Jim Gault’s face beamed as he introduced the final topic at May 14’s Toledo Public School’s (TPS) Curriculum Committee meeting. Gault, the district’s chief academic officer, said, “We’ve been sitting on this for at least the last six, seven weeks. But now we can finally talk about it. We know what’s become of our special education review.

“We improved from less than 30 percent compliance to over 80 percent. The state came in three years ago and told us we would improve or else they would take special education services away from us. We told them we could do it ourselves. And we did.”

Gault turned the floor to Karla Spangler, director of student services, to explain how TPS’ special education compliance scores have improved by more than 50 percent from 2010 to 2013.

Spangler said that when the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) reviewed TPS’ special education program in 2010, the district was found to be “significantly” below compliance.

The compliance review looked at:

• “Child find,” the psychologist part of the evaluation. The psychologist is the overview person.
• Delivery of services.
• Least restrictive environment.
• Data verification.
• Discipline.

Spangler reported that in 2013, the district went from failing scores “to nothing below a high B.”

From auditor to director

Spangler said she was a part of the ODE team that conducted the 2010 compliance audit.

“I previously worked for the Ohio Department of Education,” Spangler said. “I was actually part of the audit in 2009-10. A year ago, I was embedded in TPS; 50 percent of my time was compliance under the ODE.

“When Mr. Gault said, ‘Either clean it up or the state is going to take over … what happened was, I was embedded here 50 percent of my time to work on compliance.”

Gault

Spangler said after the 2010 review, she worked on the TPS corrective plan with Charlotte Cosart, TPS’ previous director of special education.

“When Charlotte told the board she was retiring toward the end of the school year, they came to me and asked if I would be interested in working with them.

“And my side of it was, ‘As long as you support compliance, I think it’s an exciting venture.’ And the people, the staff have been wonderful.”

‘Fox guarding the hen house’

Twila Page, secretary of the African-American Parents Association and a longtime advocate for special education students and their parents, said she finds TPS’ hiring of Spangler  to head a program she once evaluated for the state a bit shady.

“It’s the fox guarding the hen house,” Page said. “If anybody would know how to cheat the system, it would be her. And nothing’s changed. As a matter of fact, to me, it’s even gotten worse.

“A parent I have worked with gave me this paperwork. It reads: ‘On March 5, the district will hold a public meeting to describe ODE’s Office of Assessment of Children’s (OAC) on-site review process. There will be an opportunity for parents, guardians and other members of the public to share any comments with OAC regarding TPS’ special education department.’

“What’s interesting to me is, how come I didn’t get one of these? I have filed more complaints against TPS where they have had resolutions where they have been found guilty. Why wasn’t the whole community made aware of this? There are ways for you to provide public comments at the meeting and to provide written comments, but if you don’t know about it, how can you do any of those things? It seems like they only advertised this meeting to certain people.”

‘It’s perfectly legal’

Steven Flagg, an education advocate who has followed TPS and education issues for the past 17 years, said he does not find Spangler’s work history problematic.

“It’s perfectly legal,” Flagg said. “Lobbyists do it all the time. It happens all the time in the business world. Businesses are always hiring people who have worked in the government. They think it may give them certain advantages.

“Maybe she’s just really good at what she does. It makes sense for the district to hire someone to make sure TPS jumps through all the right hoops and receives good compliance scores. The only problem rests in whether she received anything, like a huge salary increase, for favors she might have given TPS in overlooking something in the 2009-10 report.”

However, Flagg said that given how poor the 2010 compliance scores were, it was “highly” unlikely Spangler’s hire was unethical.

On equal footing

Spangler said when TPS is compared with other Ohio urban districts, “we were the same or above those other districts. To give you a comparison, in ‘child find’ alone, there were 52 areas that were possibly noncompliant. They found us noncompliant in only two areas.

“First, in years past, we did not complete evaluations within the three-year timeline. But when you look at the full audit, you will see that has been corrected. That is under the [purview] of case managers working with the psychologists and checking monthly to make sure our evaluations are done on time. As far as [ODE] is concerned, we are compliant in that area.”

Spangler said TPS had not been checking monthly with “the same rigor that it is being done now. It was more reactive instead of proactive.”

However, she said her predecessors did start the timeline compliance process by convincing administrators to hire more psychologists to ensure TPS could meet the three-year timeline.

Academic coaches

Spangler said TPS has also worked closely on its intervention for students.

She said academic coaches are general education teachers “who actually go into general-ed classrooms where students aren’t succeeding as high as we want. And if students are not being successful in an area, academic coaches give those [teachers] additional ideas — new or different ways to teach something.”

‘Cheat sheet’

Spangler said “delivery of services” is TPS’ highest area of special education compliance.

“Our supervisors went to each building and met with teachers individually,” Spangler said. “We did an IEP (Individualized Education Program) with them for compliance. We made sure they understood what they were doing right and what areas they needed to work on. We gave them a ‘cheat sheet’ to use. We also did compliance with new teachers and with their long-term subs.”

Spangler said the “cheat sheet” she developed is instrumental to student success because the ODE evaluates an IEP to ensure the document is compliant in seven areas of a child’s profile:

• the child’s strengths
• parents’ concerns
• the result of the most recent Evaluation Team Report [ETR]
• progress reports
• needs that have been identified
• performance on districtwide and statewide assessments
• response to classroom-based intervention if those responses are not in the Present Level of Performance document.

“When they see the ‘delivery of services,’ ‘least restricted environment’ or ‘goals,’ they expect all these pieces to be in it. So we created this ‘cheat sheet’ that each teacher has so they know to check through to make sure, ‘When I do this, this is in it just like this.’ It’s really a check sheet — a rubric — to make sure teachers include all of these different criteria when they’re putting together an IEP.”

Union’s role

Spangler said TPS’ teacher union, Toledo Federation of Teachers (TFT), has a stronger role in making district-wide educational decisions than almost any union in the U.S. However, she would not discuss why TPS is required to “work closely together” with a union to implement its educational mission.

“It’s just history,” Spangler said. “I will say, though, that I think we have a very cooperative relationship.”

Flagg said he has some reservations with the decision-making authority TFT enjoys.

“If it’s a collaborative relationship where the district can listen to union concerns, just like they should listen to all citizens’ concerns, I have no problem with it,” Flagg said. “I only have a problem with it if the union can veto good policy. Policy should always be made in the best interest of students, and there are many, many cases where the district has bad policies that have nothing to do with the welfare of students.”

Data verification

Spangler credits Jane Frye with the district’s successful data verification compliance scores.

