School board, Council talk student security

School and city leaders have begun talking about security in Lorain City Schools, and the conversation will continue, said Mayor Chase Ritenauer.

Since the start of the school year school board members, the school administration and the community at large have been abuzz with reports of fights at Lorain High School and the disciplinary process for all grades.

On Oct. 1, Lorain school board member Tim Williams and Ritenauer described the start of a continuing summit on school security. They talked about the school at meetings of the Lorain City School board and Lorain City Council, held separately but on the same night.

On Sept. 28, school and city leaders convened with Lorain police Chief Cel Rivera to discuss the situation. The meeting included Lorain school CEO David Hardy and representatives of the police department, school board, Academic Distress Commission and City Council.

“It was a very intense meeting, it was very informative,” Williams said. It offered historic context about times when Lorain saw an escalation in violence and years when police had no calls for response, he said.

“We talked about the need that if there’s any need to work cooperatively, it’s around this piece,” Williams said. “I think they heard loud and clear the board’s emphatic response to issues of safety.

“So I think the response, whether - I don’t know what the motivation was but I think it was clearly non-negotiable, unavoidable, we have to work together on this,” he said.

At Council, city resident Rhoda Lee spoke about the issues of violence and found strong agreement from the city’s governing board.

Lee asked the city legislators to create an action plan to address violence in the city. Ritenauer said Lorain has not so much a plan but “just certain things that need to be done.”

“What has gone at the schools in the past few weeks, as been reported, is unacceptable, there’s no other word to describe it,” Ritenauer said.

Lorain’s crime overall is down in 2018 compared to last year, Ritenauer said, citing estimate from Rivera.

But the school issue must be addressed, Ritenauer said.

“I felt that, and still feel that, regardless of the politics of House Bill 70, safety is absolutely paramount,” Ritenauer said. “No other issue really in my opinion rises to that and it really should transcend any of the issues that are going on.”

The mayor referred to the Ohio law that governs the process for governance of Lorain schools while in the state’s “academic distress” rating.

Councilwomen Pamela Carter, JoAnne Moon, Mary Springowski and Councilmen Angel Arroyo Jr. and Joe Koziura all weighed in.

“When you have a child and they come to you and tell you they’re afraid of school, and they’re normally not afraid, that’s an issue,” Carter said.

She noted other city schools have issues with students fighting. Koziura agreed with Lee that parents should take responsibility for their children and the schools take a rap for bad parenting. Springowski noted some parents are struggling with needs and could benefit from a mentoring program to help them.

Lee also suggested strong police enforcement of a city curfew for young people.