The Lorain City School District is preparing for Ohio academic takeover, and will soon be under the control of a state appointed CEO.
Lorain Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeffery Graham told News5.com the state CEO will likely take charge sometime between April and August of 2017.
The state takeover, was in part, motivated by a state academic report card issued by the Ohio Department of Education earlier in the year, which gave the district a grade of "F" in five critical academic achievement categories.
The district was issued a grade of "D" in a sixth category.
Still, Dr. Graham made it clear he is confident the district is well on the road to recovery, pointing out the district was in the top 3 percent in the state when came to academic growth last year.
Lorain School Board President Timothy Williams was just as optimistic, and welcomes state academic control.
Williams said he has also seen the growth in student performance, despite the failing grades issued by the state, and is getting prepared to work with the state appointed CEO to continue academic improvements.
Dr. Graham added state testing and evaluation standards have become more stringent, and explained state tests issued to students have changed in three consecutive years while the district has been under state academic distress.
Dr. Graham believes changing state tests repeatedly has made it especially hard on students.
"Are they fair? It's an accurate measurement of where we are," said Graham.
"Are they all appropriate? I can argue that they're not, but the reality is this is the world we live in and these are the rules that we have to play with."
Graham explained the state CEO can make changes in the district administration in the first year, change under-performing schools into charter schools in the second year, and have an impact on teacher contracts in the third year.
