School Board Rejects Patrick Henry Admissions Changes & Doesn’t Sign Lease
It wasn’t very surprising that during last night’s school board meeting they voted to reject changes to the admission’s policy. The denial of siblings will make it very hard for families that only had one child get in to the school. As reported in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
The board denied requests to allow pre-lottery status to siblings of children who’ve been accepted for Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts’ first school year, as well the children of the school’s founders and children of school employees.
More surprising was this statement.
However, during the work session, Richmond school officials said the only detailed renovation plans and sketches they have are for the first phase, and those were just received yesterday. Those plans are for work that was scheduled to begin next month and be completed by the time the school opens in July. But board members said they also need detailed plans for the second and third construction phases, which Patrick Henry officials said yesterday could take up to 90 days to receive.
Because of this, the issue of the building lease was not even considered. It looks like the first year of Patrick Henry will be held at the alternative site the Woodland Heights Baptist Church, pending approval by the church. Also I assume that the school board will have to approve the change as well.
Updated to add link to NBC12 story comments from both Kim Bridges, school board chairperson and Antione Green, CEO of PH’s Board of Directors.
PHSSA and RPS have been working on the Phase 1 ADA remediation plans for the past several weeks to ensure that the school board doesn’t violate its ADA settlement by re-opening that building. The construction plans for Phase 1 of Patrick Henry were revised several times over the past few weeks and the board received the final version of the plans yesterday, in addition to a scope of services for Phases 2 and 3 of the work. The challenge of ADA remediation for the Patrick Henry building have been an ongoing issue and part of ongoing discussions between the boards since 2008.
The admissions policy in the Charter agreement is the one that will remain in effect,and that policy does allow sibling pre-lottery status for current students. At issue was how you define current students when a program is not in operation; this will not be an issue after year one.
Thank you, Ms. Bridges, for clarifying. We appreciate any insight you and the board can provide to the community. With the school being located in our neighborhoods, you can understand that we are very interested in seeing it succeed.
[...] III: School Board acts; still no lease. Click here for the story at Hills and [...]
I would like to ask Mrs. Bridges what it is that she thinks RPS administration and this School Board have accomplished by repeatedly delaying and denying information and cooperation to the Patrick Henry families. She certainly “sounds” sincere, but actions speak louder than political platitudes. The entire history of the PHSSA effort’s attempts to work with the Richmond School Board and administration is filled with dysfunction and disinformation, with the School Board and administration constantly coming up with one more “thing” that PHSSA must do in order to satisfy them. This is so tiresome. The School Board should either vote it up or vote it down and stop jerking people around.
To understand what is happening at RPS and with the school board, you must remember that the school board has a big problem. They forget that they are the superintendent’s boss. They forget that they really have a lot of authority to set policy. They forget that their job is to improve the educational experience for children and families. Given this, they are working much to much in synch with RPS, and allowing the tail to wag the dog. Since RPS does not want any charter school to open, the school board is then their tool to continue to throw up roadblocks. That is why the roadblocks come at unseeming and well paced times. One day, we can only hope, the school board will think for itself, and act as the independent body it was meant to be. They voted to approve the charter, and now they are the accomplices in the attempt to undo it. Seriously, think about what giving the lease would do. It would give the charter school board the freedom to actually start doing some things do the building to get ready to open. If all else fails, the building gets some improvements. But the school board refuses to see it that way. They are like a selfish child hogging the ball a ball on a playground. It is time for the parents of Richmond to speak up and demand action to help the charter school open, not hinder it.
Based upon what Mr. Day says, I guess we should start calling her Kim Roadblocks instead, eh?
From the outset, this school and its supporters and detractors have had many uninformed, misinformed, and plain foolish notions about the school building itself and the development of the charter.
Problem #1 Why did RPS close this building in the first place? Because it would cost a fortune to bring it to code when declining enrollment wouldn’t produce the necessary fortune, thus, moving those students to other schools in the area was a huge savings.
Problem #2 What is the knowledge and/or experience that the developers of the charter have which qualify them to open a school? Almost none. However, I do think people who have a good idea should try to run with it even if they are misguided. After all, Antoine Green isn’t an educational leader, he’s a party hopping, wannabe politician, who was just ousted from his presidency with the Crusade for Voters for what could be described as a lack of confidence vote or mutiny, so what’s he doing leading this initiative as a president of the organization? Probably trying to make himself look good for the governor.
The people who are behind this project mean well, but for who? How they cried when their children didn’t get in. Of course they did because they thought that opening a public charter with a lottery as required by law didn’t mean they weren’t entitled.
Problem #3 Current state law allows for little more than a public school with the label charter. The school board calls all the shots because the constitution, charter school law, and the public at large wants it that way.
Don’t believe me? Check the laws for yourself and check out charter reform sites that discuss Virginia.
Now some of you are probably broiling mad at this point and haven’t read much of what I have written, but first, why are you angry? Am I telling a lie? Have I said a half-truth? Second, I honestly support the idea, the concept, but the planning, the people behind it, and the situation at this time make this terrible timing and trying to ramrod something like this through doesn’t speak to me of what the children need or want but what politicians and parents want.
