Harries Is Out

By Nov. 1, Garth Harries will no longer be the superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, under a severance agreement passed late Monday night by the Board of Education.

After hours of public comment — about a third of it in support of keeping the embattled superintendent in place — a subdued board emerged from executive session at L.W. Beecher School Monday at about 10:20 p.m. to resume its public meeting. The janitorial staff had already set to right the cafetorium so that students could eat breakfast.

Most of the people who had packed the room earlier that evening had long since headed home. The only ones left to hear the decision were Harries, schools Chief Operating Officer Will Clark, the board secretary and a reporter.

In a voice vote, board members approved a proposed release and separation agreement between the board and Harries. It also authorized that the board to name its members to a personnel search committee to recommend an interim superintendent and later a permanent superintendent.

The board did not reveal the contents of the agreement despite voting on and approving it in this split-second resumed ​“public” meeting.

It was later learned that the agreement calls for Harries to be paid his full salary and benefits through June 30, 2017. His contract runs through June 30, 2018. The agreement also called for him to receive medical benefits through June 30, 2018, unless he obtains health insurance in a new position.

“He left about $300,000 on the table,” said one person familiar with the deliberations. Harries’ salary is $200,797 a year.

Board member Che Dawson, who abstained from the vote, said that he agreed with the board’s decision but was ​“uncomfortable with the timing and how fast the decision was made.”

Mayor Toni Harp, who also is board president, said that she believes the decision ​“precipitous.”

“I agree that it is something that has been negotiated between the board’s attorney and the superintendent’s attorney. I have concerns,” she said. ​“But I will vote yes given that negotiation.”

Several board members shook Harries’s hand after the vote. Board member Daisy Gonzalez gave him a hug.

Harries, who’s 44, began working in the New Haven school system in 2009 as assistant superintendent. He was an architect of the city’s school reform drive. He became superintendent in 2013 upon predecessor Reggie Mayo’s retirement. His tenure has actually long compared to those of colleagues in other Connecticut cities. Hartford’s schools superintendent decided to leave after just two years. Bridgeport has had an interim superintendent for two years.

Harries said he’s ​“at peace” with the decision, and is proud of the accomplishments that were achieved during his tenure as assistant superintendent and superintendent.

“I think that includes our teachers’ contract, and landmark work and professionalizing and enhancing the role of teachers,” he said. “[Also] our gains in graduation rates, which includes a parallel expansion in college going. I think we’ve been really deliberate in our efforts in increasing learning for disengaged kids, for our most challenged schools.”

Maree Snead, Harries’ lawyer, conducted the negotiations on the severance agreement with Thomas Mooney, an attorney the Board of Education hired to guide its quest to push him out of the job.

Harries is the second leading city official this month to resign under fire and accept a severance agreement despite efforts by the mayor to hold onto him. Police Chief Dean Esserman was the first. The police department currently has an interim chief. The schools will soon have one, too; they currently have no chief administrative officer or chief financial officer.

Last Appeal Strikes Out

The calm moment at the school board late Monday night capped months of invective and maneuvering between opponents of Harries on the board. His opponents argued that he communicated poorly with the the public, was too cozy with charter schools, and failed to bring enough progress to the school. The Harp administration and school administrators supporting Harries argued that he was the victim of a politicized witch hunt despite succeeding in raising graduation rates and test scores and cutting truancy; they said he brought about needed change.

Earlier Monday night, supporters of Harries pulled out the stops to try to save his job. School administrators, charter school advocates, the Rev. Boisie Kimber, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, and teachers union leaders filled the meeting room. In remarks to the board during the public comment period, several people appealed to the board not necessarily to offer Harries their full support, but to say that the beginning of the school year was the wrong time.

Former Hillhouse Principal Kermit Carolina, now a central office administrator, argued that this was the wrong time to oust the superintendent. He pointedly talked about how previous superintendents, too, struggled to boost math and reading scores, even if they were more popular in the process.

“I’m not saying they didn’t have success, but they had failures too,” Carolina said of the previous superintendents. ​“If anyone in this room says different, shame on you.”

Carolina said there are legitimate criticisms of the school system. But he chastised critics for showing up to get rid of Harries without offering solutions to fix problems. He also said getting rid of the superintendent would waste money the district needs everything from textbooks to support staff that could stand to make better wages.

“I don’t have any problem telling him it’s time to go, when it’s time to go,” Carolina said. ​“How can we find money all of sudden to pay a man not to do his job?”

Marianne Maloney, a New Haven Academy teacher and New Haven Federation of Teachers steward, said during public comment Monday that teachers had just finished negotiating a contract that included an agreement to ​“reinvigorate reform” and spend about a year hammering out concerns that usually don’t get tackled during formal negotiations. Any sudden plans to change leadership means a change in direction, she warned.

