EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — Tuesday night, the state-appointed president and CEO of East Cleveland City Schools gave the state of the district address.
The district got an 'F' on the recent state report card.
With more than 2,100 students in six schools, CEO Dr. Henry Pettigrew II says the whole community needs to be involved.
"We're going to get better, we're going to do school better, is what we're saying," Pettigrew told 3News. "We're enlisting our community allies, we're doing a lot of professional development with our teachers. We're going to get better. It's all about performance, our children have to perform better to get us out of the situation we're in."
The state's Academic Distress Commission took over East Cleveland City Schools in September of 2018, following the district's 'F' grade in the 2017-18 state report card.
The district has been fighting the state's takeover for the past year.
RELATED: East Cleveland City School District wins court ruling to continue battle to prevent state takeover
East Cleveland is one of three local schools under control by the Academic Distress Commission, established after the passing of H.B. 70 in the state legislature. The Youngstown City School District is currently challenging H.B. 70 in the Ohio Supreme Court. The Lorain City School District is also under state control.
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives to end state takeovers of local schools. An additional bill has also called for a moratorium on further state takeovers of struggling school districts. That bill would not impact the three districts currently under state control, however.