YOUNGSTOWN — Joseph S. Meranto, a former Youngstown City School District superintendent, now will serve as a Youngstown Board of Education member.

In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the school board selected the Youngstown resident to fill the role.

Meranto has 50 years of experience working in education, and he spent 18 of those working in the city school district. He served for five years as the Youngstown district’s superintendent before retiring in 2021.

Meranto will begin his term immediately.

“I’ll be someone that is a listener to teachers and all the front-line people doing the work every day,” Meranto said. “Youngstown has been given a bad rap lately, and they know I’ll be someone that has their back, but also holds them accountable.”

If he is interested in continuing to serve on the board, he must run for the seat in the November 2023 general election.

Board members Tiffany Patterson, president; Juanita Walker, vice president; Brenda Kimble; Kenneth Donaldson; and Tina Cvetkovich attended the meeting. Jerome Williams was absent.

WHY NOW

The vacancy came about with the resignation of Dawn Turnage in September after she accepted a position as the assistant parks and recreation director in Columbus.

Appointed in 2018 by Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, Turnage also served as the city’s parks and recreation director before resigning from that position earlier this year.

After the decision Patterson said while all the candidates were good, the board felt Meranto’s background wouldn’t call for much transition into the role.

“He was here when we were under state control, so he understands the process and what it takes for us to meet the benchmarks required to succeed,” said Patterson.

Several of the candidates for the vacant seat filtered in and out of the common area of Choffin Career and Technical Center as they waited to be escorted into a 15-minute interview with the board members during an executive session.

After three hours interviewing 11 candidates, board members selected Meranto. Tuesday’s decision came just nine days shy of the Oct. 13 deadline to fill the position.

A ‘CALLING’

When Meranto announced his retirement last year, he said the best way to help teachers improve is to speak with and support teachers, principals and building staff working day to day with children.

“I knew when I was 9 years old I wanted to be a teacher,” Meranto said. “It has been my calling. I learned from my dad that people should do whatever they can to help people. It is what I saw him doing all of his life.”

The Youngstown native grew up attending local Catholic schools — St. Anthony and Ursuline High School — and received all of his higher education at Youngstown State University. Meranto’s first teaching job was at St. Anthony. He remained within Catholic schools for the next 32 years.