This just in from the Alexandria School Board:"The Board will be extending the search for candidates for the superintendency. The Board will not be continuing its relationship with Ray and Associates. Dr. William Symons will continue as interim superintendent. Dr. Symons is not a candidate for the permanent superintendent position.
"For background information on the search, please visit http://www.acps.k12.va.us/board/search/index.php."
Just last week we heard there were three finalists. Did they get cold feet after learning the story of Rebecca Perry or did they not tell School Board Chairman Claire Eberwein what she wanted to hear? Read the comments of finalist Scott Kizner in the Martinsville Bulletin about his decision to withdraw and make up your own mind.
Now that ACPS has severed ties with Ray & Associates, will the search now be given to Isaacson Miller, where former Alexandria Superintendent Dr. Herbert M. Berg serves as a consultant? Dr. Berg is listed as a contact for Isaacson Miller's open search for an Executive Director at Advance Illinois.
Another possibility could be BWP Associates. A January 2008 article in the Alexandria Gazette indicated that acting superintendent Dr. William Symons had worked as a consultant for BWP. In fact, the Growler has found that Dr. Symons is working with Dr. Berg on BWP's current search for a new superintendent in Horry County, South Carolina.
Readers may or may not remember that it was Dr. Berg, along with Ms. Eberwein, who created the 1999 school redistricting scheme which virtually resegregated Alexandria schools and led to the current sad state of Jefferson-Houston Elementary School.
We'll be watching this one closely ...
5 comments:
"“I didn’t see any reason to continue,” he said. “I withdrew my candidacy because, honestly, the response of the community and this whole process has taught me the importance of a good school board."
And how much more taxpayer money will they be spending on this search?
"And how much more taxpayer money will they be spending on this search?"
Probably at least as much as was spent on the consultants associated with the Braddock and Braddock East Plans. Segregation is expensive to maintain.
Fairfax residents recently sued the School Board and county regarding a recent decision to redistrict the school system there.
Perhaps the JH parents should consider that option rather than believing that anyone on the current Board is going to listen besides Gorsuch.
"Probably at least as much as was spent on the consultants associated with the Braddock and Braddock East Plans. Segregation is expensive to maintain."
I have been wondering about this myself. How much money is being spent on Braddock East? I am sure we will never hear from Dixon again but it seems that the city is pouring a lot of money into consulting on this issue with the basic premise that it will take over 20 years to transform things.
Did anyone see this article about whats going on at GW Middle? Its located in Delray, but I believe this is where all Parker Gray middle school students go:
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?paper=59&cat=104&article=95455
Knockout at G.W.
In the wake of schoolyard bullying, a mother tries to change student code of conduct.
By Michael Lee Pope
April 2, 2008
Reports of Violence at George Washington Middle School
Related to Weapons: 16
Against Students: 39
Against Staff: 14
Against Person: 74
Related to Property: 18
Related to Behavior: 766
Other: 9
source: 2006-2007 data from the Virginia Department of Education
Michael Lee Pope/Gazette Packet
Kathi Ray was a student at George Washington Middle School until a bullying classmate threw a basketball at her face in February.
When Kathi Ray arrived at George Washington Middle School one recent Friday afternoon, she did not realize that it would be her last day enrolled in public school. Like many of the days that culminated in her withdraw from Alexandria City Public Schools, she and her mother both say, that February morning began with bullying derision during a morning physical-education class. Like most mornings, Kathi tried to ignore the taunts, brushing off the unwanted attention and trying to move on with a game of "knockout" in which the students took turns throwing basketballs into hoops at the middle-school gym. But this morning would be different.
"White trash," taunted the sixth-grade bully, according to Kathi and her mother Mary Ray.
The racial slur was followed by what mother and daughter refer to as a "hate crime," an assault in which an African-American classmate forcefully threw a basketball into the face of the white sixth-grade student as part of a racially motivated attack. Kathi said she was stunned by the assault and tried to tell an adult. But, according to the girl, the teacher told the students to forget about what had happened and continue with their game. Shaken by what had happened and distraught by the inaction of her adult supervisor, Kathi tried to go on about her day as if nothing had happened. Yet when she arrived home that afternoon with a busted nose, her mother became enraged about how teachers and administrators handled the situation.