Instead of burning our school board members at the gates, why not try to find out what else they have going on? It’s not like PHSSA is the only thing on their plates and for less than 20k a year part time job, what do you expect from a group of elected officials? Miracles? Not a one of them, to my knowledge, has any experience running a school either. None of them have been building principals, or a superintendent. What experience does Dr. Brandon have with running or opening a charter school? And since our (citizens of Richmond) schools are having their budgets cut, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TRYING TO TAKE MORE MONEY FROM THE REST OF THE SCHOOLS??? NOT NOW!
PHSSA a great idea with the worst timing and planning.
Joe, interesting points all of them. I do have a comment on point #2 though. The founders do not feel that they are entitled for entitlement’s sake to spots in the school. They feel entitled due to the long hours and months of hard work they have been putting in. And truth be told there are currently only about 18 kids that would get spots if they were allowed to get in pre-lottery.
And a point about #3 and taking money from the rest of the schools. I’d hazard a guess that many of the students enrolling in PH are coming from other RPS schools (including my own child). So it’s not really leaving a child out there unfunded, just transferring the funds to PH. And it is helpful to know that RPS will be paying less per child at PH than they will in other schools, so essentially it is cheaper for RPS to send kids to PH.
I was at the fundraiser last night and the governor said something that we all need to remember; the road might be a little bumpy but in the long run it will work out. I, myself, will try to remember this whenever I start shaking my fist in the direction of the RPS school board.
#7, Point 3. A charter school receives the same per diem spent in other public schools of the jurisdiction, EXCEPT that the school system may withold up to 20% of the per diem as overhead costs. So Patrick Henry would have 130 students but receive 20% less per pupil that Swansboro, for instance, receives. So actually, a charter school does not take money away from other public schools. It takes away responsibility for some students, while leaving 20% of the funding on the superintendent’s desk.
Joe,
Good points, I can agree with most, and it looks like you can see the ‘forest throught the trees’. I would like to make one comment about what you said regarding the school board member’s function, responsibilities and pay. I certaily hope no member of school board, or city council for the matter, are in their positions for the money. Yes, they only make $20,000 / year, but in some localities (better run localities to boot), compensation isn’t even 1/4 of that. Candidates knew that before running for office, so I certainly hope they are only going to do $20,000 worth of work for the city. If you are going to work in public service as a part-time elected official, you should be doing it for the service, and not the pay.
While the costs associated with bringing this building up to code and declining enrollment is what caused the buiding to close, you really can’t compare that to the charter school. The existing school only serviced the surrounding neighborhoods, and not the entire city like the charter school will service. If it’s any indication as to how many people registered their children for the lottery, I would guess that this school could be at capacity within a couple of years making the costs associated with renovations a non-issue. And if a lottery is necessary, then the concept of a charter school will probably work. Now, what I said is CONCEPT, if the plan is not executed properly, then the school will fall flat on its face and fail.
I agree, PHSSA is a great idea; one that I hope comes to fruition. My wife and I are in our early 30′s, and have an infant that we hope can attend a school like PHSSA. Both my wife and I grew up in the suburbs and we enjoy city life and hope to show our children what living in the city is like. While we do OK, we can’t afford / justify private education. Living in Westover Hills, the PHSSA is exactly where we want to send our child when he is ready to go off to school. That said, if we can’t send him there, we, like many other people our age, will unfortunately move to the County to get a quality, safe education. We have enjoyed our 6 years in Westover Hills, and really enjoy convenience and quality of life, we don’t enjoy the quality of education. Before we had kids, that wasn’t an issue; but now it is our priority. Without this school, more and more people our age will move from the city to the counties. The city will never progress unless they get this right!
I hope the city officials / school board members understands this and move forward with the school. I hope PHSSA opens this summer. If not, neighborhoods of young wage earners will continue to flock to the counties.
Maybe if the people involved with PH had put a similar effort into, y’know, improving their existing schools, we wouldn’t have to have this conversation right now.
AreaMan some of us are putting a similar effort into an existing school. This conversation on the quality of education and the best means to that end will continue to happen as long as parents seek out what they feel is the best for their children. It is when the conversation and efforts for change stop that I will become truly concerned.
I think the real tragedy of a generation of abandoned public education is that many young families don’t realize how good some local schools, especially elementary schools, really are. It’s not just Mary Munford and Fox. Souhtampton and Fisher in the Fourth District are also well-performing schools. There is a principal in the East End doing really magnificent work with the most challenged kids in the city. Richmond has open enrollment, so parents in Westover Hills have not only PH but Fisher and Southampton to consider. Go visit, go look at the day to day work. But open enrollment also means that if every parent of a primary-aged child signed up for Westover Elementary, it would be a neighborhood school next year.
Be sure and find out what the suspension rate is at your neighborhood elementary school. One of the reasons that “some” schools are doing such “great” work is that they are suspending incredibly high numbers of elementary school children.
