Youngstown schools new CEO encouraged by reception

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Krish Mohip – New Youngstown Schools CEO

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Krish Mohip discusses his plan, what brought him to Youngstown, and the drive for educating children.

Youngstown City Schools CEO Contract

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The completed contract for the Youngstown City School CEO.

The first city schools chief executive officer begins work June 29 and wants to meet with individuals, groups and organizations that want to help the school district succeed.

The elected school board though, will serve in an advisory capacity under the CEO structure.

Krish Mohip, 38, an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, signed a three-year contract after the academic distress commission unanimously approved it at a Tuesday afternoon meeting.

He spent most of Tuesday meeting with school employees and others and said he’s encouraged by his reception.

“I love it,” Mohip said. “I think it’s a great town. The community here feels like family.”

Teachers, school administrators, school board members and community members filled the cafeteria at Choffin Career and Technical Center to meet Mohip.

At a school board work session Tuesday evening, Mohip said he wanted to calm anxiety about the Youngstown Plan, the legislation that allowed his appointment because of the district’s poor academic performance.

The law gives the CEO decision-making authority, Mohip acknowledged.

“But that’s not necessarily how I want to operate,” he said.

The elected school board will continue to operate, but its role will be advisory, he said; ultimate authority rests with the CEO.

Each school in the Chicago system has its own elected board and when a school doesn’t meet its goals, some of that board’s authority is removed, he said.

“If I were to come in here and shut you out, that’s not building capacity,” Mohip told board members. “We have to come together as a team.”

He wants to see the city school district improve so it’s no longer under the auspices of the new law. That requires cooperation and collaboration from the community including the school board.

Mohip noted he may determine that board members require training to best serve the district and the students.

He said he intends to retain Stephen Stohla, interim superintendent since July 2015, to help him work through the transition and while Mohip builds a team.

Duties formerly handled by the school board, though, including performance evaluations of the superintendent and treasurer, will be handled instead by Mohip.

“I’m not trying to come in and replace everyone,” he said.

The school board also will have input into the recovery plan that Mohip must present to the academic distress commission within 90 days.

He said he wants to build an administrative team that’s strong on instruction.

Paula Valentini, a spokeswoman for the Youngstown Education Association, the teachers’ union, said teachers are excited to begin working with Mohip.

“We met with him [Tuesday] morning and he seemed very sincere in his dedication to working with important stakeholders to help our district improve,” she said.

Mohip will earn $160,000 in his first year. His salary will increase the second and third years to $165,000 and $170,000, respectively.

He can also earn a performance bonus up to $10,000 for district improvement.

He’ll also receive up to $15,000 in relocation expenses.

The state will reimburse the city school district for Mohip’s salary and benefits.

Mohip said he has a passion for education for those who need it most. Born to parents who grew up poor in Trinidad and Tobago and who came to this country when they were young adults, he and his siblings are the first in his family to be naturally born United States citizens.

His father was a college professor and his mother, a kindergarten teacher. He credits education with their success.

He followed in his mother’s footsteps becoming a kindergarten teacher. He only opted to go into administration when he saw children he had taught advancing to the classroom of a teacher who he didn’t believe would help them continue to grow.

Mohip said he wanted to be in a position where he could help. He applied at four schools and got two interviews and two job offers.

“I said, ‘I want to go to the school that needs me the most,’” he said.

Mohip became a principal at 27 in one of that system’s lowest-performing schools with a high concentration of low-income students.

By working with teachers, that school’s reading, math and science test scores increased dramatically.

Applause from audience members interrupted Mohip’s presentation several times.

He then became chief officer at the school system with 36 of the lowest performing schools under his authority. Of those, 24 saw significant improvement. That improvement has continued, he said.

“That shows that what we built was a sustainable system,” Mohip said.

He said he will do everything he can to help Youngstown’s children succeed, but it’s going to take work from the community too.

“All children can learn,” Mohip said. “All children want to learn and it’s up to us as adults to help them learn.”