“We were lucky enough to hire [Frye] to work with us on DMIS (Data Management Information System),” Spangler said. “That’s the government program used to collect student data. She makes sure our dates and timelines are in compliance, and we’re doing a much better job in that area.”

Spangler also said the compliance audit included two other areas — gifted education and budget — that few people “think of as special ed, although they do fall under special ed.”

Spangler said she and Gayle Schaber, director of special projects and compensatory programs, “have a little tweaking to do in the ‘gifted’ area, but she’s on top of it. We’ve worked as a team all year long [developing and] putting a process in place for early entrance to school and early acceleration.”

Spangler said TPS’ “tweaking” included sending letters to parents so they would understand how to enroll and get their children tested.

“We worked with the psychologist so we have all that paperwork done,” she said. “We just have to get it approved and then that piece is ready to go.”

Monitoring the money

Spangler said TPS’ biggest fiscal problem is monitoring the nine non-public schools — eight Catholic and one Lutheran — it works with.

“Nonpublic schools that choose to participate have the federal money flow to them, and it’s our responsibility to service their needs. We’ve always given them the money because that’s the federal law, but we’ve never looked at them for compliance. But now we have a plan in place and we’re ready to go next year.

“We’ll meet with those principals in either late August or early September. We’ll go over our whole plan with them. We will then meet with their people or people that we have in the schools in speech or specific disability content areas. We will go over compliance with them so they know how to write plans correctly.

“Since we have a plan in place, we will monitor what they’re doing. We’ve never done it before, but we will be starting next year.”

Spangler did not say why the district has never monitored nonpublic schools compliance in the past.

“I can’t answer for someone else,” she said. “I can just say the money is earmarked for them.”

Spangler said TPS has also developed a plan to monitor its out-of-district students.

“[ODE] didn’t look at that, but we have,” Spangler said. “We have a plan in place. We have a monthly calendar. I’ve already met with all those districts and let them know that we expect the same from them as we’re expecting from our teachers. They have the same ‘cheat sheet’ we’re using. We’re [reaching out] to them to make sure our students are receiving appropriate education whether they’re in Swanton, Anthony Wayne or wherever they go.”

Two areas in need of work

Spangler said although the current review reports that the district has done exactly as it was told, she believes TPS has two areas it needs to refine.

“One is ‘measurable goals,’ which is defined across the entire state,” Spangler said. “If you write three goals for a student, and two goals are compliant and one is not, then you are not compliant. All goals have to be met in order for the district to be compliant with that student. That’s one area we need to work on.

“The second area is ‘specially designed instruction.’ We need to make sure that we are designing instruction so a child can be successful.

“If I’ve taken a goal and I say, ‘If I work on this goal this amount of time, a child will be successful,’ the state is saying to us, ‘Make sure you are putting in that time and that you have data to reflect that it is working.’

“If the goal says that I’m going to come into the classroom and work with you 10 minutes a day, I have to do that. Or if I’m going to pull you out 10 minutes a day, I have to do that.

“‘Specially designed instruction’ has to make sure that I know how a child’s going to be successful. For instance, if I know in a general ed classroom, by lecturing, a child doesn’t get it, but by coming to me and we do hands-on, a child does get it, I need to write that down so when I hand the IEP off to you, and you teach it the same way I’m teaching it, the child will be successful.”

Joining forces

Page said she does not believe that teaching special education students should focus on the ability to follow rules as measured by ODE’s compliance review.

“Everybody in the district — period — should have to read the ‘Parent’s Guide to IDEA’ (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act). Everybody should be trained: the special education staff, teachers, bus drivers, principals, aides, food service workers. Anyone who comes in contact with a student with a disability, regardless of what the disability is, needs to know what’s on that IEP.”

Spangler acknowledges that TPS has not always been as successful as it would like to have been in servicing all of its special education students.

“However, we’re trying to be transparent,” Spangler said. “I’m asking parents to call me. I’m telling supervisors to follow up with parents if there’s a problem. We’re trying to have a continuum of services in our buildings so a child can get the correct service they need.

“A continuum of services means every child starts out in general ed. Then, according to needs, you break off to where the child needs more support. A child might spend the whole day in general ed with a teacher coming in and supporting him. Or the child may need go out of the general ed classroom into a resource room to get extra help in math and language arts. Or he may not be able to be in the general ed classroom at all. He may need to be in a self-contained classroom learning his subject matter.”

Spangler said she meets with the advocate groups The Ability Center of Greater Toledo, Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Lucas County Children Services and Medical Leadership Partnership for Children so those agencies can tell her the district’s areas of weaknesses.

“That’s been very beneficial because we’re reaching out for that relationship,” Spangler said. “I think that’s what it takes. This is a community. We need to work together.”

Tags: Charlotte Cosart, Jim Gault, Karla Spangler, Steven Flagg, Toledo Public Schools, Twila Page

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Community, Education.
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Representatives from Chrysler Jeep and the U.S. Navy submarine USS Toledo recently visited Toledo Technology Academy (TTA) to talk to students about the value of technical skills in the workforce.

Speakers on May 2 included Sam Geiger, commanding officer of the USS Toledo; Hank Boyd, educational and training facilitator for Chrysler Jeep; and Bob Geiner, weld engineer at the Chrysler Jeep Toledo Assembly Complex.

Sam Geiger, commander of the USS Toledo, right, addresses students at Toledo Technology Academy on May 2. Toledo Free Press Photo By Sarah Ottney.

Geiger, a 22-year veteran of the Navy, has been commander of the USS Toledo for two years. The sub, based in Groton, Conn., was undergoing routine maintenance, giving Geiger and six crew members time to visit Toledo. The crew also visited The Maritime Academy of Toledo and appeared at a Toledo Mud Hens game.

Geiger told students he was impressed with the technology-based education they were getting at TTA, which will help them succeed in engineering, design, manufacturing or operation careers in the military or as civilians.

“For us, technology is absolutely key,” Geiger said.

Since no one can predict exactly what the “next big thing” will be, the best way to prepare is to make for the future is to make yourself adaptable to whatever new technology comes along, Geiger told the students.

“The best skill is not a specific one, but the ability to educate yourself so you are adaptable,” Geiger said. “I can’t tell you what the next latest and greatest is going to be 10 years from now, other than to say build a good foundation on your education that will keep yourself adaptable to whatever comes your way.”

Geiger fielded many questions about daily life on the ship, such as  what sailors do in their free time (movies or Xbox), how they shower (salt water is converted to fresh water on board), how they do laundry (only one washer and dryer for 140 crew members), what they do with trash (save plastic to recycle; compact the rest and dump it), how often they have to surface (only every few months for food; air, water and electricity are made on board) and if there are female sailors stationed on subs (only on the largest class of subs, which have space for separate facilities).

