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City schools CEO begins work Wednesday
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
About a year has passed and a lot of legal fees have been paid, but starting Wednesday, the city school district’s first chief executive officer will be in charge.
Krish Mohip, 38, a Chicago Public Schools administrator, doesn’t have much time to lose. The Youngstown Plan, the same law that required a CEO appointment by early June, requires Mohip to establish within 30 days a group of community stakeholders.
With that group’s assistance, Mohip will, within 90 days of his appointment, or by late summer, submit a plan to lift the schools out of the academic swampland they’ve occupied for several years.
“I’m going to rely on the leadership that’s in place now to say who should be on that committee,” Mohip said last week.
He expects senior district leadership, teachers, parents and students to be among its members.
“It’s going to be very broad,” Mohip said.
His appointment comes despite community groups protesting it, the city school board’s and unions’ legal wrangling to stop it and lawmakers’ attempts to change it.
The state Legislature in June 2015 approved what has been dubbed the Youngstown Plan.
That law, also called House Bill 70, established a new academic distress commission in place of the one that had been in the city schools since 2010. That new panel had to pick a CEO, a first in Youngstown schools, by early this month.
The commission selected Mohip from the more than 30 people who applied. His three-year contract begins Wednesday.
Mohip is encouraged that so many people attended a forum earlier this month where he was introduced to the community.
“People believe in the city of Youngstown, and they believe in the students,” he said.
That’s not always been the case in other communities, Mohip said.
Since then, he’s exchanged emails with people from the district, the community at large and the state.
Mohip’s first days will be a whirlwind of new names and faces.
“I want to meet as many people as I can,” he said.
Mohip wants to meet administrators, teachers, parents, students, community leaders and members of the public.
He plans to distribute surveys soon to students, beginning with high schoolers, to gauge their thoughts on the district.
The new CEO wants to gather input from teachers and school administrators.
“It’s important to hear what they think, especially teachers,” he said. “Do they feel supported by central office? Do they feel supported by their principals?”
1Part of that involves evaluating partnerships maintained by the district and determining which are beneficial.
“I’ve seen a few school districts that just engage in any partnership,” but that can impede improvement if it’s not aligned with district goals, Mohip said.
From his limited exposure to the school district so far, he thinks some of its biggest challenges center on teaching and learning.
“That’s not unique to Youngstown,” Mohip said.
Getting everyone on board with a new vision is a way to begin to address it.
Initially, Mohip is relocating to the Mahoning Valley on his own. His wife and their three children — 6-year-old twins and a 3-year-old — will come later.
When he’s not working, which Mohip acknowledges isn’t often, he loves the outdoors. He likes fishing, camping, running and riding his bike and looks forward to enjoying Mill Creek MetroParks. He points to his years as a Boy Scout for cultivating that appreciation.
Mohip looks forward to engaging with people in the community.
“I’m really down to earth,” he said. “I’m approachable and a very family-oriented guy.”