EDITORIAL | Youngstown city schools moving in right direction

It has been a year of dramatic change in the Youngstown School District, orchestrated in large part by Chief Executive Officer Krish Mohip.

Mohip, a veteran public school educator from Chicago, was hired 12 months ago by the special academic distress commission to guide the system out of state-mandated academic watch – a small step up from the initial designation of academic emergency.

Mohip has been on a roller coaster ride since he came to Youngstown, and is only now beginning to master the twists and turns of saving a dying school system.

“No one could’ve prepared me for what I was walking into, and I admit I was a little optimistic while doing my strategic plan with the fast time line to get it done, but the goals are still right and are just dependent upon us,” the CEO told The Vindicator in a year-in-review interview.

What he walked into was the epitome of public-education dysfunction. The administration was in tatters, morale among principals and teachers was at an all-time low, students were amassing F’s in state tests in unprecedented numbers and an unacceptably large number of parents chose to disconnect from the schools.

As Tom Humphries, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber president and CEO, put it, “For the first year, [Mohip’s] done an outstanding job considering the circumstances and the challenges he’s been faced with – walking in from another state into that role.”

Humphries was one of the business and community leaders who determined that the Youngstown district was in need of a major overhaul. The eight-member group joined forces with the Ohio Department of Education to develop the Youngstown Plan, which was the basis of House Bill 70. The law went into effect in 2016.

The appointment of the Youngstown School District Academic Distress Commission and its hiring of Mohip set the stage for the changes that are being implemented.

Academic recovery plan

A three-year academic recovery plan developed by the CEO in the first 90 days of his tenure and approved by the commission and the state is the blueprint for change.

Just about every aspect of the system is undergoing scrutiny, but the most dramatic move involves the return of neighborhood schools. The aim is to ensure that students throughout the city have the same academic opportunities and programs, and to engender parental participation.

The reconfiguration also involves the two high schools, Chaney and East, which will offer the same programs, including STEM and visual/performing arts.

The district has been split into two high school regions, with students leaving eighth grade going to either Chaney or East.

Mohip has gone to great lengths to assure parents and students that both high schools will have the same commitment to safety and discipline.

In addition to reorganizing the schools, Mohip has conducted in-depth evaluations of the administrative and teaching staffs, upgraded curricula and reached out to the community,

But it’s not all peaches and cream.

The teachers union is pushing back on the CEO’s desire to give teachers a raise because it means reopening the current contract. The union leadership does not believe Mohip when he says he wants to deal with only the wage issue and will not make any other changes.

He also is still getting pushback from the Youngstown Board of Education, which has been marginalized as a result of the Youngstown Plan. The elected members have no governing authority and only play an advisory role.

However, Mohip told The Vindicator that one of his goals for his second year is to open more lines of communication between the administration and the board.

But despite the accomplishments in his first year as CEO, there remains the issue of the state standardized tests and how well Youngstown students will perform.

It is unrealistic to expect a major improvement in the test scores this year. A move in the right direction will reassure the public. However, failure will not be an option next year.

Mohip has his work cut out for him.