He also told the students he couldn’t talk specifics of the missions USS Toledo undertakes, but that he loved his job.

“Ninety-five percent of what we do is classified and I can’t talk about it, but it’s great,” Geiger said. “It’s adventurous, it’s risky, it’s the kind of stuff you read in spy novels and movies that you watch. It’s a thrilling job.”

Students at Toledo Technology Academy listen to speakers at a presentation May 2. Toledo Free Press Photo By Sarah Ottney.

The two Chrysler Jeep employees also emphasized that people with technical backgrounds will be in demand and ahead of the curve when entering the workforce.

“The way the world is now in the manufacturing world, we cannot do business the way we have in the past,” Boyd said.

Boyd, who graduated from DeVilbiss High School, the building that now houses TTA, said he came to Chrysler out of high school and later went on to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.

Boyd’s main job is “to help change the mindset of employees,” encouraging them to update their skills through further training or schooling.

“It joys my heart to be here because usually I have to pump somebody up or convince somebody to go that route and get the training they need to be able to do what we need,” Boyd said. “I don’t have to pump you up. I think a lot of your lights have already come on. I think you’re going to walk into a lot of rooms, a lot of companies and brighten that place up.

“With the experience you are obtaining here, you will be such a value-added asset to our company and if you ever decide to go that route you will be at an upper level to some that come through the door,” Boyd said.

Boyd also told the students to not get discouraged if anyone tells them attending TTA, which doesn’t offer common high school activities like sports teams, isn’t worth it.

“When when you feel like you might not be doing exactly what your friends are doing, like they are having more fun — no. Anything worth having you have to work for, there’s no doubt. And you will be able to open any door that you would like,” Boyd said.

Geiner, a Toledo native, has worked for Chrysler for 30 years, starting as a welder. He echoed Boyd on the importance of education.

“The first wire welding robot at the plant took my job,” Geiner said. “The more knowledge you acquire the more doors are going to be available to you.”

After showing two videos of new laser technology and robot arms working on vehicles within the plant, Geiner said technology is moving fast.

“What you’ve just seen on these videos, when you get into the workforce, you’re going to say, ‘I remember that old technology when I was in high school.’ It’s moving so fast,” Geiner said. “It’s unbelievable. The technology in this field is just a rocket ride. It’s going through the ceiling.”

Gary Thompson, principal of TTA, which has 184 students in grades nine through 12, said the presentation went well.

“It was absolutely excellent and the students were very keyed in on what was being said,” Thompson said.

Jonathon Moscarello, a 15-year-old freshman, said the presentation helped him realize how many possibilities there are after graduation.

“I found what they were telling us very informative,” Moscarello said. “I saw I have a lot of options.”

Rachel Ahrendt, a 16-year-old TTA junior, said it was encouraging — especially as a female student — to have the school’s focus on technology reinforced by people working in that field.

“This isn’t a big school and, especially for girls, our class only has 10 girls in it,” Ahrendt said. “It’s nice to have people telling us, ‘You’re going to use this in the future. You’re going to need it.’”

Brittany Pyles, a 17-year-old junior, said it was interesting to hear how a lot of technology needed in the workforce, such as computer-aided design, or CAD, overlaps what students are already learning at TTA.

“It was interesting because it’s things our school is based on,” Pyles said. “They have the lasers and they said they use CAD and we use that.  ”It was nice to know because we do it here so we kind of know what they are talking about.”

Toledo Public Schools (TPS) Superintendent Jerome Pecko and TPS Board President Brenda Hill also attended the presentation.

“It’s just great,” Hill said afterward. “I’m so proud of them because they are going to have such a head start in whatever they do. That they will be welcomed when they go into interviews because they are already prepared — I think that’s the best thing they could have said to the kids.

“Like the guy from Chrysler was saying, they are already a step up because they already have the background. They probably won’t have to take technical training 101 because they already have those skills, and even if they do, they can go through much faster and end up leaders in the class. It’s very nice and I’m very glad companies are recognizing it.”

Pecko told the presenters he learned as much from the visit as the students.

“The message you had for our students out here — and you saw how attentive they were — was extremely valuable not only for them but for people like me,” Pecko said. “We have to touch base with the other 22,000 students we have in this district and what you had to say today is stuff we’re going to continue to share.”

Tags: Chrysler, Jeep, Toledo Public Schools, Toledo Technology Academy, TPS, US Navy, USS Toledo

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 5th, 2013 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Technology, Toledo Business Link.
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In less than an hour during one recent morning at Scott High School, Maureen Knowles — or Nurse Knowles as she’s called — checked a softball player’s injured wrist, treated a student with seasonal allergies, arranged for a student’s parent to sign him out of school to see a doctor and sent several students back to class to obtain the required passes from their teachers.

Scott High School nurse Maureen Knowles was honored as Ohio's School Nurse of the Year by the Ohio Association of School Nurses at the group's annual conference in April. Toledo Free Press Photo by Sarah Ottney.

“Can you wiggle all your fingers?” Knowles asked the softball player. “Ice is your friend.”

“Stay inside as much as possible — which I know you don’t like to do —­­but until those leaves are popped out, you really need to,” she told the boy with allergies.

“Go get a pass and I’d be happy to do that,” Knowles told a student who wanted his leg wrapped and another who was complaining of a headache.

“I’m very kind, but I’m also very firm,” Knowles said. “I think kids really respect that. I see it as I’m respectful of them and they are also respectful of me.”

A native of Steele, N.D., Knowles worked at Toledo Hospital as a registered nurse for 23 years before coming to Toledo Public Schools. She worked at Nathan Hale Elementary School for six years and McKinley Elementary School for four years and this is her third year at Scott.

Knowles was recently named Ohio School Nurse of the Year by the Ohio Association of School Nurses at the group’s annual conference.

“It’s fabulous,” Knowles said. “I was absolutely speechless. It was very nice.”

Scott High School Principal Treva Jeffries said the honor was well-deserved.

“We are very proud of Nurse Knowles and her accomplishments,” Jeffries said. “She does a lot here to uphold that honor on a daily basis.”

Being a school nurse is a lot like having an independent practice, Knowles said.

“You are the medical expert; there aren’t colleagues here to share decision-making,” Knowles said. “I enjoy that. It carries a lot of responsibility, but many rewards.”

Interacting with people is her favorite part of the job.

“I don’t just see students,” Knowles said. “Staff here will come to me with questions. I have several staff members who have their blood pressure checked regularly.”

Knowles notices which students are “frequent fliers”  — as she refers to regular visitors — and will start asking more questions.

