Category — Dishonor Roll

Portland Public Schools facing whistle-blower claim from special ed leader

Every day I work with parents who have lost custody of their children because of their failure to protect.  Reynolds School District failed to protect students from a staff member who sexually harassed and possibly sexually assaulted (depending on how the state defines it) students and staff.  What should happen in this situation?

This statement was sent out today:

My name is Erica Jayasuriya and I am the Founder and Creative Director of the R.E.A.L. Prep Charter Academy. Today is a very unfortunate day for the children and families who were inspired by the program that the R.E.A.L. Prep team has been developing and who anticipated being enrolled in our school. I am deeply sorry that this did not come to pass and the role that I played in not leading effectively to insure that we were fully ready to serve families on time. On behalf of R.E.A.L. Prep, I want to express my profound apologies to the students and families that enrolled in our school for the lack of good and clear communication about the roadblocks we were hitting. I take full accountability for my shortcomings that contributed to today being a day of disappointment and confusion instead of celebration.

As a mother of a teenage son who needs this style of program, I continue to believe that the vision and mission of R.E.A.L. Prep remains a very solid and needed addition to the offerings in our city and in the movement for transformational education. I am truly grateful and applaud the State Department of Education and the Portland Public School District for seeing the strengths of our vision and permitting us to move it forward. I also have deep gratitude for the countless educators, artists, activists, and community members both locally and nationally who have been supportive of our development and excited to participate once we were open. Everyone who has engaged with this work has done so with a deep commitment to finding new and better ways to educate and guide our targeted population of creative and independent minded youth who are uninspired to remain in a traditional school system.

Designing a school is a bold undertaking and we were attempting to include a great number of educational best practices, each of which had numerous elements that needed deeper understanding in order to be implemented correctly. The combined wisdom and passions of the educational, artistic and entrepreneurial community allowed us to begin developing a program that harnessed the power of the arts to unite community and transcend racial and economic barriers. There are many stories we could share about this process of innovation, but ultimately we were developing a public school and the accountability for the school not opening rests with our organization.

It is with deep regret and sorrow that I have been unable to lead this project to its full potential in the given time constraints. It is my hope that through the many positive relationships that have been built over the past years our work may yet come to fruition. By taking the time to reflect and learn from our mistakes there is still the potential to eventually come forward as a stronger and more effective organization capable of serving the many youth in our city who have amazing talent, wisdom and unlimited potential. It is to these youth that I offer my humblest apology for not fulfilling the promises I made and ensuring that we were ready to begin on this day. We built this school because we have seen you, we have listened to you, and more than anything we want to work alongside you in the creation of something new and meaningful. You have always been, and continue to be, our inspiration.

In case you haven’t heard the hip-hop R.E.A.L Prep Charter School isn’t opening this fall as planned…although I think it might be generous to say that there was much planning.

The Founder Erica Jayasuriya managed to spend nearly $500,000 in taxpayer dollars without having anything to show for it.  Not one day of school.  More later….

Have you heard the rules of conduct that are read prior to citizen testimony at PPS board meetings?  One of the statements talks about adults being powerful models for students.  Apparently that rule doesn’t apply to PPS leadership.

The Secretary of State, Elections Division has determined that the following PPS staff members have violated the election laws of the state of Oregon by campaigning in support of the construction bond while on the job:

Carole Smith, Superintendent of Portland Public Schools

Jollee Patterson, General Counsel PPS

C. J. Sylvester, Chief Operating Officer PPS

Sarah Carlin Ames, CIPA Public Affairs Director PPS

Robb Cowie, CIPA Executive Director PPS

Matt Shelby, CIPA Public Information Officer PPS

Sarah Schoening, Director of the Office of School Modernization PPS

Katie Essick, CIPA Family Communication Manager PPS

Richard Martin, Web Designer PPS

Franciso Garcia, Web Technician PPS

Brian Christopher, Web Technician PPS

Each staff member violating election laws will be fined $75.  Five of the staff members make over $110,000 per year so a $75 fine is just a drop in the bucket.

No doubt Superintendent Smith, Jollee Patterson, Robb Cowie, Matt Shelby, Sarah Carlin Ames, and C.J. Sylvester knew full well that they were breaking the law.  They just didn’t care.

This kind of behavior by district leadership is exactly why voters rejected the bond.  The public doesn’t trust or have confidence in PPS leadership.

Thank goodness most kids have adult models that demonstrate more integrity than district leadership.

Jack Bogdanski writes on his blog today about the broken promises by the city and PPS to turn the old Washington High School into a community center.  I would just add that there’s another broken promise involving Washington High School.

Do you remember when Willamette Week broke the stories about the poisoning (mold and Radon) of students at Whitaker Middle School in NE Portland?  

