Staff photo / Dan Pompili Members of the Youngstown Education Association filled the cafeteria at Choffin Career and Technical Center on Tuesday, where the Youngstown Board of Education was having its regular meeting. Contract negotiations have stalled, and the union plans to hit the picket line this morning, which also is the first day of school for students.

YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown City School District Board of Education meeting Tuesday evening turned into a union rally at Choffin Career and Technical Center. The Youngstown Education Association voted Monday to strike and negotiations between the two sides have ended for now.

The meeting provided an opportunity for many voices to be heard, including those of board members, but not before YEA members expressed loud disapproval with the board and took over the meeting hall.

Earlier in the day, the YEA announced tentative plans to meet with the board at 4 p.m. for negotiations. Those talks never materialized.

At 4:30 p.m., the board called its regularly scheduled meeting to order. Immediately following roll call, board President Tiffany Patterson moved to amend the agenda to send the board into executive session following the approval of the last meeting’s minutes.

The move drew loud boos and cries of “Shame on you” and “Cowards” from the YEA members who filled the meeting space, largely clad in red “YEA Strong” T-shirts.

Board member Kenneth Donaldson addressed the crowd.

“This is hard for everyone, but we have to model how to respond to adversity as adults,” he said. “We cannot model inappropriate behavior. We’re as frustrated as you all are.”

Donaldson said a lack of communication has led to that tension.

“How do you expect us to give you all the information when we can’t talk to you?” he said.

YEA spokesman Jim Courim said union members tend to avoid having conversations with board members about the issues because “they don’t want to screw anything up.”

Donaldson told the crowd, “Everyone in this room cares about our kids.”

As the board members exited the hall for an executive session, members began chanting “YEA., YEA!”

Moments after that, music filled the hall, with members rallying to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”

Courim said he understands the concerns on both sides.

“When people are angry, emotions can take over. I think some people are worried about this becoming unprofessional,” he said. “I think members are also worried that the district will try to divide us by turning members against each other. I’m not saying they’re doing that, but some people have that concern. So we need to stay strong and stick together.”

At 5:30 p.m., the board returned to the hall and the meeting resumed with a period of public commentary. Those comments included Courim’s:

“I was wondering if the board knew that they have the power to end this. You have the power. You have the authority. You have the obligation to eliminate the language in the contract. End this now.”

The union has not explicitly stated what contract language it wants removed or altered. However, Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor referred to promotion, placement and transfer language in his remarks.

Youngstown parent Katie Wilson also took the board to task and proclaimed her solidarity with the union.

“My children will not be crossing the picket lines and will not be participating in remote learning, as that is no different than crossing the picket lines,” she said amid a lengthy statement.

After public commentary, board members spoke about the negotiations and the strike.

Donaldson said the board made multiple offers to the YEA, including a 60-day extension and an agreement to meet twice per week during that time. He said the board also offered a $600 cash payment to each union member as additional compensation during the extended negotiating phase.

“Just know that this board is pro-teacher,” Donaldson said.

His comment was met with loud ridicule from the crowd.

Joseph Meranto, a former teacher, said he lived under the weight of state supervision and tried to connect with the union members.

“What I see is that you’re frustrated by the way we have been treated by the State of Ohio,” he said. “Every single school takeover since 1997, it has never worked and they were all urban, highly minority districts.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t stood together,” Meranto added. “We gotta work this out. Give the superintendent a chance. Give us a chance to work together and work out these issues.”

Meranto’s appeal did not reach the audience, but fellow member Brenda Kimble received a standing ovation.

“I lived it, and I was part of giving back local control to this community,” she said. “I feel this board needs to come together and get this strike settled now.”

Batchelor spoke during and after the meeting. He said the language the union wants changed is not simply removed by a board vote.

“It is a part of the academic improvement plan that we are under,” he said. “It has nothing to do with HB 70. That language was put in place to help turn districts around. We have a plan we have to report on to the ODE and to the legislature. It actually says that that language shall not cease to exist until the Academic Distress Commission ceases to exist and the board negotiates it out.”

Courim said the abolishment of HB 70 did eliminate that commission as soon as Batchelor signed the Academic Improvement Plan, which gives the board the authority to remove the language in question.

Batchelor said the board has tried to work with YEA on making those changes.

“We’ve offered language that is similar to Austintown and Warren, districts that are higher performing than ours,” he said.

Batchelor said the board is concerned about legal conditions that could place the district back under state control if 51 percent of benchmarks are not met by 2027.

Batchelor said the district will be providing Chromebooks to all students to accommodate the remote learning plan. He said all administrators and non-union employees will be handing out the devices at all schools today.

Batchelor said meal service also will be available at East Middle School, Chaney Middle School, Wilson Elementary and Harding Elementary from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily.

Further complicating matters, the district filed a complaint with the State Employee Relations Board arguing that the union did not exhaust all potential remedies to the labor dispute and therefore the strike is illegal under Ohio law.

SERB has 72 hours to issue a determination, and Courim said teachers will be on the picket line this morning.

As Tuesday’s meeting adjourned, YEA members exited chanting “fair contract or we won’t come back.”