You might also be sure and check how many children at the school took the VGLA (Virginia Alternative Grade Level Assessment)for kids deemed as special ed. and for some reason unable to take a multiple choice test.
The real tragedy here is that so many educators in the city of Richmond are willing to write certain kids off simply because of their zip code or their mother’s marital status.
This isn’t solely an issue of the young families “not giving” public education a “chance.” Mrs. Bridges talks a good game about going to your neighborhood school, but what she fails to understand is that not all neighborhoods — hence not all neighborhood schools — are equal.
I am told that neither Souhtampton nor Fisher fall into those categories.
Fisher has much to commend it, but the school is driving out the best teacher the system has ever had for children with hearing impairment. Why RPS continues to use our special ed. kids as income producers and as scapegoats is especially galling. Most of the elementary schools on the Southside are overcrowded as it is, which is another reason that makes RPS’ recalcitrance to working together with the Patrick Henry families even more confounding.
If RPS were to become collaborative and cooperative, all elementary schools on the Southside would benefit. WHY is RPS so threatened by Patrick Henry?
Just a couple of points of clarification: School Board members receive $10,000 per year. The Chair position recieves an extra $1,000 per year.
The administrative fee proposed for services RPS can offer the charter school (financial services, accounting/financial reportin, payrolle, HR) is 2%, not 20%. That fee is based upon the indirect cost rate allowed by the U.S. DOE and Virginia DOE to recover the indirect costs associated with the administration of federal and state programs. This administrative fee will partially cover the costs of administrative services performed for PHSSA and was presented to the school board along with 15 services (special education, maintenance, nutrition services, payroll, etc.) that the school system could provide to support PHSSA operations.
I don’t have a dog in this hunt, but #7 hit on the nail on the head when he opined
“Problem #1 Why did RPS close this building in the first place? ”
Maybe this is a stupid question, but if you folks had chosen a building in good shape and NOT owned by PPS, would the School Board and the Superintendent STILL be able to hold you hostage?
Patrick Henry was a great little school building back in the days before the Richmond school system when down the tubes and it’s still a charming building.
But from all the discussions here, it sure seems to me that the when the supporters of this school decided this was the place to be, they basically handed the Richmond School Board the weapon they needed to nip charter schools in the bud before OTHER neighborhoods got on the bandwagon.
Thanks again, Ms. Bridges, for the clarification.
TV, the building was selected because of it’s close proximity to both Reedy Creek and Forest Hill Park; there are plans for having outdoor classrooms to support their science-based curriculum. Also, it’s a pretty cool building and if it can be greened up, could be used as an example for others to follow. It seems that we’ve lost many cool buildings to “progress” in the last few years.
I called the school board clerk…school board members recieve a $10,000 stipend per year. Not $20,000. I think city council members make that.
Is Ms Scott still the rep for this area? Where’s she coming down on all this?
Adria Graham Scott is the School Board Member for district 4 and Page has sent her an email asking for her thoughts but no response.
#20, City COuncil members are paid $25,000/year.
“I before E, except after C…”
I’m not surprised. It’s a fair to say that in the surrounding area the folks connected with the Richmond school system are the most unresponsive to citizen needs and concerns.
Everyone always blames the kids and the parents for the sad state of education in Richmond, but as the old saying goes, a fish rots from it’s head.
But, of course. The last thing this “rotting fish” of a school system really wants are parents who expect e-mails to be answered and phone calls returned.
Richard Day begins to get it right in post #5 re: the tail wagging the dog.
But, I would go further and note that from the last slate of elected officials, none of the actions should be a surprise.
I’ll go further and predict that if the same or a similar slate is re-elected, absent any outside force of control, expect to see the status quo maintained.
The following article outlines what I was warning 5th District School Board Chairperson and neighbor Maurice Henderson about at this past month’s OHNA meeting.
http://rvanews.com/news/schoolada-funds-could-go-to-business-development/26931
School ADA funds could go to business development
I am against more corporate welfare at a time when many of our school buildings are in such bad shape and even illegal under federal ADA law. We have already seen how private developments like Center Stage siphon off public funds from public priorities.
This has a direct impact on the future of Richmond’s schools like our own Open High and the nascent Patrick Henry Charter Initiative.
hmmmmm……..Just curious … might there be another entity or group of individuals interested in securing the Patrick Henry building in order to turn it into condominiums?
Perhaps the recalcitrance of the RPS administration and the School Board has more to do with *another* offer than it does with the Patrick Henry group?
I recall hearing at one point that Jim Ukrop and Harold Fitrer (former HR director and Chief of Staff at RPS) wanted to obtain the building and provide low-cost housing for new teachers.
Could this be part of the reason the schools are playing “stall ball”?
When will the leaders of Richmond government and schools ever realize that serious change must come if we hope to ever make these schools right for the children and the community?
[...] School Board Rejects Patrick Henry Admissions Changes & Doesn’t Sign Lease — Still no siblings, still no lease at original building. New digs it is! Well, if the School Board approves that. [...]