Youngstown Schools board sues to delay HB 70 appointments

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City Schools board is suing Mayor Jamael Tito Brown to delay his appointment of a new school board.

Under Ohio HB 70, also called the Youngstown Plan, Mayor Brown is able to appoint a new school board if state performance markers aren't met within four school years.

However, the civil suit, filed Monday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, claims those new rules have only been in effect for three school years.

The new rules, which also created an Academic Distress Commission and CEO position to steer the district, took effect in October 2015, more than three months into the school year, the suit contends.

"HB 70 has only been in the district three years," board President Brenda Kimble told Mahoning Matters Monday. "It may have been law for four years but it's only been active in our district for three years.

"The law says that you have to have four years under [HB 70]. I think everything is premature. Anything that moves HB 70 … which would replace our elected board with a selected board, I feel, is premature."

The district once again received an overall "F" grade in the most recent state school report cards, released in September.

The suit also claims the constitutionality of the statute that created the Academic Distress Commission is still under review by the Ohio Supreme Court. If the statute is overturned, a wipe of the city school board would be "for naught and invalid," the suit reads.

Ohio Supreme Court justices on Oct. 23 heard oral arguments on that suit, filed by school board attorneys against the state. The hearing was broadcast on The Ohio Channel.

Board attorney Charles Oldfield argued HB 70 is unconstitutional because it wasn't allowed three readings in each house of the Ohio General Assembly and because it "strips all the power" from local school boards.

He asked justices to look into whether legislators violated the "three reading rule" by substantially altering HB 70 "at the last minute," adding language that turned the initial 10-page document into 76 pages."

The original bill allowed for changes after a local referendum that included parents of students and district employees, but the amended bill allowed for a near-complete state takeover, Oldfield said.

"The original bill was uncontroversial and even that legislation had been debated for months," he said. "Then when this amendment was added at the last minute, many of the original sponsors withdrew their support because they were saying this was a major change of educational policy in the state of Ohio and they couldn't support it."

Benjamin Flowers, the attorney representing the state, said the court would be "entering the political thicket, telling legislators how to do their jobs."

"The power given here is the ability to create a board of education. What's the check on that power? The General Assembly can decide what powers the boards may exercise and if they're not doing their job to ensure the children of Ohio are being properly educated then the state can seize that power back," he said.

The Ohio School Board Association, as well as school districts in East Cleveland and Lorain — both now also under state mandate due to HB 70 — have filed in support of the Youngstown school board, according to court filings.

Mayor Brown is expected to begin the selection process Friday, according to the suit. Under state statute, the new school board would begin Jan. 1. The school board, however, is seeking an injunction to temporarily halt those appointments, at least until the 2020-21 school year.

That injunction hearing could be set for later this week, according to Ryan Martino, bailiff for Common Pleas Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, who's been assigned the case.

School board attorneys on Sunday sent a copy of the complaint to the office of city Law Director Jeff Limbian, according to court filings. Limbian said Monday his office is "still reviewing the matter" and may release a statement Wednesday.

New schools CEO Justin Jennings said Monday: "We're just going to continue what we've been doing: focusing on the teaching and learning of our scholars.

This story was originally published November 5, 2019 at 5:02 AM with the headline "Youngstown Schools board sues to delay HB 70 appointments."