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One Youngstown year down for CEO Mohip
YOUNGSTOWN
CEO Krish Mohip said he is looking forward to year No. 2 with the same – if not more – drive to push the Youngstown City School District toward success.
Mohip, reflecting a few days before his June 29 anniversary, said his key focus will be a shift in the teaching and learning culture.
VIDEO: Mohip reflects on his first year as CEO
“A future for these kids means something to me,” Mohip said. “We are changing the trajectory of children’s lives in a positive way.”
The ultimate goal, he said, is “to have high-quality education in every classroom for every student, every day.”
That is something that won over Laura Meeks, former Eastern Gateway Community College president, as she helped to form the Youngstown Plan that eventually led to Mohip’s selection by a state academic distress commission.
Meeks was one of an eight-member group that worked with Ohio Department of Education officials on the plan, or House Bill 70, which was implemented in 2015. It put Mohip in control of the district as CEO under the auspices of the academic distress commission.
From the beginning, Meeks said she saw Mohip as simply “a very talented administrator.”
“He was my top candidate,” she said. “I predicted he’d do very well with his personal strengths and high belief in helping students.”
Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction, shared Meeks’ enthusiasm.
“We were excited when Krish Mohip was chosen to be the CEO of Youngstown City Schools,” he said in an emailed statement. “He’s aggressively implementing the ideas he put forth, and we’re beginning to see results from his hard work.”
Brian Benyo, academic distress commission chairman, said the district’s growth and accomplishments are a reflection of Mohip’s work.
“He’s been bringing in talented people and taking advantage of the talents of those people on the staff that have joined Youngstown,” he said.
Tom Humphries, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber president and CEO, mirrored Benyo’s sentiment.
“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 said.
Mohip seemed to agree with Humphries: “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.”
Still, Humphries, who also belonged to the eight-member group that aided in forming the Youngstown Plan, said, “I think he’s done an excellent job.”
Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel agreed, saying, “I think Krish has come in and done a good job by reaching out to get a lot of input and improving opportunities for our young people. It’s not easy, like most transitions, but he’s done a good job of trying to be a great listener. However, ultimately someone in his position needs to make decisions, and he is a good evaluator of those decisions.”
Tressel also was part of the eight-member group.
Some challenges Mohip faced included failing leadership, lack of accountability, a troubled transportation system and outdated record-keeping practices.
“When I entered the district, I noticed a huge gap in our leadership,” Mohip said. “So I started to bring people in – high-quality and high-performing individuals – to create this layer of leadership that hasn’t been in the central office in quite some time.”
In January, Mohip hired six people taking over leadership positions with combined salaries of about $500,000.
Some of the hires are: Greg Slemons as chief financial officer on a 12-month contract at an annual salary of $133,000; John LaPlante as chief information officer on a 12-month contract at an annual salary of $123,000; and Pat Lowry as director of strategic initiatives on a 12-month contract with an annual salary of $75,000.
In early June, Mohip hired Sonya Gordon, a 1991 East High graduate, to serve as East High’s new principal for the 2017-18 school year effective July 1 with a salary of $114,750.
Announcements of more hires for principal positions are expected soon.
Mohip said he’s “shaking up the schools.”
Another hill he climbed was standardizing benchmarks to measure student performance rather than just gauging students by standardized test scores.
Upon entering the district, Mohip learned the district’s transportation department had been grounded by the Ohio Department of Transportation due to certification problems.
He hired Transportation Director Colleen Murphy-Penk to get the buses up and running for the first day of school.
“It was rough, but it all worked out, and now we are going even farther than just being able to bus students,” Mohip said.
City school buses will be equipped with technology enabling parents to track where their child is and better predict when they will be home.
“It is a lot of accountability,” he said.
Mohip also was able to work the now-functioning transportation system into collaboration with the district’s after-school program, allowing students to take advantage of extra instruction for free for a few hours after school every day of the week.
“No matter what any of the doubts were, I said, ‘We’re going to do it,’” Mohip said.
Kelly Weeks, district deputy chief of transformation, spearheaded the program for five months, resulting in expanded opportunities for students in reading and math.
Mohip said he wishes he started the program earlier to have it running for a full school year and intends to do so for 2017-18.
Mohip said he also aims to improve what has been a poor relationship with the board of education.
Brenda Kimble, board of education president, said she is happy to work with Mohip, but she suggests that he redirect district leaders to attend board meetings to share information.
“The only thing we ask is to be well informed with what’s going on in the district,” she said. “Nowhere in House Bill 70 [does it say] we aren’t to be well informed.”
Mohip said he feels that each board member has a unique perspective and he wants to find a middle ground so “the success of this district can be the success of all of theirs.”
He plans to get closer to that success by focusing heavily on learning and teaching for his second year as CEO. One idea is to create so-called ninth-grade academies to foster better freshman student experiences.
He hopes the concept will “really reel those freshmen students in and keep them interested.
“We also want to create some accountability to standards and instructional framework,” he added. “We ask, ‘What does a child know? What don’t they know? And how do we fix that?’”
Mohip said he wants to create a system that helps students before they get left behind.
“The monotony of doing the same thing day in and day out is what they need,” he said. “The children need consistency. ... It’s really about building a system of teaching and learning, seeing similar things happening in the schools throughout the district.”
Benyo predicts there is more progress coming in the 2017-18 school year.
“The past year was a foundational year, and now the essential pieces are in place,” he said.
Humphries shares Benyo’s optimism.
“The first year is always the challenging year, and I believe [Mohip] really understands the district,” Humphries said. “He understands the children’s needs. ... He walked into this challenge and he is up to it.”
Tressel said the process to raise the school district is ongoing, but Mohip seems to be working hard to do it.
“We look forward to seeing more progress in the future,” DeMaria said.