CEO places a dunce cap on Y’town school board

The chief executive officer of the academically challenged Youngstown City School District has ended the money grab by members of the board of education.

In so doing, Krish Mohip further consolidated his power as head of the urban school system. And, Mohip left no room for misreading his intentions regarding the elected board members.

The edict issued last week by the CEO means that members will be paid for only one meeting a month – instead of the two meetings and one workshop that have been the norm. With each session costing the taxpayers $125 per member, any member who attended all three would have pocketed $375 a month.

Lest anyone think the statutorily empowered chief executive is being arbitrary and heavy-handed, a comment from board member Jackie Adair last March provides ample justification for his actions:

“We don’t do anything at board meetings. We get nothing done except entertain students and pass superintendent recommendations. We get paid for doing nothing.”

Adair said at the time she would be willing to attend meetings and not get paid.

Mohip’s authority is defined in the state law that created the so-called Youngstown Plan. The law mandates an academic distress commission to oversee the district. The commission hired Mohip as chief executive officer, making him one of only two individuals in Ohio to serve in such a capacity. Cleveland was the first although that CEO is appointed through a different process.

The educator from Chicago began his assignment in late June and since then has conducted a top-to-bottom review of the urban school district. The review resulted in an academic recovery plan that is currently under scrutiny by the commission.

His decision to limit the number of meetings of the school board reflects his belief that the state law gives the CEO sweeping powers.

Indeed, this is what he said last week when he placed the verbal dunce cap on the board:

‘Managerial changes’

“I will work to formalize this new board process, and I will issue a board meeting policy now that I have set this out verbally. Again, now that I have been here 90 days, I will begin to make more structural and managerial changes going forward, making our processes clear that I, as CEO, am governing the district in all areas.”

The board of education, therefore, has lost its decision-making authority, and to add insult to injury, members are out $250 a month.

But that’s not all. The CEO said members might have “an opportunity to advise me on certain issues as I deem appropriate, but only when I specifically ask for input.”

We have long decried the dysfunction of the board of education and warned that the constant bickering among members would force the state to intervene because of the lack of academic progress.

The Ohio Department of Education placed the district in academic emergency in 2010. It is now in academic watch as a result of an improvement in attendance.

The state law that created the Youngs-town Plan was a response to the district’s continued academic failure.

Mohip was brought in to pull the system out of its doldrums, which is why he is moving quickly to eliminate all the barriers that have undermined the recovery.

Although the district’s academic failure did not occur overnight, opponents of the Youngstown Plan will undoubtedly blame Mohip if next year’s test scores fail to reflect major improvement.

Such finger-pointing ignores reality.

The academic collapse of the Youngstown district did not occur overnight, and it will take longer than a year for substantive progress to be made.

To be sure, Mohip has made enemies in the last three months because of his refusal to kowtow to the special interests that have contributed to the demise of the school district.

With more F’s than any other grades in the categories that made up the card, the Youngstown district’s academic hemorrhaging was plain to see.

Republican Gov. John Kasich and the Republican General Assembly were right to step in to stanch the bleeding.

Mohip deserves the chance – and the time – to make the plan work.