“I wouldn’t say their visits are unnecessary,” Knowles said. “They’re coming for a reason. It might be they really do have a stomachache or it might be there’s something going on at home that’s upsetting or they might really not like that class and aren’t doing well or they have a big test that day or their boyfriend just broke up with them.”

When Knowles suspects a nonmedical issue, she might talk to a parent (always with the student’s permission), send them to visit the school’s guidance counselors or art therapist or refer them to a community agency or physician.

Besides daily visits, Knowles also performs the state’s required vision and hearing screenings for ninth-graders and special education students. She also mentors student nurses from Lourdes University and the University of Toledo who come to Scott for clinicals.

She is also part of a team working to create legislation that would require Ohio schools to keep EpiPens on hand for first-time allergic reactions. Twelve states currently require it, said Knowles, who will speak May 20 at a conference hosted by the Toledo Allergy Society.

“It might save their life,” Knowles said.

Knowles holds a bachelor’s in nursing and a master’s in education with a school nurse certification. She is also a nationally certified school nurse.

“Only about 1 percent of the school nurses in the United States carry that designation,” Knowles said.

Knowles became interested in school nursing after seeing so many cases where a lifetime of poor health habits led to a medical emergency.

“I thought, ‘Man, if I could be in the schools and help kids learn how to do wise things for their health, how to live a healthy life, we wouldn’t need to be doing this kind of thing,” Knowles said.

“I love what I do,” she said. “It’s fun and it makes a difference.”

Tags: Maureen Knowles, School Nurse of the Year, Scott High School, Toledo Public Schools, TPS, Treva Jeffries

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Community, Education, Health Care.
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In an attempt to give students and parents input in the decision-making process of menu planning as well as increase student use of Toledo Public Schools’ (TPS) food services, the district will host “tastings” at 10 schools the weeks of May 6-10 and 13-17.

James Gant, chief business manager, explained the purpose and structure of the planned tastings and sought input from members of the Food Service Ad Hoc Committee on April 18.

Tastings will be 30-minute events at seven elementary and three high schools. Students and parents who participate will taste five to eight food items the district is considering adding to next year’s lunch menus, said Reynald  Debroas, director of TPS Department of Food Services.

Each tasting will be the same,  Debroas said. Participants at all the elementary schools will taste the same food items. Participants at each high school will taste the same food items although those items will differ from those tasted at the elementary schools.

Participants will vote on each item they taste. If  Debroas places six food items on the tasting menu with the intention of adding three items to next year’s district menu, the top three vote-getting items will win, said Patty Mazur, TPS communications director.

The tastings will cost TPS nothing, Mazur said. The event will be vendor-financed, and Mazur said the district expects that five to eight potential vendors will participate.

The idea for this year’s tasting events grew out of one tasting  at DeVeaux Elementary School last year at which DeVeaux and Whittier Elementary School students and parents tasted and voted on food items for this year’s breakfast menu, Mazur said.

Scheduled tastings

The seven elementary school tastings will take place:

• May 6 — Larchmont, 1515 Slater St., 43612
• May 7 — Beverly, 3548 S. Detroit Ave., 43614
• May 8 — Garfield, 1103 Ravine Pkwy., 43605
• May 9 — Hawkins, 5550 W. Bancroft St., 43615
• May 10 — Navarre, 800 Kingston Ave., 43605
• May 13 — Elmhurst, 4530 Elmhurst Drive, 43613
• May 14 — Whittier, 4221 Walker Ave., 43612

The three high schools tastings will take place:

• May 15 — Bowsher, 2200 Arlington Ave., 43614
• May 16 — Start, 2010 Tremainsville Road, 43613
• May 17 — Woodward, 701 E. Central Ave., 43608

Breakfast award

In other business, Gant informed committee members that  TPS Board of Education (BOE) member Larry Sykes accepted the 2012 School Breakfast Program of the Year Award from Children’s Hunger Alliance (CHA) on Feb. 18. TPS was honored as Ohio’s top school district for its partnership with CHA, Action for Healthy Kids and the American Dairy Association Mideast in sponsoring its first school breakfast program.

CHA reported that in September the district began offering hot breakfasts at least three days a week in all K-8 school buildings as well as adding additional fresh fruits and whole grains to the breakfast menus. In that same month, CHA reported that more than 8,500 children in the district ate breakfast at school as compared to 4,790 six months earlier, and that about 40 percent of all K-8 students eat breakfast on average each day in TPS.

The breakfast program is financed with federal funds, Gant said, and because of low food and labor costs, the district makes about 25 cents per meal served.

Sykes said he is a strong supporter of the breakfast program because of the strong correlation he sees between  feeding students and improved student performance.

Sykes, who attended the National School Board Association conference in San Diego from April 12-15, said he listened to a compelling presentation made by the San Diego Unified District.

“They spoke about their food program and what it did,” Sykes said. “Attendance went up. Performance increased and discipline [problems]decreased.

“You can get that from the Columbus City Schools district, too. They did the same thing, and they found that when they give kids a hot breakfast, attendance and academic performance improves and discipline [referrals and incidents] go down.”

Fiscal responsibility

The committee also discussed strategies on how TPS can continue to become fiscally sound.

In 2012, food services received a $700,000 subsidy from TPS general fund, down from $2.8 million in 2004.

Citing high food and labor costs, Gant reported TPS loses approximately 17 cents for every elementary school lunch and 58 cents for every high school lunch it serves.

In 2012, TPS was reimbursed $2.94 per meal for each free or reduced lunch it served. Gant said that although about 78 percent of students would qualify for a free or reduced lunch, TPS serves only about 40 percent of those students. Gant said that if TPS developed an aggressive strategy in enrolling students in the free and reduced lunch program, food services could stop losing money and actually turn a profit.

Alternative meals

Although  Debroas said it had been TPS practice not to serve alternative meals for at least the past 12 years, Gant said he is inclined to pursue that option next year.

An alternative meal is a nutritionally sound but less expensive meal districts are permitted to serve to students who do not qualify for free or reduced lunches but cannot or do not pay for the hot meal prepared for the student body, Gant said.

Jean Ford, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 840 president, said when she began working for TPS in 1983, an alternative meal was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fruit cup, large juice, milk and vegetable. Ford said districts no longer serve that meal because more children are allergic to peanut butter now.

“Now, an alternative meal would probably be a cheese sandwich, milk, juice and a fruit or vegetable,” Ford said. “It wouldn’t be the specific hot meal that we serve the children.

“Like today was taco meat with refried beans, Doritos, orange juice and milk. They would not get that. An alternative meal would not be all of that. I have to guess, though, because they haven’t told us.