At the time the district closed Whitaker, Superintendent Jim Scherzinger promised to use the proceeds from the sale of Washington High School to rebuild Whitaker in NE Portland. 

What happened to that promise?

Bobbie Regan should have done Portland parents a favor and chosen not to run for the PPS board for another term.  She’s done nothing more than rubber stamp the superintendent’s status quo decisions. 

What was it Bobbie said to her fellow board members when they voted to restrict the transfer rights of wealthy families…”have some compassion.”

She needs to show some compassion for kids in the PPS system by acknowledging that she lacks the leadership skills necessary to be an effective board member.

http://wweek.com/columns/rogue/#37.11

Do you remember a few weeks back when someone could be heard on microphone prior to the start of the board meeting?  They were saying that they wanted to be able to send citizen commenters through a trap door.  (After they vote for the bond I’m sure) 

Most people figured it was Pam Knowles talking because of her apparent dislike for the public input process. 

Check out this clip from last night’s meeting where she whispered to Trudy that citizen commenters “didn’t give a…” damn?  shit?  fuck?  It was hard to hear the last part of it.  Which is it?  Very professional Pam.  That ought to impress the people that you’re asking to give you $548 million to rebuild/refurbish schools. 

Not only is Pam unprofessional but she’s also uninformed.  At least with regard to ESL.  When interviewed by the Oregonian, Knowles said: “I don’t know” what to think about Gonzalez’s call for staff firings. “I am not close enough to it to know what really needs to be done.”  What?  She’s not responsible for the education of ESL kids?  Isn’t it her duty to be close enough to it to know what needs to be done?  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t expect a woman who can’t figure out a microphone to make recommendations about ESL but I expect her to be informed on the issue.  Is that asking too much?

PPS continues to make me laugh!

Monday’s board book includes a review of the Golden Leaf Charter High School application.  The review was conducted by 4 unlicensed PPS staff members and one PPS staff member with a restricted administrator license.  Superintendent Smith has recommended that the board approve the application.

The hypocrisy demonstrated by PPS staff members is appalling.  

Check out PPS staff feedback listed under “weaknesses.”  My comments are in bold. 

Rating Topics: Assures the school’s compliance with all applicable state statutes and regulations and applicable district policies and administrative directives and procedures and its cooperation with district staff at all levels.

Weaknesses: ESL plan relies on ‘volunteer translators’ and ‘structured ELL immersion’. Does this rely on hope rather than planning?  What has PPS relied on for 13 of the last 17 years when the Office for Civil Rights found the district in violation of  civil rights laws?  Hope?????

Rating Topics: How the school minimizes barriers to equal access and meet the needs of all students.

Weaknesses: Unclear as to how they are using the data of those surveyed for the need and aligning that with the students they think they will reach. Concerned that students of color & ELL students could be excluded from access.  Like at Lincoln, Cleveland, Wilson and Grant?  That would be tragic. 

Rating Topics: The school’s other specific goals. Explains how they are measurable and reasonable. (Examples might include parent involvement or staff training or professional development.)

Weaknesses: Goal #4: Depending on how “referral rates” is defined, may want to re-think this goal as obtaining comparable data from other schools may be difficult at best right now. There are currently no consistent practices across the district for reporting non-major (i.e., suspensions/expulsions) referrals.  I love this one.  Truth in advertising.  Rather than address it as a district, they advise the applicant to forget it.

Rating Topics: The marketing and recruitment plan are consistent with the school’s mission and goals. The plan is specifically designed to reach the school’s target population(s).

Weaknesses: Applicant suggests using posters, fliers, website, ads in the Oregonian and WW, and e-distribution of materials. Were fliers translated? Was there any outreach to include other cultures and communities? There are equity issues inherent to heavy use of the web for marketing.  Are there paper applications for the PPS lottery?  What outreach was done throughout the entire high school closure process? 

Rating Topics: How quantifiable data from Tables II A, B, and C demonstrate sufficient demand for the proposed charter school from teachers, parents, students, and other community members. Evidence of parent and student support represents students who will be in the grade levels served by the proposed charter school during the proposed term. Any parent surveys include (among other questions) the number of potential students in each household, where the student(s) attend(s) school currently, and the student’s current grade.

 Weaknesses: Not sure how they are going to present a program remarkably different than what is currently being offered in PPS. How will they serve struggling students with any greater level of engagement than what is offered in district and in existing charter schools?  This area is not convincing. Is there a real or verifiable demand for this high school?  uhh, that’s exactly what the Marshall community asked Smith repeatedly when she tried to cram a focus school down our throats.

By PPS charter school standards, PPS own application would be rejected.