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.

Dr. Elaine Simon, Urban Studies Univ. of Penn. discusses the impact of school closings on communities

Dr. Elaine Simon,Urban Studies Univ. of Penn.  discusses the impact of school closings oncommunities.

Dr. Mike Robinson discussed the  His guest was Dr. Elaine Simon from the University of Pennsylvania. Recently, Dr. Simon wrote an article where she examined what school closings really mean to neighborhoods. According to Dr. Simon’s research and those of other scholars; most students from schools recommended for closing in Philadelphia for example would not end up in better-performing schools. They are likely to wind up in schools much like the ones they were in before.
Given this assertion, the questions one has to ask are: 

(1) Why are schools closing?

(2) How will students benefit from closing of their neighborhood schools? 

(3) What becomes of the teachers and school administrators of those schools that are forced to close? 

(4) How should parents, teachers and community leaders measure the success of closing schools beyond any monetary gains? 

(5) Finally, should the cost of operating schools be the sole factor in determine which schools are closed?

BIO

Elaine Simon is co-director of the Urban Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior research consultant at Research for Action. Elaine Simon is an anthropologist who has conducted ethnographic research and evaluation in the fields of education, employment and training, and community development. She is Co-Director of Urban Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences and adjunct Associate Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Hite hires his CFO from Prince George's County

Superintendent William Hite has hired Matthew E. Stanski as chief financial officer for the School District. Stanski worked in that position in the Prince George's County school district when Hite was head of the schools there.

Stanski, 34, left Prince George's under controversial circumstances. Persons close to the situation indicated that it was the product of turmoil resulting from Hite's own hastened departure and did not reflect on Stanski's skills or fitness for the job here.

The controversy, reported in the Washington Post, focuses on Stanski's cutting of a severance check for another departing official that was not authorized by the Board of Education. 

In an interview, Hite said that Stanski has "a good bit of technical knowledge and the right disposition" for the job. Among other things, Hite said, Stanski helped Prince George's eliminate a $300 million deficit and turned in budgets that received clean audits after years of problematic ones.

Hite said that Stanski also has his trust, and that is important, given the District's history of poor communication between former Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and former CFO Michael Masch.

"Part of it was a level of comfort, and I wasn't the only one who felt like he has the type of skills that we needed," Hite said.

School Reform Commission member Feather Houstoun said that Stanski was "head and shoulders above the other candidates that we met." Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen, who has already been working with Stanski, said in a statement that Stanski "has the full confidence of Dr. Hite. I cannot emphasize how important that is."

Houstoun said she was looking for a CFO who could assemble a good team, had been part of a high-performing organization, and could "translate and bring to understandable terms the complexity of what we are dealing with." 

She said that Stanski met those criteria.

"I was aware of the controversy in Prince George's County before I met him," Houstoun said. "We talked about it ... and it did not, to me, rise to be a disabling thing. I think he will be a real asset to the District."

Prince George's school board member Donna Hathaway also spoke highly of Stanski and said his departure took place in a "politicized environment."

"In my years working with Matt, I had the utmost respect for him, his abilities, the way he presented budgets and his knowledge," Hathaway said.

According to those with knowledge of the controversy, the Prince George's general counsel told Stanski to write a lump-sum severance check to former human resources director Synthia J. Shilling instead of paying out her severance in biweekly increments -- and he did so. Shilling left the district in August when she was facing trial for leaving the scene of an accident.

Stanski and the general counsel were dismissed. Stanski appealed the dismissal and was allowed to resign, according to persons with knowledge of the situation.

Stanski is the second Prince George's official Hite has brought with him to high-level positions. The other is Karyn Lynch, who is chief of student services.

He starts Monday, according to District spokesman Fernando Gallard.

Dr. William R. Hite named a finalist for superintendent School District of Philadelphia

Message from the Dr. William R. Hite

Dear PGCPS Community:

Earlier today, the School Reform Commission (SRC) for the School District of Philadelphia announced that I have been named a finalist for superintendent. This announcement comes after weeks of discussions with the SRC. While I have not sought out other professional opportunities, I have been approached on numerous occasions and have turned them down. However, my wife Deirdre and I believe this is an opportunity that we must explore.

Despite significant fiscal challenges, our school system has made significant progress and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished over the last three years with the support of our school board members. As the search process continues, I will try to keep you informed.

As always, thank you for your support.

Best,

William R. Hite, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools



---------


Message from the Prince George's County Board of Education


The Prince George's County Board of Education released the following statement regarding Dr. Hite's selection as a finalist for superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia: 
"Dr. Hite is a talented superintendent and this announcement serves as validation of the progress we are making in our school district. If Dr. Hite were to leave, we would be sorry to see him go. However, we remain committed to continuing our efforts to improve the quality of education of our students and will continue to guide the school district as we prepare for the 2012-13 school year."