“However, right now, we are not doing an alternative meal. None of us want any child to go hungry. We are just having them charge meals.”

Charging meals has created a fiscal dilemma, Gant said.

Ford said some students have “charged a substantial amount of money for their hot meal lunches. Their parents don’t want to fill out the free and reduced lunch application but they still want the students to eat. And we know some of them have the money but they won’t pay the charges off.

“And if you went through all the charges … Oh, my gosh. Going back to even just last year, it’s a few thousand dollars.”

Gant said that TPS needs to strictly adhere to its programs, policies and procedures.

“We have a program in place,” Gant said. “Fill out an application. If not, we will provide a nutritional meal, but not the meal that students whose parents fill out the application receive.”

BOE President Brenda Hill said one problem is that parents know the district won’t let their children starve.

Sykes said some of the problem lies in poor parenting.

“Some of our parents are irresponsible,” Sykes said. “The kids are raising themselves and we know that.”

However, Gant said TPS cannot ignore its own policies.

“We need to get parents to at least try to fill out the application,” Gant said. “However, we will always work on the principle that we are not to turn away any kid in need of food.”

Possible outsourcing

Gant’s discussion of the Food Service Ad Hoc Committee’s decision to put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to investigate whether the management and/or operations of food services could be better served by an outside firm drew immediate concern from David Blyth, AFSCME representative.

“What the Ad Hoc Committee wanted to look at were different options to see if there is anything we can be doing better as a district,” Gant said. “The concern, obviously, from the union’s perspective is that once you put those things out, although you will get back some suggestions, they may also suggest that the district actually farm out the whole operation and take over the employment of it.

“It’s been clear from our perspective — and one of the things that I said when we put this out — that there would be no change at all in employment arrangements with the district. That was my point.

“The other point I wanted to make is that when we analyze whether we should be doing it or not, a lot of things that Dave [Blyth] said needed to be considered. We’ll go though it thoroughly.

“We’re not going to automatically decide to use a management firm to run food services. When we went through this same process for the Print Services analysis, we came to the conclusion it was best that we continue to operate our print shop versus having it farmed out.”

Blyth said that although he understands Gant’s position, he does not think it was productive for TPS to put out an RFP.

“I don’t agree to that because what happens is, once you let a company like that in, they’re going to say, ‘Gee, part of the problem here is the pay that you’re offering employees,’ ” Blyth said. “What we want to do is hire the employees as older ones resign or retire.

“I just don’t think the school system should be a place where businesses should be making a profit off what should be a nonprofit activity, meaning our children.

“And I’m also fearful about getting a private concern managing food services. I have a feeling that we’re now giving up an important decision-making process. We’re giving up a function, if you will, of the school system to outsiders who are driven by the profit motive.”

Increased prices

Blyth said AFSCME’s apprehension with the direction of the Food Service Ad Hoc Committee stems from the possibility that its decisions may lead to an increase in student lunch prices.

“The biggest concern I have is that we somehow end up with a private concern coming in, and then the end result of that will be that the price of food will go up,” Blyth said. “We already know that we’re basically charging under market, based on what we saw from Cincinnati and the other school districts.

“I think there is a legitimate reason to raise our food charges, but I don’t think we need to get into a situation where they’re raised so a company can make a profit.

“I also think children value and do better when there’s a stable workforce in the schools and they’re seeing the same people day in and day out. I think it’s important to them. And I think if you go to a situation where you use a company that, frankly, is going to be paying minimum wage or a little above, you’re going to see an endless succession of employees. You’re going to see turnover far, far more than you do now because at that kind of money, people are going to work until they can find something better and then move on.

“And many of the food ladies have been there forever. Jean Ford, the union president, has been a food service worker for 30 years. She has a wealth of knowledge. She knows how to work around kids. The kids know her. And I think they’re better served having that stable and consistent face like Jean’s that they see every day.”

‘Including the kitchen sink’

Blyth said he also has serious concerns with what he characterized as a flawed performance audit.

“My main fear is that when people get to the bottom of that document where it says, ‘If you embrace these savings over five years, you’ll save $101 million.’ I’m concerned that people will look at that and say, ‘Oh, that’s where the money comes from. We don’t have to vote for any levies.’

“And the problem with the performance audit is, although there are a lot of good ideas there, they’ve thrown in everything, including the kitchen sink, to get to that number, and some of it just isn’t realistic. From what I’ve heard and seen, they were going by data that was previous to the transformation to K-8 so they’re looking at data and numbers that don’t really match the reality of where we are.

“And some of the stuff … I don’t think it’s going to be politically palatable closing down schools and combining this and that. I don’t think that’s going to work.”

Tags: James Gant, Larry Sykes, Toledo Public Schools, TPS

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 25th, 2013 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Community, Education.
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Anger at Ohio legislators was displayed April 23 when Toledo Public School (TPS) Board of Education (BOE) members discussed a resolution they eventually passed 5-0, which urges the state’s elected officials to reject House Bill (HB) 59.

The proposed legislation would permit the state superintendent of public instruction to establish commissions for school districts, including TPS, which the state auditor finds “to have knowingly manipulated student data with evidence to deceive.”

TPS was recently cited in a state audit for improperly “scrubbing” data reported to the state by withdrawing and then re-enrolling truant students.

Board members said they intend to travel to Columbus this weekend, some at their own expense, to lobby legislators to not create Academic Distress Commissions of unelected individuals with unrestricted power to establish school board budgets, contract with private entities to manage school districts, appoint and reassign school building administrators, and terminate administrator contracts.

The resolution, presented by BOE President Brenda Hill, was drafted by Keith Wilkowski, TPS legal counsel.

BOE member Lisa Sobecki said she is vehemently opposed to HB 59 because legislators are proposing to create a law within a substitute bill to HB 59 for situations that are currently covered in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC).

“When legislators put this type of legislation in, I would have hoped that they would have done their homework before to see that there’s already measures within the ORC that calls for these types of things,” she said.

Sobecki said she spoke with Hill on April 19 to suggest that a resolution come before the board April 23.

“We need to send a message down to Columbus,” Sobecki said. “And I anticipate there’s going to be other school board members that I’ve spoken with across the state that are going to do similar things. With all these amendments added to the HB, school boards are really just trying to figure it out. I’m also incensed with the fact that our legislators aren’t even allowing the state auditor’s process to be able to finish before they’re proposing new legislation. It’s an ongoing investigation from the auditor’s office and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).”

Lack of accountability

Sobecki said she is concerned that the proposed legislation does not establish accountability standards or recommendations for the ODE.

