Youngstown Schools CEO gathering input on reversing academic distress
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Youngstown schools CEO Justin Jennings is in the middle of a SWOT operation - but it's not the kind you're probably thinking of.
"We want to get information and talk through a swot analysis so the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the district," Jennings said Monday.
He's gathering input on how to move his district forward - and out from under academic distress.
"What we're really looking for is buy-in and understanding how we can get everybody to buy in," says Jennings. "We know that in order to have that change, there has to be cooperation, and we have to bring those factions together for that one common goal."
But Jennings admits doing that won't be so simple since politics and other things have gotten in the way.
House Bill 154 is still sitting in the Senate Education Committee after passing the House with broad bipartisan support.
"Every CEO is going to be different, and they're not accountable, and that's why 86 bipartisan house members voted to get rid of HB 70," said State Representative Michelle Lepore-Hagan.
She says HB 154 creates needed checks and balances in the form of restoring the elected school board, creating a transition board, and an outside vendor, along with a superintendent.
"Between the four entities, we can really start to work in collaboration and quit experimenting with our children," said Lepore-Hagan.
But Jennings is concerned the bill adds up to too many cooks in the kitchen and includes measures already being taken.
The key in his mind - informed and decisive leadership.
"People want instant oatmeal. They want to add hot water to a packet and boom; we get what we want. It didn't go down this quick, and it's not going to be fixed so quickly," Jennings said.
HB 154 contains $500,000 for each school in each failing district.
That money is earmarked and would go toward analyzing factors like social determinants and poverty, then creating a plan based on that.
But Jennings says there are already root cause analyses being done and that would simply be redundant.