By December, Pittsburgh Superintendent of Schools Anthony Hamlet expects to have completed a top-to-bottom evaluation of the district, assembled a transition team of national experts who will assist in that analysis, and met with administrators, staff, students, parents and community stakeholders at all 54 of the district’s schools.
Those are the three main components of the 90-day plan he presented to the board and the public Aug. 9 that will serve as the basis for a comprehensive plan to lead the district forward.
“This 90-day plan is a necessary first step to develop a five-year strategic plan with transparency, two-way communication, defined, strategic goals and a clear vision to make the district one of the best in the nation,” he said.
The Council of the Great City Schools, a national consortium of large urban school districts, will help find national experts for the superintendent’s transition team and complete an independent evaluation of the district covering everything from staffing, instruction, budgets and discipline to class sizes, curriculum and social services.
This board has already approved a $156,545 contract with the council to do so.
Hamlet, himself, will also personally evaluate the district’s curriculum as well as its financial and organizational structure. He has already added the district’s six assistant superintendents and the director of the Program for Students with Exceptionalities to his executive cabinet.
And he has already begun the two-way communication aspect of his plan by visiting 20 of the district’s schools, meeting with staff, administrators and some students. Creating a forum that gives students a “voice” in the discussions about their education is one of his goals.
“When young people see that their opinions and needs matter, they have increased ownership of their own learning,” he said. “I want to listen to them and encourage them to find solutions to those challenges so that they can better reap the benefits of learning.”
He said his communication and transparency efforts will continue will a series of nine “community input forums.” The first will be held at Pittsburgh Obama 6-12, Aug. 25.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, who like Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, is among the community leaders Hamlet has already met with, said he liked what he’s heard from the new superintendent.
“Part of Dr. Hamlet’s mission is to create community schools, and we’re very interested in that and want to partner with the district on that,” he said. “I think there is a very opportune time right now to partner with our foundations and corporations to really enhance education here in the city, and part of our role will be about building that all-hands-on-deck approach.”
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