"What does ‘white trash’ mean, mommy?" Kathi asked her mother that afternoon.
THE EVENTS OF that Friday morning were replayed in the imagination of Mary Ray over and over that weekend as she prepared to meet with administrators on Monday morning. By the time that workweek began, Ray had collected anecdotal evidence from other parents about what she called the "racially hostile atmosphere" at the school, and she had prepared a specific recommendation about how the student code of conduct could be changed to provide more specific guidance. She sat down with Assistant Principal Gerald Mann, who said that he was shocked to hear about what had happened and that he would be looking into it.
"He said all the right stuff," said Mary Ray. "But it was just a lot of lip service."
In the days that followed, Ray withdrew her daughter from Alexandria City Public Schools and enrolled her in a private school. She said she became increasingly frustrated with the bureaucracy that she accuses of fudging the books by neglecting to file incident reports in an effort to avoid the attention that high rates of violence would bring to the school — a phenomenon she said helps to explain the dramatic recent decrease in reported acts of violence against students, which declined from 70 two years ago to 39 last year. Of the 39 acts of violence reported at against students that were reported at George Washington last year, Virginia Department of Education records show, seven students were given long-term suspension and 28 students were given short-term suspension. In four cases of violence against students, no disciplinary action was taken.
"I have asked my kids many times if they feel safe at the school, and they have always said yes," said Mary Giordano, co-president of the George Washington Middle School parent-teacher association. "The vast majority of students at G.W. go through all three years without having something like this happening to them — or even witnessing it. That’s not to say this kind of a thing never happens, but it’s limited."
NOW THAT RAY has taken her daughter out of public school, she has engaged in a crusade of sorts to reform a system that she says is broken. She has spoken publicly at two School Board meetings, trying to draw attention to how administrators handled the situation with her daughter. During an appearance at last week’s School Board meeting, Ray read the Virginia definition of a "hate crime" and accused administrators of covering up acts of violence at the middle school.
"People who have spoken up about their concerns in the past tell me they have been managed or intimidated into silence," Ray told School Board members during a public session last week. "I was threatened by an administrator with the potential for a libel suit for speaking up, but I refuse to be silent due to intimidation or retribution of lawsuits."
Interim Superintendent Bill Symons said he used the word "libel" when discussing the situation with Ray, but he denied that he was attempting to threaten or intimidate her into silence. Symons said that privacy concerns regarding individual students and the actions of staff members prevented specifics from being discussed in a public forum, such as a School Board meeting. As a result, Symons said, such matters should be handled in private outside of the attention created by public meetings.
"If you were to ask me what a staff member did or did not do in this situation, I would not be able to tell you," Symons said after the meeting concluded. "We would open ourselves to legal jeopardy if we spoke about these kinds of things in public."
DURING SEVERAL meetings with administrators, parents and School Board advisory committees, Ray has suggested that the student code of conduct be changed. Flipping through the pages of the code last weekend, she stopped on the page that listed the punishment for "substance abuse." The page listed recommended corrective actions for the first offense and a second category of corrective actions for subsequent offense. Punishments ranged from out-of-school suspension to expulsion.
"This is very clear," she said, examining the page. "Administrators have very clear guidelines about what to do if a student is caught with drugs."
Ray then flipped several pages ahead until she same to a section of the student code labeled "fighting/aggression/threats." This is the section that defines bullying as "physical intimidation, taunting, name-calling and insults … includes verbal conduct consisting of comments regarding the race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, physical abilities or characteristics or associates of the targeted person." The code then lists 16 possible corrective actions, indicating that "one or more may apply." Punishments ranged from reprimand and admonition to notification of legal authorities and expulsion. Unlike the section for substance abuse, this category had no list of corrective actions for subsequent offenses.
"This is just too vague," said Ray, shaking her head. "There is a zero-tolerance policy for violence toward teachers but there’s no clear plan of action if these same offenses occur to a child."
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