No exceptions for West on ousting of staff
by Benjamin Herold on Feb 08 2011 Posted in Latest news
Joy Herbert and other members of the West Philadelphia High School Advisory Council are interviewed by Fox 29 News following a contentious meeting at the school Monday evening.
The revolving door of teachers and principals at West Philadelphia High School is set to keep spinning.
As part of its transition to a District-run "Traditional" Promise Academy, West will open next school year with its fourth new principal in less than 12 months, as well as a teaching staff that is at least 50 percent new to the school.
“Our kids are going to get lost with all the newcomers,” lamented Teri Gaines, the mother of a West 9th grader who attended an informational meeting about the changes at the school Monday evening.
Parents and community members at the meeting pressed District officials to consider West’s recent history before moving ahead with plans to reconstitute staff and denounced the way the Renaissance Schools process has played out at the school.
The overhaul will come less than a year after popular principal Saliyah Cruz was removed; West also lost 40 percent of its teachers following its ill-fated involvement in the first year of the District’s Renaissance initiative.
Despite the pleas from those in attendance, District officials said West will receive no special considerations.
“We are aware of what happened last year, but we also have to move the school forward,” Assistant Superintendent Penny Nixon told the crowd of about 50.
Later, Francisco Duran, the assistant superintendent in charge of the Promise Academies, explained that the District must formally reconstitute the West staff this year – replacing at least half – in order to be aligned with the requirements of a $2.2 million federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) the school received last year. Duran said that the grant requirements precluded the District from designating West as an “Innovation” Promise Academy that would be free of limitations on the percentage of staff that can be retained.
Yet a document announcing the grant indicates that West is to undergo the "transformation” model of school turanaround, which does not mandate reconstituting a school’s teaching staff.
Duran also said after the meeting that the District will be naming new principals at West and six other new “Traditional” Promise Academies “hopefully within the next two weeks.”
“We have to be able to announce them very soon because the new principal will be integral in hiring [new] staff,” said Duran.
“The big lesson that we learned last year was that the [hiring] process needs to start much sooner.”
West’s current principal, John Chapman, is technically retired and is serving on an interim basis.
Chapman said before the meeting that he had not reapplied for his position.
Throughout the meeting, members of the West School Advisory Council, who voted against becoming a Promise Academy last year, were vocal in questioning the District’s Renaissance process. The SACs were created last year at Renaissance Schools to provide a channel for parent and community input into the turnaround strategies.
“You have made a decision without consulting parents or community. Why wasn’t the decision made by the SAC last year respected?” asked SAC co-chair Joy Herbert.
“I really can’t speak to last year because I wasn’t involved in that process,” responded Nixon, who was promoted to assistant superintendent in July.
That answer seemed to frustrate some in attendance.
“Whoever these people are, they need to be more sensitive to history,” said Dawn Chavous, the vice president of the Walnut Hill Community Association and a member of the West School Advisory Council [SAC.]
“This process has not been successful for West. You can’t treat people like this and expect them to remain engaged.”
Duran did confirm that West’s SAC would not be reconstituted; those currently on the council will still have a role, he said, although new recruitment may be done in order to ensure a minimum of 51 percent parent representation.
He was unable to provide an update on the status of the so-called “investigation” into an alleged conflict of interest on the West SAC last year, which – despite coming from an unnamed source and never having been deemed substantive – derailed West’s involvement in the Renaissance initiative.
Other concerns raised during the meeting included the future of West’s learning academies and sports programs.
Nixon said both would be enhanced rather than replaced.
Despite the sometimes contentious tone of the meeting, City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell expressed optimism for West’s future.
“Hopefully it will help to bring the school together,” said Blackwell, who supported the delay last year.
“I feel more comfortable because the superintendent herself will be directly overseeing the school. It's a new beginning so the community can feel comfortable moving forward.”
Comments (16)
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 16:19.
Make no mistake, West could be an "innovation" but they're choosing to keep it as a "traditional" promise academy because now they're in a bind with this current principal who they know cannot move the school forward. Surprise! Running a school takes leadership and vision, not just warm bodies and remedial interventions. I think the folks at 440 have probably been genuinely stunned at just how much their meddling has set back the school. The district needs to learn that this rhetoric of "don't talk about what happened in the past" is the message that all tyrants and abusers put out when they are challenged on their behavior. The hacks that are backing them up on this because they are getting some money on the side get no respect - and you know who you are. Issue an apology to the parents you slandered and commit to moving forward and working with them in good faith - it may not matter to the people who've been earning 6 figure salaries for dozens of years but it means a lot to parents to publicly apologize. This investigation was a fake, it was political, and remember all you officials - it's an election year.
Submitted by Timothy Boyle on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 22:59.
This is a really unfortunate explanation for West's designation as a "traditional" promise academy. Both Sayre and Southern (promise Innovation schools) received the same School Improvement Grant funds, and all were listed as "transformation" schools.
Also of note is that Roxborough, Frankford, Fels, Edison, Lincoln, Locke and Feltonville Intermediate also received SIG funds and have so far not been Renaissanced. The other 20 receipts have already been subject to either the turnaround or restart strategy.
The bigger question in all of this mess is the role of federal funding over local education decision making. The four federally endorsed turnaround strategies are not part of ESEA. Districts are not following laws when adhering to these strategies, they are chasing funding. RTT and other competition based funding programs are having outsized influence because of difficult economic times. The Department of Education is able to avoid debated legislative action with the power of the purse strings.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 23:10.
Wow. It is so so sad to see what has happened to my former school.
I will say this - Chapman really needs to go. The way he speaks to teachers and staff publicly is disgusting. You want a story, go there.
So, does that mean the new principal will decide who stays and who goes? And will everyone be Force Transfered as last year, so the teachers who would like to stop being forced to experiment on children with the Promise can go somewhere else?
