East High adds culture coordinator, YCSD previews academic repor

YCSD announces new role, teases academic report card results

A new leadership role is in place at East High School to help address student needs, while district officials say the state academic report card expected at the next school board meeting will show both progress and areas for improvement.

At Tuesday’s Youngstown Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor confirmed that longtime staff member Evelyn Veal has been hired as the school’s Coordinator of Culture and Climate. The position is intended to ease the daily workload of Principal Debra Campbell, who leads a building with the district’s highest number of foster students.

“We’re hoping that this person can take some of that burden off of our principal, who should not be doing all those things,” Batchelor said.

He explained that the coordinator will support the school’s code of excellence, help manage discipline and attendance, and provide additional emotional support for students. If successful, the role could expand to other buildings across the district.

“Students have to be free to learn. Teachers have to be free to teach,” Batchelor said. “And so it is absolutely necessary that number one kids show up…then we also reward them for doing the right things.”

The board also reviewed the district’s Academic Improvement Plan. While the full state academic report card will be presented at the next meeting, Batchelor teased that the results will highlight some gains as well as setbacks.

“It’s going to show the progress that’s been made over the couple of years and from last year to this year,” Batchelor said. “It’s going to show some buildings that have made almost a star gain.”

He noted that graduation rates continue to improve compared to several years ago, and the district has seen growth in gap closing and college and career readiness. At the same time, he said some areas still need more work.

“School improvement does not happen overnight, but we are making progress,” Batchelor said.

The full report card will be unveiled and explained in detail at the next school board meeting.