Officials to encourage ‘Unity In The Community’ Aug. 23

Lorain City Schools Board of Education members and state Rep. Joe Miller are guests at an Aug. 23 community event.

Lorain Councilman-atLarge Tony Dimacchia also repeated his call to local and state leaders to take action to return control to the district’s elected school board.

Citizens for Lorain will host “Unity In The Community,” a picnic 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Aug. 23, at St. Lad’s, 4221 Clinton Ave. in Lorain.

School board members Mark Ballard, Bill Sturgill, Yvonne Johnson, Courtney Nazario and Timothy Williams are invited to attend, along with anyone interested in Lorain Schools.

Organizer Bambi Dillon said she expects discussion about school issues, but the free event is not a formal school board meeting.

Nor is it a fundraiser for the upcoming levy campaign, Dillon said.

Instead, it is a chance for people to speak one-on-one to the school board members about issues in Lorain, she said.

“It’s for moms and dads, but if they bring their kids, that’s fine because it’s all about the kids,” Dillon said.

Miller described the event as an enjoyable opportunity for like-minded people to come together to celebrate Lorain Schools and discuss how to go forward to return local control to the community.

Miller has been an outspoken critic of House Bill 70, the state law governing how struggling school districts deal with the Ohio Department of Education’s academic distress rating.

Lorain Schools are under assault by a piece of legislation that was put in place unconstitutionally, he said.

Miller said the appointed chief executive officer has no checks and balances.

The academic distress process has caused problems for students, parents and teachers and the community in general is disenfranchised because people have no say in how children are being educated, he said.

On Aug. 20, Dimacchia authored a lengthy email sent to elected officials and education leaders in Columbus.

The day before Lorain Schools’ first day of classes, Dimacchia called for the state lawmakers or the Lorain Academic Distress Commission to fire CEO David Hardy Jr.

He blasted the group as “Self proclaimed leaders that don’t have the guts to lead …”

A former school board member, Dimacchia said the school district affects the city because families are leaving Lorain Schools.

Miller described the event as an enjoyable opportunity for like-minded people to come together to celebrate Lorain Schools and discuss how to go forward to return local control to the community.