And it is so sad to me that when I say I used to work at West, other teachers say to me, "Didn't they close West? After they got rid of the good principal?" I usually say, "sort of. But there are some really good people who work there with some really great kids."
Just Sayin'
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/08/2011 - 23:55.
I'm so proud of everyone on the School Advisory Council and the students for sticking and staying through this troubled process and continuing to build power and represent the best interests of young people! You are a great example of leadership, and we all thank you!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/11/2011 - 06:54.
Chairman Robert Archie serves on the board for Universal Community homes and was involved in the Tasker Homes redevelopment. Given that Universal is attempting to take over Vare and Audenried in the neighborhood, isn't this a conflict of interests.
Submitted by Veteran of WPHS "Renaissance" (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 00:18.
Truth telling is in order. The district stopped its own process last year to bring a "renaissance" to West when it didn't go the way some people wanted it to go. The choice of the School Advisory Council and involved community members was for West to remain an in-district school with Johns Hopkins' Diplomas Now program in place as a provider under what was then called the "innovation model." It was Jannie Blackwell -- who insists that anything that happens in West Philadelphia has to have her personal approval, that its citizens bow down to her or she'll block their plans -- threw a wrench in, goaded by others with a vested interest in the school becoming a Promise Academy. The School Advisory Council voted clearly (9-4) to reject the Promise Academy model because it was unproven. Nonetheless, the Promise Academy kept coming back like the Glenn Close character in the movie Fatal Attraction. When the process was "delayed," as Blackwell characterizes it, the District put West into the Promise Academy column administratively (although some officials argue it went back to being an empowerment school - it depends on whom you talk to) and, as with the Promise Academy model, the Superintendent herself closely monitored the school this year -- as she tells us is what ensures the success of a Promise Academy. We know that, in the fall, there were daily calls from the Superintendent or someone in her orbit and daily adjustments. Well, with her close oversight, what has happened so far this year? Chaos. In addition to the changes in administration (unnecessarily, since she had originally pledged to keep Principal Cruz in place this year), there were at least three different rosters in the month of September alone and at least five so far this year -- with individual kids apparently since Christmas break being given much discretion to change their rosters as they see fit. There has been constant change in everything -- policies, administrative personnel, abrupt termination of the student success center, indecision about what constitutes a senior project, etc. Unlike last year, when students spent their time inside classrooms, students spend a lot of time hanging out in the hallways between classes now, reflecting the general lack of clarity about rules for behavior, confusion about expectations of students. Many students have been suspended and dropped from the school. The ninth graders don't have a context, but the juniors and seniors know that they have been dealt a bad hand. If this is what it means to be a Promise Academy under the Superintendent's watch - heaven help us. And what happened to community input? Well, we know West was the reason that schools were not given a choice this year.
We must not allow the District to rewrite history. Record what you know, your experience, here or in blogs; make an independent record.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 07:29.
"Chapman really needs to go. The way he speaks to teachers and staff publicly is disgusting. You want a story, go there."
I have to say, that would be a hilarious story. Maybe a regular cartoon feature? What a joke. What a mess.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 11:33.
Listen carefully to what Penny Nixon says and you will be amazed that level of arrogance mixed with foolishness. Does she honestly believe that recycling teachers two years in a row will move the school forward. It is disgusting that she pretends to know what is best for the future even though she is too irresponsible to have studied the school's recent past. The level of incompetence is astounding.
Submitted by lovetoteach (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 17:33.
Jannie Blackwell is a disgrace, "Hopefully, it will help bring the school together." The school was together and moving forward in a positive direction until it was put on the Renaissance list last year and everything that had been built was destroyed in a moment.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 18:35.
No teacher is going to want to teach in a Renaissance School.
Submitted by D'atwan Muhammad (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 19:34.
First, when I tried to go into the meeting I was told that I couldn't go in without a parent. Then I asked questions in the meeting and afterward was told by a community member working in Promise Academies that I should quit PSU. And the next day I was hassled by my principal who called me a "domestic terrorist" for speaking up at the meeting.
Submitted by Veteran of the WPHS Renaissance (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 19:54.
Thanks for speaking up. This shows the totalitarian and paranoid nature of the school district and the school right now. It is intimidation, plain and simple.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 01:09.
They are trying to keep students from asking questions about the future of their own school? This is outrageous. Students should be allowed to attend any and all meetings about their school-- because it is their education at stake. Your principal should be ashamed of himself-- trying to intimidate students into silence. Good for you for asking your questions anyway.
Submitted by West Supporter (not verified) on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 11:40.
keep your head up, D'atwan
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 19:39.
It really saddens me how the District is messing up this whole process. Becoming a Promise Academy could be a really great thing, if the District were not so concerned with ignoring anybody that doesn't work at 440. The interesting thing is that many of the great things happening in the Promise Academies have NOTHING to do with the fact that the district is running them. The only aspect that has made much difference is the pure site selection of the building. And not because it meant that "bad" teachers were removed (though that was probably a piece of it); rather, it's because it means that everyone in the building made the active choice to return or be hired into that specific building, which made all of us a lot more likely to go above and beyond from time to time. From my experience so far, the fewer 440 fingerprints on an item/initiatives/strategy, the better it has gone.
And, to be honest, if the mid-level administrators are so great (and some of them actually are pretty sharp people), why not just put them in charge of schools at the building level? What's the point in having them in oversight roles which means that all principals, good or bad, have to spend a portion of their time worried about bureaucratic accountability (to 440) rather than educational accountability (to students and parents)?
Submitted by marcy (not verified) on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 07:21.
I pray that this school year be a good one for all the new and old students that attend West Philadelphia high me myself my son is comming from a charter school in which he did not do well so I pray that this year be a better year.
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