Academic commission to provide feedback on strategic plan
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Approval of the city schools CEO’s strategic plan won’t come next week.
“The plan as presented is a draft,” said Brian Benyo, chairman of the district’s academic distress commission. “I anticipate multiple rounds of feedback.”
The commission meets Tuesday for its first session since Krish Mohip, chief executive officer, submitted the draft last week.
“The ADC will provide structured feedback to Krish,” Benyo said.
Mohip said that’s his understanding, too.
“I expect there to be several iterations of the plan,” he said.
In the meantime, he and his administrative team that includes Tyrone Olverson, chief academic officer, are ensuring that best practices are implemented and offering professional development for teachers and administrators.
They want to guarantee all teachers are teaching to the state standards, Mohip said.
Mohip’s draft plan is based on research findings on best educational practices and on comments from members of the Youngstown community, he told The Vindicator last week.
It lists five goals: academic achievement, supporting the whole child; parent, family and community engagement; world-class workforce; and operations, budget and accountability and sets timetables for their progress and attainment.
Under Academic Achievement for example, one objective is to “ensure every child in every classroom receives high-quality instruction every day.”
Regarding the percentage of fifth-graders meeting growth goals in reading and math, the goal for this school year is 60 percent. It increases to 70 percent and 80 percent in the next two school years, respectively.
“This is not something we’re going to rush,” Benyo said.
Commission members will identify portions of the draft they like as well as any concerns. It won’t be rubber stamped, Benyo said. The panel will evaluate the draft based on the current status of the school district.
“I’m anticipating it will be a couple of months before the plan is approved and moved forward,” Benyo said.