Crawley plans to stay in Prince George’s

By Ovetta Wiggins

Prince George’s County School Board Chairman Verjeana Jacobs (District 5) said Friday that Alvin Crawley, the county’s interim school superintendent, has agreed to stay in his position until school reopens in August.

Crawley did not return repeated calls for comment on Friday.  County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) said Thursday that he planned to ask Crawley, who has served since September, to rescind his resignation. His original contract was scheduled to end on June 30, but Crawley submitted his resignation last month and was scheduled to leave on June 3.

Some worried that Crawley’s decision would create additional uncertainty for the school system, which has had rapid turnover. The decision came after the General Assembly approved legislation that gives Baker the power to select the new schools chief, appoint three school board members and name the board chairman and vice chair.

Crawley has served as interim superintendent since September, replacing William R. Hite Jr., who left to take the top job in Philadelphia. Crawley became the school system’s seventh schools chief in 14 years.

Jacobs said during a “unity” breakfast hosted by Baker that the board knows changes are coming, and “we are doing what we need to do to make the shifts.”

Jacobs used the breakfast to provide those in attendance with information about successes in the system: 235 of the 250 graduates at Largo High School are headed to college; Central High School seniors received $2.9 million in scholarships, and Oxon Hill High School seniors received $4.6 million.

“At the end of the day, if adults fail, kids fail,” Jacobs said. “It is our obligation.”

Christian Rhodes, Baker’s education liaison, said Baker has been meeting with members of the school board, union leaders and employees.

He said a committee has been selected that will review the 160 applications for the three new appointed spots on the school board. M.H. Jim Estepp, president of the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable and a member of Baker’s education commission, will serve as chair.

Baker told the group that he apologized for the timing of his legislation to take over the school system. But he did not apologize for doing it.

“Whether you are for what we did or not, we are all tied to it now,” he said.

MARYLAND SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT TO LAUD TWO PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY SCHOOLS FOR SUPERLATIVE PERFORMANCE

BALTIMORE, MD (January 25, 2013) WHO: Dr. Lillian M. Lowery, State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Alvin Crawley, Interim Superintendent, Prince George's County Public Schools Amber P. Waller, Prince George's County Board of Education, District 3 Dr. Jane Ennis, Principal, Adelphi Elementary School Patricia Haith-Belgrave, Principal, Lewisdale Elementary School WHAT: Dr. Lowery and local school dignitaries will congratulate administrators, educators, and students at Adelphi Elementary School and Lewisdale Elementary School for being named a "Title I Superlative Highest Performing Reward School." A Title I Superlative Highest Performing Reward School has met progress targets for two consecutive years with an achievement gap between "all students" and any lower performing subgroup at or below 10%. In addition, the school has a student population of 50% economically disadvantaged students, and is in the top 10% of Title I schools showing the most improvement on MSAs between 2007-2011, and made a gain of at least 18 percentage points for "all students." WHEN: Monday, January 28, 2013 WHERE: Adelphi Elementary School 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. 8820 Riggs Road Adelphi, Maryland 20783 (301.431.6250) Lewisdale Elementary School 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. 2400 Banning Place Hyattsville, Maryland 20783 (301.445.8433)

Prince George's County Board of Education Names Interim Superintendent

UPPER MARLBORO, MD—The Prince George’s County Board of Education has selected Dr.Alvin Crawley, a senior-level administrator in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), to serve as Interim Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) for the 2012-13 school year. A 32-year education veteran, Dr. Crawley currently serves as deputy chief of programming in the DCPS Office of Special Education and has held top roles inthe Arlington, Chicago and Boston public school systems. He will start Tuesday,Sept. 4. “Dr.Crawley will help to provide stability for our staff, students and families aswe search for our next Superintendent of Schools,” said Verjeana M. Jacobs, Board Chair. “We are confident that his leadership, experience with business operations and policy development, and commitment to narrowing the achievement gap will serve the Prince George’s County Public Schools community exceptionally well." “I am excitedto lead Prince George’s County Public Schools at this critical time,” said Dr.Crawley. “The school system has made significant academic strides in recent years and I look forward to helping students and teachers continue on that path. I will work with the Board of Education over the next few weeks to address immediate challenges and enhance successful programs and services.” Dr.Crawley is a co-author of Gaining on the Gap: Changing Hearts Minds andPractice, which details efforts by parents and staff in Arlington PublicSchools to eliminate the achievement gap between low-income students, students of color and their peers. He received his bachelor’s degree in communication disorders/education from Hampton University, master’s degree in speech and language pathology from Northeastern University, and doctorate in education with a focus on instructional leadership and administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr.Crawley will assist the Board of Education in assessing the school system’s five priority areas: high student achievement, highly-effective teaching, safe and supportive schools, strong community partnerships and effective and efficient operations. Dr. Crawley will work closely with Superintendent William R. Hite in the weeks before he leaves to take the helm of the School District of Philadelphia. Dr.Duane Arbogast will work alongside the Interim Superintendent as Acting Deputy Superintendent. Dr. Arbogast was tapped to serve as Acting Deputy Superintendent of Academics earlier this summer after spending three years asthe county schools’ Chief Academics Officer. He has been an educator for more than three decades with experience as an elementary teacher, assistant principal and principal. “Iam very pleased that the Board has selected me to serve the school system inthis wonderful new capacity,” said Dr. Arbogast. “I will use my strengths in academics affairs to keep our schools on the path of high achievement.” The Board of Education also named Monica Goldson as Acting Chief Operating Officer. Goldson previously served as the school system’s Assistant Superintendent of the High School Consortium, where she supervised 22 high schools and more than 140 administrators. The Board of Education is holding county wide forums about the Superintendent SearchProcess. The “Moving Forward Forums” will be held on the following dates: · Aug. 21 – Bowie High School, 15200 Annapolis Road, Bowie · Aug. 30 – Northwestern High School, 7000 Adelphi Road,Hyattsville Both forums will start at 6:30 p.m. The first forum was held Thursday at Central High School. “Now that we have completed the first steps of this search process, my colleagues on the Board and I look forward to discussing the next steps with the community,”said Jacobs. More information about the Superintendent Search Process can be found on line at www1.pgcps.org/superintendentsearch. -- Briant K. Coleman, M.A. Communications Officer Office of Communications Prince George's County Public Schools 14201 School Lane Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772 www.pgcps.org briant.coleman@pgcps.org ▪ (301) 952-6375