Aliyya Swaby Photo
Gonzalez: DeNegre’s appointment is tied to grant.
Benitez: The hiring process was fair and honest.
After weeks of debate that threatened a $2 million state grant, the Board of Education voted to approve Kristina DeNegre as principal of Clinton Avenue School.
Board members approved her at Monday night’s meeting alongside three other school leadership changes and dozens of teacher appointments, filling the majority of open positions throughout all schools.
DeNegre will start as principal Tuesday, with a salary of $143,649. Clinton Avenue’s former administrative intern Yesenia Velez will join her as assistant principal. Her salary will be $114,038.
The approval clears the way for Clinton Avenue to receive its $2 million state Commissioner’s Network grant, to turn around the struggling school.
The state had demanded New Haven officials replace previous Clinton Avenue Principal Ana Rodriguez in order to receive the grant. Board members and Superintendent Garth Harries delayed the decision on whether and how to replace Rodriguez, debating the proper procedure to choose her successor.
They voted Monday almost unanimously, but not happily, to approve DeNegre — with a few members frustrated not because of the candidate, but because they felt Harries had carried out a biased hiring process,without giving other candidates a real chance.
Harries said he wanted DeNegre to be the school’s principal but was prepared to recommend any candidate that rose to the top of the intense, community-led hiring process.
He had tried to hire DeNegre in mid-August, without calling a full hiring committee meeting. But the board vetoed the decision and demanded the full process. DeNegre also emerged as the favorite after the full process finished this month, but some board members said no other candidate had a real chance.
“Did you promise the state that DeNegre would be principal” in discussions with the state? board member Ed Joyner asked. He was the only no vote to DeNegre’s appointment, calling it a “conspiracy” to exclude any other candidates.
Harries said he told the state early in the process he expected DeNegre to succeed Rodriguez as principal.
Board member Daisy Gonzalez said Commissioner Dianna Wentzell had called her before the meeting to answer some of her questions about the process of the state granting the city $2 million for Clinton Avenue’s turnaround. She was told that DeNegre was included in the initial planning for the grant, and would have to be approved as principal for Clinton Avenue to get the grant.
“If this was known all along, why have we wasted so much time here?” Gonzalez said.
Commissioner Wentzell could not be reached for comment Monday night.
But Harries said Gonzalez had “overstated” the reality. He said he had expected Clinton Avenue would get the grant no matter who replaced Rodriguez as principal — as long as someone replaced her.
Mayor Toni Harp and board member Che Dawson said they had known all along that the state expected DeNegre to be made principal. “It was clear to me,” Harp said.
“We didn’t go through this process with our eyes closed,” Dawson agreed. “The wool was not pulled over my eyes. This was no conspiracy.”
Board member Darnell Goldson said the matter was not made clear to him. “I wouldn’t have agreed to the whole process of candidates if I had known,” he said. But he said he would vote to approve DeNegre and would not be “responsible for denying resources to students.”
Joyner: Superintendent and state conspired.
Student board member Coral Ortiz made an impassioned plea urging board members to approve DeNegre and get Clinton Avenue the much-needed $2 million grant. “Two million dollars is not something to throw in the air,” she said.
Director of Instruction Abie Benitez, who oversaw the hiring process, vehemently disagreed with Joyner’s comments that the appointment was part of a conspiracy. She said the school governance committee of 15 parents, teachers and community members had received nine candidates, selected three, and rated them on their vision, people management skills and instructional capability.
Goldson said there was “no evidence this process wasn’t fair,” but that it was useless to go through with it, if the money was attached to DeNegre’s position. All board members said they had nothing against DeNegre as a candidate.
1o Teacher Vacancies Remain
Ortiz (left): Vote yes to DeNegre so kids can have books.
The board unanimously approved former Coop High Assistant Principal Laura Roblee as principal of Creed/Hyde School at an annual salary of $130,787. David Diah will take her place at Coop.
Since March 28, 251 staff members have been hired across all schools, which includes 189 new teachers, Harries reported. Teachers funded by the $53.4 million federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant to take on additional leadership roles at their schools are staying in New Haven “at disproportionately high rates,” above 90 percent, compared to teachers not taking on those roles, he said.
About 18 percent of new hires are black and 13 percent are Latino. They are adding to a current pool of educators that is 13 percent black and 7 percent Latino.
About 10 vacancies remain, including four classroom teachers in middle and high school, three out-of-classroom staff members, and three newly created position in schools, Harries said. Two schools — Fair Haven School and Hill Central Music Academy — had overenrolled classrooms starting the school year. Harries said he expected that problem to be resolved by Tuesday.
“The volume of overenrolled classes is significantly down from what it has been,” he said.