YOUNGSTOWN - It was a packed house during a rare, Saturday morning Youngstown City School Board "special meeting" as many people look to the school board and administration to take accountability over district finances. 

The meeting was called for by board members and community leaders in direct response to a 21 News months-long Watchdog investigation that uncovered the unchecked spending of millions in federal COVID funds by Superintendent Justin Jennings when he was CEO. 

Those in attendance included the Youngstown Education Association, the district treasurer Bryan Schiraldi and a majority of the school board members, while Superintendent Jennings did not show. 

Board member Brenda Kimble represents herself and not the board as a whole, and demands the treasurer and Jennings justify the tens of millions in federal spending, which YEA President Eric Teutsch believes brought little outcome to classrooms in the district. 

"I know from surveying our members, that a lot of people feel they didn't see any benefits of that COVID money in their classrooms," Teutsch said.

Kimble read off a list of questions that she said needed to be answered, such as why $5-million dollars of internet equipment is collecting dust in the district bus garage after a project fell through, and why Jennings didn't seek competitive bids for contracts entered when he had unchecked power under CEO-control. 

"We're in control now," she said, "So we need to know these things. We need to know these things."

This meeting was the first step for the board to do its own digging before deciding if and how the board could hold Jennings accountable for the wasting of funds, she said. 

"Once you're an administrator, regardless of if you have a great evaluation or a poor evaluation, you can  be removed with no cause," she said, "All of these things that I'm speaking about should have been brought through a special meeting when control was given back to the board and this should have been explained to us."

Meanwhile, Board President Tiffany Patterson has held the same position since the 21 News investigation unfolded. 

Patterson admits Jennings' projects, which cost the district millions, "didn't work out" and that it's "not worth dwelling over."

"I personally, and the majority of the board, are not really concerned about what was spent and the way it was spent," Patterson said, "We talked about it in executive session so I can't speak on it publically until we hear back from state auditors."

Board member Joe Meranto also agreed to an interview and was the second board member to certify Kimble's vote that led to the special meeting. 

Meranto said, "If somebody has questions, they need to be answered," but also said he doesn't think it's the board's responsibility to fix what happened under state control, and that he's waiting to see if the state auditor's office will "come forward and say this wasn't done correctly."

While educators and board members said they are uncertain about what the district faces, they are certain they never want a CEO to take control again.

"If they misspent the ESSER [COVID funds] and the federal government decides they want the money back, where is the money going to come from if you're already projecting a deficit?" Teutsch asked, "It's going to break the district and ruin the entire school system."

Deputy Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor along with Schiraldi said they are working on providing explanations to Kimbles' questions, and said they are not fully aware of past district spending that happened under state control.

Batchelor said in the coming days, the district will be providing records in regard to concerns over due process and lack of competitive bidding for district services. 

21 News pressed Patterson, the board president, as to how she's keeping the administration and the board accountable to provide transparency. 

Patterson said if the board doesn't have the clarity demanded by Kimble during the next school board meeting, Patterson would then call another special meeting to address the spending. 

"I don't think anything malicious was done," she said, "So I don't think there's a reason to be concerned."

21 News has reached out to Jennings for a response but has not heard back at this time. 

"This district can work and these things can be fixed," Kimble said, "They can be. It doesn't take rocket scientists to do it, but the board has to be responsible and take control."