“Look at the fact that board members belong to governing bodies and policy bodies,” Sobecki said. “We’re not the ones doing that day-to-day work of inputting information. For example … the reason they wrote this [amendment] is because of the scrubbing issue. And they’ve decided down in Columbus they need to hold us accountable, but we already have accountability measures that we can follow.

“No. 1, the two people we hire and fire are the superintendent and the treasurer, and we hold them accountable for the work underneath them. And the superintendent holds his folks accountable. It’s a chain of command.”

Sobecki said HB 59 is filled with useless language: “I really wished that they had focused more on funding public schools right in the first place versus trying to [create legislation] for things that are already in place.”

Purely political

Despite the speculation surrounding legislators’ motives, Sobecki said she believes the motivation is purely political.

“The reason you’re going to hear on one side is that school districts should have been accounting for kids properly,” Sobecki said. “But I think it’s more political than getting to the root  cause and understanding what was going on through the reporting mechanisms that have been called ‘scrubbing.’ I think it’s more political than looking at what’s right.”

Sobecki said it reflects a power struggle between the Republican and Democratic parties.

“My understanding from friends and colleagues in Columbus is that this is being pushed by the Republicans, and they’ve begun pushing harder now that it’s going through the Senate.

“This is the time that we speak up and board members across the State of Ohio help educate legislators when they take legislative actions.”

Although she is a registered Democrat, Sobecki insists that the BOE works as an elected nonpolitical, nonpartisan governing body.

“We make unpartisan decisions,” Sobecki said. “They’re not Republican decisions. They’re not Democrat decisions. They are decisions which are best for kids.

“But here’s a side note that maybe Republicans can understand. Overwhelmingly across the state, there are more Republican school board members than Democratic school board members. And I’ve spoken to my colleagues across the state who are Republicans, and they’re not in favor of this.”

Sobecki said TPS’ resolution can become a model for other school boards to adopt as they reach out to their legislators.

“I’m going to be sharing it with colleagues across the state and encouraging them to sign on to similar resolutions like this.

“And I do know in talking with our folks at the Ohio School Board Association, the OSBA is not supporting this either.”

Tags: Academic Distress Commissions, Brenda Hill, Keith Wilkowski, Lisa Sobecki, Ohio Revised Code, Ohio School Board Association, Toledo Public Schools

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 25th, 2013 at 1:58 pm and is filed under Community, Education.
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The Toledo Public Schools (TPS)Board of Education is between a rock and a hard place. The hard place is a community continually unimpressed with results to date, disappointed with the lack of vision and accountability of a dysfunctional board, and unwilling to invest any more money without major reform.

The rock is the TPS public sector employee unions that have spent the past 35 years pounding and grinding the board in one negotiation and election after another until near-control is achieved.

The just-completed performance audit defines clearly the many challenges that must be negotiated between the board and employee unions. Two chapters of the report demonstrably validate the obstacles. Section 3, regarding instructional delivery, has 20 recommendations of which 14 (or 70 percent) require negotiation. The human resources chapter — section 4 — has 20 recommendations with 50 percent requiring negotiation.

The gauntlet has been thrown and despite initial perceptions, TPS has been presented with an opportunity to change public attitudes, forge a common purpose among labor and management, save and/or deploy more effectively large sums of taxpayer money and create an environment where student success is fostered and expected.

Public trust is critical to meeting TPS’ mission with transparency and action integral to the equation. This is where the board has to depart from previous behavior of secretive, closed-door decisions without any accountability and move to a philosophy where it not only welcomes independent community oversight, but embraces it.

Three elements are critical if the spirit and intent behind a performance audit are to be met: community oversight, board accountability and staff implementation.

An independent oversight committee — let’s call it the Performance Audit Accountability Committee — is going to be hard for the board to implement due to the obvious political implications, but doing so is imperative in seizing this opportunity.

The sole function envisioned for an accountability committee is to monitor implementation of performance audit findings and independently apprise the community of progress and problems. The committee would make no decisions — the board and staff have responsibility for reviewing the findings and implementing solutions.

The board should sanction the committee by official resolution and provide complete access to all records, staff and other resources as deemed necessary by the committee to discharge its duties.

Establishing independent oversight ensures board accountability throughout the process regardless of the composition of the board. This fall, three board members must stand for re-election. Should any move on, a “new” board may not agree with the original intent of the audit. Future boards will have to take a public vote to eliminate accountability and void past promises to Toledo taxpayers.

For oversight to work, only individuals with no conflicts of interest should serve — that means no board members, administrators, employees or any individual with a financial interest. The committee should consist of at least seven individuals of varying backgrounds and must include — let’s repeat that — must include district critics and dissenting voices to add credibility and promote public trust. While the board should appoint committee members, the members should select their own leadership, determine their agenda and be free to design the necessary processes to complete their mission.

In developing an internal implementation process, the board has to be cognizant of audit report findings regarding board micromanagement. The implementation process is a good place to practice good board governance.

Each finding should have a “champion” assigned — someone accountable for the final result. The champion must have the authority and resources to pursue solutions and, after board approval, implementation.

The ideas presented are truncated and, most assuredly, can be improved. There are likely other methods that would accomplish the objectives discussed. But the TPS Board of Education doesn’t appear to want a public discussion about implementation until perhaps it decides what it should be, so these ideas are offered to foster debate.

Steven Flagg is a member of the Urban Coalition. Email him at letters@toledo freepress.com.

Tags: Steven Flagg, Toledo Public Schools, Urban Coalition

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 25th, 2013 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Education, Guest Column, Opinion.
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If Board of Education (BOE) member Larry Sykes has his way, Toledo Public Schools (TPS) will accept Recommendation 6-6 of Evergreen Solutions’ performance audit by relocating the district’s central office staff and functions to the heart of the city.

“I would love it if we could be Downtown,” Sykes told those who attended the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) Building Committee meeting on April 17.

Sykes suggested James Gant, TPS chief business manager, have a conversation with Lucas County officials as well as City of Toledo officials to see if either entity owns a building or property in the Downtown area that it might be interested in swapping with TPS.

“We should put our feelers out,” Sykes said. “You’d be amazed at the properties the city and county have that we may be able to utilize. I understand time is of the essence, but you don’t jump out of the fire into the fire.”

Sykes also suggested Gant look into the Owens Corning Building, which Sykes said “is probably half-empty.” Owens Corning is located at the intersection of Washington and Summit streets.

On its website, Hines, a privately owned, international real estate firm, reports that the building currently has one major tenant and 370,816 square feet of net rentable office space.

Sykes also suggested Gant inquire into whether ProMedica Toledo Hospital or the University of Toledo have any space available.

