- Krish Mohip, the newly-appointed CEO of Youngstown City Schools, came into town yesterday to sign his contract…and to meet with the school board, district staffers, and as much of the public as could be mustered on a Tuesday afternoon. There’s a lot to parse here and I may have more to say about this after I check out all the video from his public remarks. (“Scraped along with C’s”? Dude! Diligent work on the party of the Vindy though.) But I’ll leave you with three observations on the written piece: Mohip seems to have a pretty good track record in Chicago as he tells the story, including significant improvements to some difficult schools. He seems to be trying to be inclusive out of the gate (board, interim supe, teachers, public, etc.). Most importantly he seems to have solidified in his own mind some of the less-clear aspects of the new ADC/CEO framework, including the role he sees for the elected board and for their appointed superintendent. These will be important down the line if/when other districts come under the aegis of the new ADC/CEO framework. (Youngstown Vindicator, 6/8/16)
- Speaking of one of those districts, here is coverage of yet another tour of the Lorain Colosseum (I mean, the new Lorain High School building), scheduled to open August 1. The audience this time: retired district teachers. Cast your mind back several months when we covered another of these tours. The audience that time was local pastors, who seemed very interested in security features of the new building. At the time, the district’s PR flack noted there would be no metal detectors anywhere in the building because any “knuckleheads” intent on causing metal-based trouble would easily find a way around them. Not noted at that time but proudly described here is the universal swipe card system required for students to enter/exit every door in the place as well as the 386 (!) cameras in the building. “It’s like Las Vegas,” said the flack, without trace of irony. (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 5/30/16)
- High school buildings are on the minds of editors in Akron too these days. Specifically, they opine on just how many total high schools they think the district should have when the build/renovate/rebuild plan currently under discussion is finalized. (Akron Beacon Journal, 6/4/16)
- Ditto for Columbus City Schools. A citizens’ panel has recommended a wide-ranging slate of build/renovate/rebuild/realign/shuffle among buildings in the district. What to do about high schools is largely left for later. First up: how to pay for all of the K-8 changes already recommended. (Columbus Dispatch, 6/6/16)
- The search for a new Dayton City Schools superintendent has come down to a group of finalists very quickly. The folks under consideration as of yesterday are cursorily listed in this piece, which is announcing a public Q&A session with said finalists for this Friday. The exact number of folks who will be on the hot seat is unknown because some currently under consideration are likely to drop out to take other jobs while several others are still being vetted by the search committee. Show up on Friday to find out who outwitted, outplayed, and/or outlasted. (Dayton Daily News, 6/7/16)
- School districts were complaining last week that the state’s new-ish College Credit Plus program (to allow high schoolers to take college courses early) is too expensive for them. Oh, sorry, their lobbyists were complaining on their behalf last week. Higher education institutions responded to the complaints. Oh, sorry, their lobbyist responded. (Columbus Dispatch, 6/1/16)
- We mentioned yesterday that the Gatehouse Media-owned Columbus Dispatch ran two stories on the state of substitute teaching both nationally and locally. Gatehouse also owns the Canton Repository and they did the same. Editors there dutifully opined on the state of substitute teaching in today’s edition. (Canton Repository, 6/8/16)
- We close today with two stories about parental choice in education – one wholly positive, one “cautionary”. First up, kudos to the Ohio General Assembly and Governor Kasich for recognizing that the term “parent” isn’t always clear cut, especially when it comes to making educational decisions for children. Ohio has expanded access to the Ohio Autism Scholarship to children in temporary, legal, and permanent custodianship arrangements, rather than just natural or adoptive parents. Should make a huge difference for many kids. (Gongwer Ohio, 6/2/16) Leaving aside the reporter’s insinuations of trouble within the operations of the district’s Africentric School, a Columbus mom moved her daughter from an unnamed charter school to Africentric at the start of the 2015-16 school year. By March, she was convinced her daughter was being bullied and beaten at school and needed to leave. Luckily, her daughter was eligible for and received an EdChoice Scholarship to attend an unnamed private school next year. While a wide array of educational choices is not a cure-all for school culture problems like bullying, how much worse would it be if a child was forced to remain in a dire situation as described here with no other option? I for one am glad that this parent doesn’t have to find out. (Columbus Dispatch, 6/4/16)