Three Great Interviews on Parent Talk Live You Have to Hear

Parent Talk Live Hosted By: Dr. Mike Robinson  New Season Starts August 19, 2012 Here are three Great Interviews on Parent Talk Live you have to hear.                                                                                                                                   Barbara Fisher                                                                       William E. Rogers 2012 JoAnne L. Carter Memorial Award                                      2010 Publishing Mama, LLC Recognition for her Parental Engagement                                    Father of the Year Listen online: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/parent-talk-live/2012/05/07/parent-talk-live-barbara-fisher-and-william-rogers Mrs. Nikki Guy-Dixon Former PGCPS Educator Current Home Schooler Listen online: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/parent-talk-live/2012/05/11/parent-talk-live-home-schooling-with-nikki-guy-dixon-1 Dr. William R. Hite, Jr. Superintendent Prince George’s County Public Schools Listen online: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/parent-talk-live/2012/06/04/parent-talk-live-prince-georges-county-public-schools

Visit Parents and PGCPS at: http://parentsandpgcps.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Congratulations to Mrs. Barbara Fisher, 2012 JoAnne L. Carter Memorial Award Winner

The staff of Parental Engagement with PGCPS, Parents and PGCPS, its supporters and members congratulate Mrs. Barbara Fisher on being awarded the 2012 JoAnne L. Carter Memorial Award in recognition of her involvement with Carrollton Elementary School.

Barbara Fisher

Prince George’s County

Parents and PGCPS Members since 2010

Statement from MSDE:

Barbara Fisher of Prince George’s County, was presented with the JoAnne L. Carter Memorial Award in recognition of her involvement with Carrollton Elementary School.  This award is given annually in honor of JoAnne L. Carter, Deputy State Superintendent for the Maryland State Department of Education, who lost her battle with cancer in 2009.  A parent herself, Ms. Carter was a staunch advocate for parental involvement in education. The award is given annually to a parent that exemplifies all that she held dear. 

The Parent Involvement Matters Awards is the nation’s first and only statewide award program of its kind.  The Maryland State Department of Education’s program recognizes parents and guardians for their exceptional support of public education.  Parents were nominated for demonstrating significant, positive impact in their communities across five areas of parental involvement: Communication, Volunteering, Learning, Decision Making and Community Collaboration.

Visit Parents and PGCPS at: http://parentsandpgcps.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Parent Talk Live Discusses PGCPS with Dr. William R. Hite, Jr

Dr. William R. Hite, Jr.

Superintendent

Prince George’s County Public Schools

Dr. William R. Hite, Jr. was named Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) on April 3, 2009, by the Prince George’s County Board of Education, after serving as Interim Superintendent since December 1, 2008.  In June 2006, Dr. Hite was hired as Deputy Superintendent of PGCPS, Maryland’s second largest school system and the 18th largest system in the nation. During his tenure, he focused on student access and educational equity to ensure that all students graduate college-and work-ready. 

Parent Talk Live: Hosted by: Dr. Mike Robinson

Guest: Dr. William Hite, Jr. Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools

Subject: Prince George’s County Public Schools

Air Date: June 3, 2012

Time: 8:30pm

Call in Number: (646) 716-5649

Listen Online: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/parent-talk-live/2012/06/04/parent-talk-live-prince-georges-county-public-schools

Twitter Questions: https://twitter.com/DrMikeRobinson  

Facebook Questions: Facebook.com/DrMikeRobinson

2012 Parental Engagement Survey for Parents

Hello Engaged Parents and Dedicated Educators,


Parental engagement makes a significant difference in the educational outcomes of children and young people; parents have a key role in raising educational standards. The more involved and engaged parents are in the education of their children the more likely their children are to succeed.

Forest Of The Rain Productions is committed to expanding the partnership between home and school. We believe increased communication between parents, families and school will serve as the pathway to increasing student achievement. To expand this discussion on the value of the home school partnership, we invite you to participate in our 2012 Parental Engagement Survey for parents. Your views, opinions and thoughts on the importance of parental engagement are priceless and represent one half of the team assigned to impact the academic achievement of children.

Please take a few minutes to complete our open-ended, narrative based survey. Your comments will be confidential. We have limited our response number, so please respond quickly if you aspire to have your voice included in this year’s study.

The link to the survey is listed below.

Thanks for your participation.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/26BQN5J

COPE and the Metro Washington Council Announced Their Endorsements for PGCPS Board of Education

The following candidates were selected for endorsement by the Prince George's and Montgomery County COPE and Metro Washington Council.

District 1 - David Murray

District 4 - Sandy Vaughns

District 5 - Deidre Jackson

District 7 - Carletta Fellows

District 8 - Edward Burroughs

Community Group plans 3rd Symposium

A coalition of educational advocates will present their 3rd annual inside look at the Prince George’s County Public Schools for candidates running for the Board of Education. The event, which is open to the public, will feature topics like the achievement gap, ethics and the difference between the capital and operating budgets.

Earlier this year Dr. Hite held a closed-door meeting with the candidates resulting in criticism by some of an appearance to influence the politics of the board. Hite denied the charges saying he only wanted to provide an overview of many of the things facing the system.

