Y'town schools get going with great expectations

Today’s start of Youngs- town City School District’s academic year should be viewed as the actual launch of the Krish Mohip era.

To be sure, Mohip, the first chief executive officer of the long troubled school system, has been on the job since the end of June 2016. However, the veteran educator from Chicago has spent the past 14 months redesigning and reconstructing the urban district that was placed in state-declared academic emergency in 2010.

Mohip has been given carte-blanche authority by the special academic distress commission that hired him.

Thus today, the new school year begins with a blueprint for academic recovery developed by the CEO, members of his administration and the distress commission.

We point this out for two reasons:

First, in a couple of weeks the results of the state proficiency tests given during the 2016-17 school year will be announced.

No one is expecting the Youngstown district to show marked improvement from the Fs it received in the last report.

However, Mohip’s detractors, especially some members of the inconsequential Youngstown Board of Education, will point the finger of blame at the CEO and the commission.

Students, parents, guardians and community leaders should ignore such criticism. Mohip does not own this year’s report card.

The second reason for our pointing to the academic blueprint developed by the CEO is that he now bears full responsibility for the academic achievement of the students.

The 2017-18 state report card for the Youngstown district will belong to him.

Throughout the year and two months he has been on the job, Mohip has made it a point to let the community know, directly or through the press, of the changes he is implementing, and the reasons for them.

One of the most significant is 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.

Chaney and East

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 attending 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, he has conducted in-depth evaluations of the administrative and teaching staffs, upgraded curricula and reached out to the community.

The chief executive officer detailed his vision for the upcoming school year in a column published Aug. 27 on this page. Here’s what he wrote, in part:

“With the additions to the senior leadership team and new principals added to the district, I am excited for the improvements we will see in student achievement. To help celebrate the growth of our children, we are using a new assessment that will help us measure the growth of students throughout the year. We are introducing all teachers to a different way to teach; one that has been proven nationally to be a successful way to instruct students. Support will be provided through ongoing professional development, coaching and weekly feedback.

“With this increase of support will come accountability. The shifts in instruction can only happen if there are clear expectations that are aligned to competent support.”

There certainly has been a change in the community’s attitude toward the Youngstown schools, as evidenced by the overwhelming interest in participating in the citizens’ coalition established by Mohip.

Fifty-one individuals applied to be involved in the coalition – 40 more than had been anticipated. As a result, the CEO has decided to form 12 or 13 groups instead of one.

Parents, teachers, retired administrators, representatives from the religious community, alumni and former school board members are being invited.

The new school year is about the stakeholders keeping their eyes on the ball – the academic achievement of Youngstown’s children.

The state proficiency test scores next year will tell the story of Mohip’s tenure as chief executive officer of the Youngstown City School District.