by Michelle Faust
A second Ohio school district will follow in Youngstown’s footsteps. The state is taking control of the low-performing Lorain City School District.
Lorain Schools Superintendent Jeff Graham confirms the district will be controlled by a CEO sometime in the spring or summer of 2017. Under the provisions of House Bill 70 -- which became law in 2015 – any school district with three years of failing grades will no longer be run by the local school board.
Lorain Schools got all Fs and a D on this year’s controversial, more rigorous state report card. While most districts in Ohio also suffered lower grades, they were protected by a “safe-harbor” provision. Lorain was not because it was already in academic distress.
Superintendent Graham says he welcomes the change, as long as it allows for local input, “if we can do this in a way that does not disengage our community, and continues to engage our leaders in our community—particularly those that are board of education—I do believe this can be a success.”
Former Chicago School Administrator, Krish Mohip, took the reins as CEO in the Youngstown City School District this summer. Critics say that district’s elected board was disempowered in the state takeover process.