Event Details

SAVE THE DATE!
Saturday, March 17
9201 Basil Court, Largo
CITIZENS FOR AN ELECTED BOARD PRESENTS THE THIRD
Prince George’s County
EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM
on
SCHOOL BOARD ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
A Comprehensive Inside View of
How our School System is Governed
–OPERATING AND CAPITAL BUDGETING
–LABOR RELATIONS
–ETHICS
–ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
–FEDERAL AND STATE LEGISLATION
–PARENT & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
–STUDENT DISCIPLINE & TRUANCY
–SPECIAL PROGRAMS
–THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
–and MUCH MORE!
School Board candidates and the general public welcome!

Watch for formal announcement coming soon

For more information:
Email ElectedBoard@aol.com
or call Jan Hagey (301) 464-0171
Dave Cahn (301) 627-5126

Parent Talk Live: The PGCPS BOE Candidate Forum One

Dr. Mike Robinson, president of Parents and PGCPS and host of Parent Talk Live will facilitate a series of on air candidate forums with as many of the new candidates for the Prince George’s County Public Schools Board of Education as possible over the next several weeks.

Dr. Robinson will not focus on incumbent BOE members as their views and opinions are well chronicled in their community engagement activities and their votes on key items during board meetings over the past year and a half can be heard on webcast of past BOE meetings.

David Murray: District 1

Orlando Bego: District 8

Click to Here to Hear the Discussion

UPCOMING INTERVIEWS

UPCOMING INTERVIEWS
“PARENT TALK LIVE”
HOSTED BY:
Dr. Michael A. Robinson

Parent Talk Live is a weekly radio show for families and members of the community who aspire to become an integral part of their children’s academic success and the growth of communities. Parent Talk Live is hosted by Dr. Michael A. Robinson.

Felecia Hatcher
Author
The “C” Students Guide to Scholarships
Topic: “The “C” Students Guide to Scholarships”
Date: June 5, 2011
Time: 8:30pm-9:30pm
Call-in Number: 914.803.4591
Tweet Questions: http://twitter.com/pgcpsparents

Felecia Hatcher was recently named one of the Top 10 Superstar Entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by Allbusiness.com and she has been featured in Essence Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, ABC News, Inc.com, Entrepreneur and the Food Network. As an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and author Hatcher has dedicated her life to motivating young people to look past their circumstances and get creative!

Hatcher has recently published her first book titled The 'C' Students Guide To Scholarships, to help students with less then stellar grades beat the odds and put themselves in the running for scholarship funds. As an average high school student - with a GPA that fluctuated between 2.1 and 2.7 - Hatcher beat the odds and managed to pull down over $100,000 in scholarship money to attend Lynn University. At 19, she started her first college coaching business called Urban Excellence. Hatcher has since traveled around the country conducting workshops and building successful college prep programs for companies like DeVry, the YMCA, Texas A&M, TED and the Urban League.

Hatcher has also spearheaded a number of successful experiential marketing campaigns while working for Nintendo, Sony and the WNBA, and in 2008 she embraced her inner foodie and took to the Miami streets with her now wildly successful Feverish Ice Cream Truck and boutique ice cream catering company. In her free time, Felecia Hatcher works with the NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship), consults with start-ups, and travels the country speaking to parents and students about scholarships and youth empowerment.

Dr. Jonathan Cohen
Cofounder and President
National School Climate Center
(Formerly the Center for Social and Emotional Education)
Topic: The Importance of a Positive School Climate
Date: June 12, 2011
Time: 8:00pm-8:30pm
Call-in Number: 914.803.4591
Tweet Questions: http://twitter.com/pgcpsparents

Dr. Cohen is an adjunct professor in psychology and education at Columbia University, adjunct professor in education at City University of New York and a practicing clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. Dr. Cohen has worked in and with K–12 schools for over 30 years in a variety of roles: as a teacher, program developer, school psychologist, consultant, psycho-educational diagnostician and mental health provider.

Dr. William R. Hite
Superintendent
Prince George's County Public Schools
Topic: Leading A Large Urban School System in Times of Fiscal Challenges
Date: June 17, 2011
Time: 2:00pm-2:30pm
Call-in Number: 914.803.4591
Tweet Questions: http://twitter.com/pgcpsparents

Dr. William R. Hite, Jr. was named Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) on April 3, 2009, by the Prince George’s County Board of Education, after serving as Interim Superintendent since December 1, 2008.

In June 2006, Dr. Hite was hired as Deputy Superintendent of PGCPS, Maryland’s second largest school system and the 18th largest system in the nation. During his tenure, he focused on student access and educational equity to ensure that all students graduate college-and work-ready. This work continues at a rapid pace and without interruption.

Among his many leadership responsibilities, Dr. Hite has led major efforts resulting in increased student achievement, significant improvements in teaching and learning, and school improvement status. This included work on the Intensive Support and Intervention Schools (ISIS) that provided significant support to schools most in need based on student and school performance indicators, as well as work in partnership with the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, which focused on improving the capacity of teachers and administrators to strengthen the teaching and learning process. Most recently, he oversaw a major reorganization of the district’s regions into zones to reduce cost and provide greater support to schools.