“What about Scott Park?” Sykes asked Gant. “They’ve just about abandoned that facility.”

However, UT’s Scott Park campus is not located in Downtown Toledo, but at 2225 Nebraska Ave.

Sykes’ suggestion came in response to a discussion between fellow BOE member Lisa Sobecki and Gant about whether to invest approximately $15,000 into temporarily cooling the Thurgood Marshall Building for the summer months or to move offices to the Summit Annex, 1530 N. Superior St., before June.

“I’ve thought about [moving Downtown] myself, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard that from any other board member,” Gant said after the meeting.

Gant said moving out of the Thurgood Marshall Building “is the best decision in the long term. We need to be in a more efficient building and utilize the space more effectively.”

However, Gant said he had a more immediate concern.

“Short term, my problem is my HVAC system is not working,” Gant said. “I have to have temporary cooling or I’m going to be murdered around here. Short-term is just temporary cooling. What I’m suggesting is it may be better to pay for temporary cooling than waste $250,000 in replacing a chiller when we know we need to move.”

Gant said he did not think a move to the Summit Annex would be viable because it would mean the loss of about 20,000 square feet of space, which he said is one-third the space available in the Thurgood Marshall Building.

However, Evergreen Solution’s performance audit reported that the current central office staff has about 69 percent more square feet per person than most school districts and 170 percent more than optimum for an office building.

Sobecki said her biggest concern with moving into the Summit Annex was the cost of “quite a few renovations” that will be needed.

Gant spoke of the cost benefits of moving TPS’ central office administration to the former DeVilbiss High School, 3301 Upton Ave., which houses the Toledo technology Academy.

“We’re already utilizing that site so the cost of operation will be a lot less,” Gant said. “I’m already operating it right now, so we’re talking about maybe only cooling additional rooms. That is appealing to some respect.”

However, the committee dismissed the idea as impractical for three reasons:

• The possibility of more student programs being scheduled at the former high school within 12 months.
• What Sykes called “a very serious parking issue. There is only one way in and one way out. More traffic would create congestion.”
• Sykes’ concern that “the mixing of adult and student populations could be problematic.”

Sykes closed the meeting by telling the group he was attending his first OSFC Building Committee meeting of the school year to ask the committee “to please look into three things I have had brought to my attention recently.”

Sykes said the Old West End Academy’s computer lab’s design is so archaic that students sit at computers facing the walls, which prevents teachers from using the district’s technology to instruct the classroom of students.

Sykes also said the 200-plus unused phone lines identified in a performance audit as costing TPS at least $45,600 a year need the committee’s immediate attention.

Finally, he said, the one boys’ bathroom at Jones Elementary, located on the first floor by the lunchroom, has only one stall and one urinal.

“I’ve been over there on a Friday night where they have as many as 200 parents there for dodge ball with their young kids,” Sykes said. “And there’s a line outside that latrine like they were drinking beer.”

Tags: James Gant, Larry Sykes, Lisa Sobecki, Thurgood Marshall Building, Toledo Public Schools

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 18th, 2013 at 4:31 pm and is filed under Breaking News, Community, Education.
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Toledo Public Schools (TPS) interim superintendent Romules L. Durant’s office is typical of most professional educators, with books, journals and files tucked away in every nook and cranny. But two things immediately grab a visitor’s attention — the football locker room white board that covers most of the east wall and the four wall hangings of President Barack Obama above that white board.

Durant, who describes himself as a passionate man, said his love of football was the ticket to and much of the motivation behind his education and professional career. And the white board he uses to display the data documenting individual school building’s as well as TPS’s overall performance does not come from anything he learned in the classroom between 1982, when he was enrolled in first grade at Holy Rosary Elementary school and 2007, when he was awarded a doctorate in education in administration from the University of Toledo.

In the four-plus years he has worked as one of two TPS assistant superintendents, Durant said he has earned a moniker he considers a compliment.

“I have my data always at hand,” Durant said. “They don’t call me Dr. Data for nothing.

“And when they call me Dr. Data, it’s because I’m always about statistics. I’m a true believer of probability of human behavior. Every one of us has a behavior that we naturally do. You can quantify it.”

Durant said he enjoys telling colleagues, parents and students that his use of the white board doesn’t have anything to do with his experiences in any classroom.

“I picked this up in football,” Durant said. “This is what they trained us and taught us to do in football. In other words, if we’re playing football, there’s an offensive coordinator sitting up in the press box calling plays. That person has a habit of doing things during certain courses of the game at certain points on the field. When you study them and study their habits when you’re a player, you’re able to predict and have a high probability of [determining] what that person will call and put yourself in a position to make plays.

“When you talk about a person being a student of the game, like Peyton Manning, they do so much studying that they have a good indication of probability of those who have an impact on what’s called on the field. You’re able to participate much better than other people that are not students of the game.

“That’s the same way with education. The more you’re able to study the habit of a child, or a common habit of children, the better you can anticipate, intervene and change certain outcomes. That’s the whole idea of what intervention truly is.”

‘A great leader’

Durant said the four wall hangings above the white board, featuring 68 different portraits and miniature magazine covers of Obama, are testimony to his deep admiration of the U.S. president.

“He’s an example of a great leader in my eyes,” Durant said. “He exemplifies leadership as a game changer. He’s the first African-American president. And it so happens he’s the 44th president and my football number is 44.

“It’s definitely the whole family image of his wife and kids and his humbling experience coming up. Michelle said he had holes in his vehicle and lived in a simple apartment that had caught on fire, and he still lived in it.

“He is someone who lived so modestly, but at the same time, he was so highly educated he could do anything. He could have went to any law firm. It’s the same way with Michelle Obama.

“It shows his heart was to serve the underserved. And that’s kind of one of my mantras. You’re designed to serve the underserved. He kind of lived that.”

The game changers

Durant said the first and most important game-changers in his life were his parents, Benjamin and Carolynne Durant.

The second of three children, Durant said he attributes his work ethic to his father.

“We had somewhat of a strict upbringing in regards to waking up early, running miles, working out,” Durant said. “As children, my father had us run around Collins Park. People in the neighborhood would look out the windows and see these little kids all running around the park. My father always had us jogging.

“To this day, when I go into schools, [the conversations about my childhood] will be with kids who are children of those parents. ‘Me and my dad,’ they’ll say. ‘He’s always talking about you guys trucking around the park.’”

Durant said his father taught his three children to hold themselves to high expectations and that no one can expect more of them than what they should expect of themselves.

