YOUNGSTOWN — The city board of education’s three-member House Bill 70 committee conducted a special meeting to outline a series of strategies it plans to use at a major conference later this year to state how it feels House Bill 70 has impacted the school district.

During a one-hour virtual session Saturday morning, board members Ronald Shadd, Brenda Kimble and Tina Cvetkovich brainstormed and discussed key topics related to the controversial legislation they hope to address at the annual Ohio School Boards Association’s 2021 Capital Conference and Trade Show, set for Nov. 7 to 9 in Columbus.

The timing of Saturday’s session was vital because Monday is the deadline for the district to submit proposals to be considered for breakout sessions at the conference, Kimble explained.

After being introduced in February 2015, HB70, known as the Youngstown Plan, led to state takeover of failing school districts. One of the provisions allowed for a state-mandated chief executive officer to assume complete academic, instructional and managerial control of distressed districts, with little input from elected school boards.

The other school districts under CEO leadership are East Cleveland and Lorain.

“You can’t take away a community’s efforts to solve its own problems. That’s what this bill does,” said Shadd, board president.

In addition, little academic improvement has been realized in the last five years under the model, which also provides no accountability and oversight, Shadd said. He also compared HB70 to Ohio Senate Bill 5, which was repealed largely because of a campaign by many police, firefighters, teachers and other union members who were convinced it would have limited collective bargaining for Ohio’s public employees.

Other key topics likely to be dissected at the OSBA gathering regarding HB70 include what the committee sees as the district’s troubled history under the legislation and the need for greater local and statewide advocacy among districts. Also included will be discussion about the lawsuit the Youngstown Board of Education filed in August 2015 in response to HB70’s passage and to prevent it from taking effect. The suit was settled last year after a 5-2 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that favored the state.

Despite the defeat, the litigation highlighted HB70’s weaknesses and resulted in a moratorium that saved 14 other districts from being under CEO control, Shadd continued.

Shadd said district programs that have been gained and lost will be brought up at the conference, along with labor rights and contracts, voters’ rights, graduation rates, parents’ knowledge of the district’s operations, the impact unilateral control has had on the schools and the expansion of executive positions for those who earn $100,000 a year or more.

Before HB70’s implementation, many programs were in place such as two reading programs that were removed after the legislation took effect, said Cvetkovich, board vice president.

The committee also hopes to address certain positive outcomes under HB70, such as the importance it has demonstrated for working in a bipartisan manner, as well as a greater focus on needed improvements in the district, they said.

Shadd also said he is working with CEO Justin Jennings in the district’s repair and transition.

news@tribtoday.com