Y’town school board wastes taxpayer dollars on lawsuit

Given his long experience as an educator, we have no doubt that the new head of the Youngstown City School District is used to dealing with petulant children.

We are, therefore, puzzled by his kid-glove treatment of a group that has come to personify petulance – school board members who insist on wasting taxpayer dollars on a fool’s errand.

The tab to date: $200,000.

It’s one thing for Krish Mohip, the new chief executive officer of the troubled urban school system, to say that he alone has the authority to spend the district’s money on a lawsuit in a Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

But it’s quite another for Mohip not to exert the power that has been given to him as the CEO through a state law.

We have long railed against school board members who have pushed their personal agendas to the detriment of Youngstown’s children. Thus, we have no qualms about urging Mohip to deliver an unequivocal message to the board of education: “You are no longer permitted to spend public dollars on the lawsuit.”

It is noteworthy that three school board members share our opinion about this waste of taxpayer money.

Corrine Sanderson, Dario Hunter and Jackie Adair last week voted to withdraw the district as a plaintiff in the suit challenging a state law that created the position of chief executive officer.

Unfortunately, four other members of the board remain blinded by self-importance – even though their service as elected officials has been an abject failure.

Mohip was brought in a month ago to develop an academic recovery plan that will reverse the downward spiral of the system. Four years ago, the state placed Youngstown in academic emergency because of the consistent Fs in the school system’s proficiency-test scores.

The district is now in academic watch – as a result of an improvement in attendance.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who for years has publicly expressed his dismay at Youngstown’s children being at the mercy of a failing system, urged business and community leaders to recommend changes in the governance of the district.

The recommendations formed the basis of a state law that is designed to revitalize failing public school systems. One of the main provisions of the law is the so-called Youngstown Plan, which calls for the creation of an academic distress commission to appoint a chief executive officer.

The CEO has total authority over the district, including the hiring and firing of employees and control of the budget.

The elected school board has been stripped of all its power and is now playing an advisory role – whether members like it or not. The CEO is under no obligation to consult with or accept the advice from the board.

WHAT CEO SHOULD DO

Given that the lawsuit filed last summer – it is set for trial in September – is challenging the constitutionality of the Youngstown Plan, Mohip should immediately cut off the funding to the school board.

The district’s employee unions and a teacher who lives in Youngstown also are plaintiffs in the suit against the state and the Ohio Department of Education.

If Youngstown district board members Brenda Kimble, the president, Ronald Shadd, Michael Murphy and Jerome Williams want to remain involved in the lawsuit, they should pay the legal fees out of their own pockets.

The money that has been squandered to date could have been used to buy textbooks that community leaders have complained are not available to students who need them.

CEO Mohip told The Vindicator that the school board can make recommendations to him, but that ultimately the decision on the lawsuit or any other action will be his alone.

“Whatever I decide will be in the best interest of the kids,” he said of the lawsuit.

We would suggest that the CEO and the state-mandated academic distress commission have too much work to do charting a new course for the urban system to be distracted by the games some board members are playing.

We also have no doubt that the state and the Ohio Department of Education will appeal any ruling in common pleas court that finds House Bill 70 unconstitutional.

Regardless, the Youngstown school district should not be involved in the legal action.

We urge CEO Mohip to act expeditiously to stop the board from wasting taxpayer dollars.