Academic Distress Commission members approve city schools strategic plan

December 5, 2016 at 10:27p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The Academic Distress Commission on Monday approved city schools CEO Krish Mohip’s strategic plan to improve the district over three years.

Mohip referred to the plan, first introduced in September, as a “living, breathing document” that is subject to changes moving forward, as the commission sees fit.

The plan is part of House Bill 70 enacted last year. Under its provisions, the school district is being led by a chief executive officer and overseen by a state-appointed academic distress commission. Its elected board of education stays in place but with less power.

Mohip brought additions to the plan from the last meeting, including updating the student code of conduct, educating students on appropriate school behavior, providing high quality professional development to all staff members and providing character education teaching to all children.

Before the plan, Mohip said the student code of conduct had very clear lines of definition – something that was progressive in accurately displaying consequences for offenses from first, second and up.

The problem, he said, was the lack of supportive practices ensuring that students learn from those behaviors reaping consequences.

“When a child can’t read we teach them to read. When a child can’t do math, we teach them to do math. When a child can’t behave the answer can’t be to remove,” Mohip said. “We need to give the kids a chance to learn from their behavior instead of repeat it, and understand what is wrong and why it’s wrong.”

A new code of conduct returns conduct decisions to the schools.

“There’s not a dotted line that says, ‘If a child does this, we have to do this,’” he said. “We are giving the ownership back to the schools by saying, ‘Here’s a plethora of things you can choose.’ It’s a menu of items and we are giving responsibility back to the schools to make decisions for their students — and that’s what makes sense.”

Mohip added that he understood there still will be times when removal from the schools due to certain behaviors will be necessary.