“Make it clear to us the direction you wish us to take and any changes you want to see occur,” she said. ​“We thought you wanted reform. We thought you wanted increased teacher accountability and increased responsibility of teachers to come to the table and be part of the hard decisions that would take our district forward.

“We thought you wanted reduced absenteeism. We thought you wanted higher standardized test scores. We thought you wanted an increase in the percentage of high school graduates. We thought you wanted an increase in college admissions. We thought you wanted an increase in college graduates,” she added. ​“In short, we thought we were on the right track. The statistics certainly support our success in all of these areas. Our confusion lies in your current challenge to the leadership that brought us all these measure of success.”

Maloney called Harries the principal architect of school reform. As assistant superintendent, then as superintendent, he helped usher in the the nationally recognized success that the district has seen, including $93 million in federal support.

“It is true that this kind of radical change … is uncomfortable for many,” she said. ​“Radical change is never comfortable. The question is: Is being uncomfortable a reason to jump ship?

“Am I suggesting that every decision that Garth has made is a good one? Hell no. Am I suggesting he’s not as stubborn as blazes and not necessarily the best communicator in the world? No, I’m not. What I’m asking is whether we really want to exchange this uncomfortable but successful change agent for the comfortable good ole days when we did a lot of flag waving about kids first but the stats never changed.”

In addition to Carolina and Maloney, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce President Tony Rescigno, City Controller Daryl Jones and several others spoke in favor of keeping Harries in place.

But ultimately the voices that had spoken loudest and longest over many months prevailed.

Harries’s ouster was the second of two blows for Mayor Harp Monday, who earlier in the evening had board members essentially overrule her decision not to allow board member Alicia Caraballo to participate as a voting member in Monday’s meeting. Board members voted 5 to 1 that Caraballo and Mike Nast, both of whom had their terms expire Sept. 15 at least according to the city Corporation Counsel, could remain on the board until a legal opinion of some kind was obtained from outside counsel. Harp last weekend sent Caraballo a letter saying her term had expired; Caraballo and supporters on the board insisted that an agreement with the Board of Alders earlier this year and language in a city charter revision ensured that she remain in her seat until the end of 2016.

Harries said there was more work to do and he was eager to be part of doing, but it was more important for the district leadership to be ​“collaborating and pulling in the same direction.” He said mutually agreeing to end his contract early allows the district the opportunity to seek someone else.

The Official Statement

Following is the text of a statement the board and Harries agreed to release today:

The New Haven Board of Education and Mr. Garth Harries have mutually agreed that Mr. Harries’ employment as Superintendent of Schools for the New Haven Public Schools will end this fall, with a target of November 1, 2016 depending on the Board’s appointment of an interim and the facilitation of a smooth leadership transition. The Board of Education will announce the appointment of an interim superintendent as soon as possible, and it will soon appoint a committee to launch and conduct a search for the new Superintendent.

The Board of Education thanks Mr. Harries for his service to the New Haven school community. During his tenure as Superintendent, Mr. Harries promoted student learning through a number of initiatives, including strengthening of early grade learning, expanding emphasis on restorative practices and other dimensions of social emotional learning and physical health, deepening the roles and opportunities for teacher collaboration and leadership, and implementing an intense focus on the most disengaged students and historically challenged schools. Through this and other work, the district has seen gains in graduation, college going, and smarter balanced test scores – as well as an increase in enrollment and balanced budgets. Mr. Harries and the Board of Education are committed to assuring a smooth transition of leadership to assure that the outstanding work of the staff and students of the New Haven Public Schools will continue.

Harries’ Departure Email

Harries sent the following email message at 11:57 p.m. Monday to staffers:

New Haven Educators:

With deep emotion and appreciation for our collective work on behalf of New Haven students and families, I write to share the news that the Board of Education and I agreed tonight to end my contract early this fall. See our joint statement below.

As I share this news, I am proud of the many accomplishments this education community has achieved together over the last seven years since I arrived in New Haven and over the last three years since I became Superintendent. These accomplishments include: our national landmark work in professionalizing and enhancing the role of teachers; 17 percentage point gains in graduation and parallel expansions of college going and college persistence; and deliberate improvements in engagement and learning for our youngest students, our most disengaged students, and our historically challenged schools. The statistics are meaningful to me because I see individual student faces and futures behind every one the numbers.

There are, of course, many challenges that remain in New Haven, which I have been eager to address. However, the City of New Haven — particularly the students and families who rely most on a strong public schools — deserve a school district where the adults are collaborating and pulling in the same direction, with a common vision and approach to education. I have offered to end my contract early to provide the Board the opportunity to seek new leadership for the district, who I hope will understand and build on our foundation of collaboration, growth, and equity.

I look forward both to my future, and to see the future successes of this district. Thank you for all the work we have done together and all that I have learned from you. Keep rising.

Garth