as it was a topic of discussion in a January meeting.

“We agreed to bring it back up at that time,” Patterson said.

The resolution to hire Jennings was identical to a resolution approved by the East Cleveland Board of Education when that board hired its CEO to become its superintendent, according to Patterson.

“The resolution was brought to us by our district attorneys,” she said.

Patterson said she will call a meeting with the board and school district attorneys to determine what should be in the superintendent contract. A date for the meeting has not been set.

Board member Brenda Kimble said the board went into executive session for about a half hour before board members emerged for a formal vote on hiring Jennings.

“We did not have a meeting to discuss the possible hiring of Mr. Jennings,” Kimble said. “There was nothing in the board’s agenda that indicated this meeting would discuss the hiring of the superintendent, so the public was not given an opportunity to voice its concerns.”

She questioned the reason why the resolution provided a contract through the 2027 school year when board members do not know the financial condition of the district over that time period. “We still have not had a performance audit done,” Kimble said.

Board member Kenneth Donaldson voted to hire Jennings as superintendent because he said he feels the school district needs stability.

“Once we are stable, as far as leadership, we can move in a positive direction,” Donaldson said. “You can’t grow any organization without stable, structured and accountable leadership.”

Although the resolution has the board hiring Jennings through July 2027, Donaldson noted that it is not a formal contract, so that time period could be adjusted.

“What I would like is the contract to have clear objectives to what the board expects from the superintendent,” Donaldson said.

Board member Tina Cvetkovich said she voted against hiring Jennings not because of anything personal against him, but because of the process used.