Aliyya Swaby Photo
Rodriguez: To central office?
After its first year of a state-funded “turnaround” effort, Clinton Avenue School might begin the fall with new leadership and a push to improve instruction.
Board of Education members have been discussing the possibility of transferring current Principal Ana Rodriguez to the English language learner department in the school system’s central office, as part of an agreement with the state of getting Clinton Avenue Commissioner’s Network grants.
That move is one of at least three major personnel decisions the board is actively considering making, as the days of summer slowly wind down.
Kristina DeNegre, the current assistant principal, would take over as principal under the plan.
The state chose Clinton Avenue last March to participate in its Commissioner’s Network, which would get the Fair Haven K‑8 school needed money and a comprehensive plan for social and academic improvements. A few months later, in May 2015, the state conducted an audit of the school, revealing struggles with all aspects of recruiting and developing talent, and creating a rigorous academic program for students.
In a rating system from 1 to 4, where 1 means “below standard,” 2 means “developing,” 3 means “proficient” and 4 means “exemplary,” the school scored “below standard” or “developing” in 18 of a total 23 categories, with most at the latter rating.
It received five “proficient” ratings, in the categories of school environment, interpersonal interactions, family engagement, assessment system and data culture, and use of instructional time.
Click here to read the full audit.
State auditors said the Clinton Avenue staff seemed professional, supported and committed to their jobs, with 19 employed there for 10 or more years. Grade-level teachers appreciated the time they had to collaborate in team meetings, but teachers of electives wanted more collaboration.
The auditors concluded that school leaders successfully managed their coaches, who work to ensure teachers get needed support. But coaches wanted clearer expectations on how to support staff. And a third of staff said they don’t feel that they are held accountable for their performance.
Teachers told auditors that there was no “common vision” for what effective instruction looked like at Clinton Avenue. A little more than half of staff members said they got regular feedback from school leaders on their instruction. The teachers said their high retention rate was due to the sense of community and dedication to students, and “not due to a common focus on instruction and support needed for quality instruction,” according to the audit.
School community members agreed that the school did a good job looking a data to get students needed interventions. But auditors noted a lack of common understanding for what constituted rigorous classroom instruction.
Rodriguez said many of the classrooms are filled to capacity, with English language learners and special education students, making rigorous instruction more difficult. The school did not have sufficient funds to buy updated technology, she said, a fact that was corroborated in the audit report.
“We were missing that type of resource in the curriculum,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t have the updated capacity or technology.”
Clearing The Way
CT DOE
With part of the $200,000 grant the school received in the planning phase of the Commissioner’s Network this past school year, administrators bought four laptop carts of Google Chromebooks, Rodriguez said. Now, teachers are able to set up some students to do independent work on laptops while leading others in guided discussions.
And they will be able to hire more full-time staff to take care of students’ social-emotional needs, including a social worker, psychologist and counselor — all three of which they shared with other schools in the past, she said. With next year’s portion of the grant, they will be able to hire at least six staff members, including two paras, a full-time special education teacher and a behavioral specialist.
But Rodriguez might not stay, because of an agreement struck with state officials when planning the grant.
Harries told the Independent that the agreement is not a “legislative requirement” under the grant, but potential changes in leadership are a consideration as the state decides whether to approve a plan for funding a turnaround and accepting it into the network. “From the start of our planning, it was expected there would be new leadership,” he said. “The audit reflected a need for strengthening of instruction and in particular strengthening of instructional leadership.”
Rodriguez said she agreed to leave Clinton Avenue so she wouldn’t block the school from getting the extra funds. “I agree that Clinton Avenue School does deserve the opportunity to be part of the network, and does deserve the funds that come with those stipulations,” she said. “I don’t want to block any kind of progress, especially when it comes financially.”
Harries detailed his progress on that and two other specific administrative appointments in an e‑mail to board members last Thursday before a special board meeting.
Board members agreed to approve teacher resignations and hires at the special meeting, but they asked Harries not to include the administrative appointments on the agenda.
Some board members did not feel those were ready to leave executive session, said board member Carlos Torre, who called in to the Friday meeting. Torre, in fact, asked for the leadership appointments to be taken off Friday’s agenda.
“There’s still some controversy around them,” he said. “Not everyone on the board is in agreement with the particular choices.”
Torre said he could not comment specifically on DeNegre’s appointment or Rodriguez’s potential move from principal to the ELL office. But he said he would be concerned about having a non-Latino leadership at the majority-Latino school. “It’s important that people understand not just the language but the culture,” he said. “Otherwise, how the hell are you going to respect these students, recognize their needs, recognize their talents, if you don’t understand the culture?”
The school’s governance committee has asked for a Latino assistant principal, if DeNegre becomes principal, Harries wrote in the e‑mail, which is his goal.
Secret “Public” Meeting
Paul Bass Photo
Board members Torre, Alicia Caraballo.
At last Friday’s special board meeting, members approved 12 teacher hires and a set of financial contracts and agreements previously discussed in the Operations and Finance Committee meetings.
Harries posted the notice for Friday’s meeting at the City Clerk’s office at the last legally possible moment and put the agenda on a subpage of New Haven Public Schools’ website in the required 24-hour deadline for the meeting. No efforts were made to inform parents, the press, or the rest of the public of the meeting. And no one from the public in turn showed up.
He said the board needed a meeting to replace the week’s scheduled Monday public meeting, which was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. He wanted another meeting in order to get permission to hire teachers, before they accepted offers elsewhere, he said.
“As soon as it became apparent that we weren’t going to have a meeting on Monday, we began working with the board to have a special meeting,” he said.
The board Friday reached its quorum of five members present — three on the phone and two in person, including Mayor Toni Harp. Torre, Alicia Caraballo and Che Dawson called into the meeting; Michael Nast joined the mayor in-person, according to Torre.
In the e‑mail, Harries proposed the board appoint Don McCauley, Jr. as youth development coordinator at Brennan-Rogers School, replacing someone in the position with a different title. He also proposed approving Donna Aiello, who has been the human resources and labor relations director for the past two years, as principal at K‑2 “little Hooker” on Canner Street in East Rock.
The school’s management team interviewed Aiello for the position and chose her over other candidates.
Several vacancies still remain in central office, including a few supervisor roles and the job of chief academic officer — since candidate Karen Lott withdrew her name from consideration after debates among board members indefinitely delayed their hiring decision.
Leaders also need to be appointed for Career High School and Adult Education, Harries said. “I’m considering recommendations and making them to the board.”