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Youngstown commission will pick schools CEO from 2 finalists
Commission will consider educator, superintendent; selection expected Tuesday
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
The choice for Youngstown City Schools chief executive officer comes down to two finalists: one an educator from Chicago and the other the superintendent of Finneytown Public Schools near Cincinnati.
The Youngstown City Schools Academic Distress Commission unanimously voted Thursday to consider Krish Mohip, an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools; and Tyrone Olverson, superintendent of Finneytown for the city schools post.
“They both have extensive building principal and teacher experience, but they also have demonstrated instructional knowledge,” said Brian Benyo, commission chairman.
The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Choffin Career and Technical Center and Benyo said the members expect to make a decision after an executive session.
“We’re going to do reference checks and allow the public as well as us to do our due diligence in vetting the candidates,” he said.
More than 30 people applied for the new position which came out of the controversial Youngstown Plan, legislation approved last summer by both houses of the state Legislature.
The legislation dissolved the academic distress commission that was in place for 10 years, and created a new one charged with selecting the CEO who will have broad powers in managing the city schools.
The salary range for the job is $160,000 to $180,000 annually. The state will reimburse the school district for the CEO’s pay and benefits.
From the applicants, the commission selected six candidates to interview. Three – Andrew Tommelleo of New Castle, Pa., consultant for state support team since 2014; Rhonda Corr of Lakewood, Ohio, academic instructional office, Indianapolis, since August; and Olverson – were interviewed Wednesday.
The panel interviewed Mohip, Stephen Stohla, interim city schools superintendent since last July; and Travis Mosley, academic superintendent of Cleveland Metropolitan Schools district; on Thursday.
Olverson, of Reynoldsburg, has announced that he would leave his Finneytown superintendent position, near Cincinnati, at the end of July. A February article on Cincinnati.com said Olverson was leaving to be with his family.
He had been a candidate earlier this year for superintendent of Fairborn City Schools near Dayton.
Finneytown schools’ website said Olverson previously served as curriculum director and principal in Licking Heights Local Schools, Ohio.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and his master’s in educational administration from the University of Cincinnati.
Mohip was a finalist last month for the superintendent job at Salt Lake City Schools, Utah.