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CEO works six weeks without a paycheck
By Denise Dick
YOUNGsTOWN
City schools CEO Krish Mohip has been on the job almost six weeks and has yet to be paid.
“It’s nobody’s fault,” the chief executive officer said. “I just really haven’t pushed the envelope.”
He’s been on the job since June 29.
“I’m not even worried about that,” he said. “I’m not focused on that right now. I’m focused on getting school started and fixing transportation and fixing special ed.”
State reviewers found problems with both of those departments this summer.
The Chicago native joked about the Mahoning Valley’s low cost of living.
Mohip said he knows that money from the state has been sent to the district.
His salary this year is $160,000.
The night before Mohip began his city schools tenure, school board members unanimously voted not to pay him with district funds.
Mohip is employed by the school district.
When he signed his contract in early June, the district was expected to pay Mohip’s compensation package and be reimbursed by the state.
A memorandum of understanding, signed July 11, lays it out differently.
The state will issue payments to the district for Mohip on a quarterly basis.
The payments cover Mohip’s pay, benefits, state retirement system contribution, longevity and performance-bonus compensations and relocation and transportation expenses. Mileage reimbursement isn’t included in that amount.
Brittany Halpin, an ODE spokeswoman, said the July 11 memo formalizes what’s written in the Youngstown Plan legislation. That established a new academic distress commission that appointed Youngstown’s first CEO.
The annual package this year is $276,960, and the state’s first payment, $73,842, was due July 15.
Halpin said that payment has been sent, but that’s news to Sherry Tyson, the school district’s treasurer.
“At the moment, unless there’s a check on my secretary’s desk that has not been posted,” her office hasn’t received it.
The memo lists $58,842 for Mohip’s compensation for the second and third quarters and $85,534 for the fourth quarter.
Those payments from the state are due Oct. 15, Jan. 15, April 15 and July 15.
The memo is signed by Paola DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction, and Stephen Stohla, interim district superintendent.
Mohip downplayed the issue.
“It’s my own fault,” he said. “They [the city school district] need some paperwork – Social Security card or passport – and I just haven’t gotten it to them yet. I’m going back this weekend [to Chicago] to get them.”