The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Leaders respond to commission appointments.
Lorain City School District enters a phase of state control under House Bill 70 never before experienced in Ohio.
Youngstown City Schools progressed through academic distress through appointment of a second academic distress commission and a chief executive officer, but not under the new law.
“This is uncharted territory,” said Lorain School Board President Tim Williams. “It’s very different from Youngstown.
“My expectation is the commission has a lot of work to do,” Williams said. “The sooner those folks get their bearings straight the better. We know school starts in August.”
A next step is for Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria to appoint a chair of the new commission, which consists of four people with strong local ties: Patricia O’Brien, executive director of The Stocker Foundation; Anthony Richardson, program officer of The Nord Family foundation; John Monteleone, assistant superintendent of Oberlin City Schools; and Dorinda Hall, academic instructional coach at Lorain Schools.
A fifth member of the commission, Dr. Michele Soliz, is assistant vice president of student success and inclusion at the University of Toledo.
Williams said he talked with three stakeholder groups, interviewed from 17-20 people for the position, and asked the school board for consensus before he selected Hall, with Steve Cawthon as an alternate.
Williams said he searched for professionalism, exceptional teaching skills, very high integrity, strong family ties, and mental toughness for handling the strain of representing other teachers and at the same time raising the academic achievements in the district.
“They may not have been at an academic distress commission meeting, but they have been in this district for a good number of years,” Williams said.
Lorain Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Graham said the teacher appointed to the commission is caught in an unusual situation.
“You have to be a strong person,” Graham said, “supporting and communicating with everybody else. We needed to find people who transcend the politics. The same applies with the community appointment. There are pressures coming from everywhere.”
Williams said he was looking at “top tier folks” during the interviews.
“You can’t be one-or-twostrength deep,” Williams said. “There were some exceptionally gifted individuals on the list. I think Tony Richardson brings a dynamic to the commission that is unique.”
Graham and Williams say they feel like education officials in Columbus heard a plea for collaboration and for appointment of local commission members.
“For me it was the feeling that we are being understood,” Williams said. “We thought they were listening. From what we’re seeing right now, they were listening. It’s multiple things, such as the way all the commissioners were announced together. They have appointed people who are communityengaged people. All these things are indicators we are in a collaborative relationship.”
The commissioners serve as volunteers. The new commission will build on four years of work from the previous commission, Graham said.
“We will get a chief executive officer with all the responsibilities of a superintendent and a school board have been placed in the hands of the CEO,” Graham said. “I think we have a very effective and communicative board.”
“The way we’re approaching it is our board will be engaged in leadership and governance as prescribed by our community,” Williams said. “Our role as leaders in our community and advocates for the children isn’t going to change. We are committed to that task without reservation.”
Graham said the school board is unique in its approach to leadership.
“They’re unselfish,” Graham said. “If they believe in something, it doesn’t matter how hard you yell at them, they do what they believe to be right.”