“He realized, in some sense, that we needed some discipline in order to be successful,” Durant said. “I tell people that he had a recipe for what I considered to be perfection. And I’ve said, ‘It wasn’t me who earned my doctorate degree.’ I’ve said, ‘My father earned his doctorate degree despite dropping out of high school.’

“At some point, he acquired a GED. The fact of the matter is that he dropped out of high school a young man. My brother is only 11 months younger than me. My sister is only a year older than me. So you’re talking about kids all around the same age. Trying to take care of three kids as a young person and then being involved for some period of time in gangs. He found himself the victim of being shot.

“He just wanted better for us than he had, and he was willing to do whatever it took.”

‘A throwback mentality’

Durant’s football career started in the junior league with the East Side Raiders, where he was known as ‘Hit Man,’ a name he picked up from watching Jack Tatum, a former Ohio State free safety, play the game.

“He was notorious for being a big hitter,” Durant said. “We always watched football, and so I used him as a role model. I always modeled myself being a ‘Hit Man.’

“On the football field, we wore jerseys, and mine read ‘Hit Man.’ At Friday games, people only knew me as ‘Hit Man.’ Everybody wanted to know who ‘Hit Man’ was. They couldn’t see me under the helmet, but you had this kid running all over the field, hitting people pretty hard. I had an old, throwback mentality about football. That [nickname] just kind of came with it.”

Romules L. Durant earned a doctorate in education from the University of Toledo in 2007.

As a high school freshman, Durant caught the eye of Dave Pitsenbarger, who coached him in freshman football and freshman and junior varsity basketball.

“I first noticed him when he arrived for summer workouts.” Pitsenbarger said. “He stood out above everybody with his intensity, his workout. You could tell he wanted to be the best that he could. It didn’t matter if it was 90 degrees out or if it was 70, he was going at it, giving it 100 percent.”

Pitsenbarger said Durant’s unique eye contact convinced him that Durant was headed for greatness in whatever he decided to do with his life.

“Prior to games, and even in practices, when the coach would stand up and speak to the team or try to motivate them prior to the game, it was his eye contact — he was so intent on taking in every detail, every word that the coach had to say. I can still remember the eye contact and him kind of rocking back and forth with intensity and taking in every word.

“He was just motivated, ready to hit the field. He was ready to be the leader, to conquer whatever he needed to conquer. You could see he wanted to succeed, and he was going to take in every word that he could that would help him [reach] that level.”

Pitsenbarger said that throughout the years, he has invited Durant to speak at basketball clinics.

“In basketball, you could see his intensity and doing whatever it took to win,” Pitsenbarger said. “He wasn’t the greatest basketball player but he did what he could to help the team succeed. At times it looked like he was playing football on the basketball court. He would leave his feet, even dive into the stands. He’d do whatever he could do to get that loose ball. He always wanted to succeed. He’s a hard worker.”

Durant describes himself as a focused high school student.

“In high school, honestly, I was all about school and athletics,” he said. “On senior skip day, I was the only senior that went to school.

“I didn’t go to no parties. I never went out. I didn’t go to dances. It was just school and football and everything that came with it. It became a lifestyle, with working out. Schoolwork and athletics became my priorities in life.”

College career

Durant, who graduated from Waite High School in 1994, attended UT on a football scholarship.

Tom Amstutz, Durant’s linebacker coach who later became UT’s head football coach, said he knew from the day he met Durant that he would always get his very best effort.

“He was a quiet leader, and he had a super intensity on the football field,” Amstutz said. “Off the football field, he was, No. 1, pursuing excellence. He was an excellent student. I expected him to earn mostly A’s, and he did. He was excellent in the classroom. He was an excellent leader. And he did have a special intensity on the field. He was a very tenacious guy.”

More than 15 years after a scrimmage, Amstutz said he has a crystal clear memory of a kickoff play that illustrates Durant’s character and passion for life.

“Coaches don’t really want the most intense hits during a scrimmage,” Amstutz said. “It’s your team against your team. You want some sort of control. But there was a very loud and fierce hit. And I said, ‘Oh, no.’ I looked up, and I saw a player jump up and howl like a wolf. And it was Romules. He was full-go in this, and since it was such a great hit, he got up and just howled like a wolf. I just laughed. The whole team started laughing.

“You can’t slow him down. He’s always going to go hard and that just represents what he’s done as an administrator in the City of Toledo. He’s really like a hometown hero to me.”

Orchestrating systems

After his 1998 graduation from UT with a bachelor’s in education, Durant immediately went to work for TPS as a fourth-grade teacher at Nathan Hale Elementary.

Willie Ward, principal of Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy for Boys, worked with Durant in those early years.

“He was a master at orchestrating systems of discipline and of curriculum,” Ward said. “It was wonderful to see him work. He would command the whole cafeteria. The boys and girls had to walk a certain way. They had to follow specific procedural ways of doing things.

“He has structure. He has an innate sense of what needs to be to make things tight, to make sure that they’re organized, succinct and very educational. It’s just how he lets people know what the outcome would be.

“That’s why I think he has such a natural feel for the data and how we’re using data within our school buildings.”

Ward said Durant’s incorporation of the Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB) organization was “a blessing that transformed the culture and climate of TPS.”

“In implementing the core principles of accountability, proactive leadership, intellectual development and self-discipline — particularly in African-American males — Dr. Durant has helped to give students the things they need.

“Given our demographics, there are some specific things that need to be in place, particularly a culture and climate that gives students a reason and a purpose for what they’re doing — to think futuristically about why it’s important to dress in business attire, be on time, understand your data and make sure to keep your record and your urine clean.”

Ward said Durant will be a “huge asset” to the district.

“He has the organizational, people and business skills, and the connections with organizations outside of Toledo, including the national SAAB office,” Ward said. “He’s a highly, highly sought-after individual. He’s approachable. He’s well-versed in school operations, financial and people management and building networks within a community where the sustainability will take care of itself given his endorsement. The community and the district really have an asset in Dr. Durant.”

Slight reservations

Twila Page, secretary of the African-American Parents Association, said she has a few reservations about the Board of Education’s choice of Durant as interim superintendent.

“Basically, I didn’t think they had too much of a choice because Dr. Durant, [Jim] Gault, [Brian] Murphy and [James] Gant have basically been running the district. Dr. Pecko gave them wide latitude to run the district, which they have been doing.

“For the board to bring in someone from outside when they have someone inside would have been a death knell. For one thing, they will be trying to get a levy [passed]. To go out and do a superintendent search would not have been very prudent.”

Page said TPS may have too many long-term problems for anyone to succeed as an interim superintendent.

“Their systemic, historical memory — the way they do things —they have to go past that,” Page said. “And although Dr. Durant’s new and young, he still is going to have to make changes as a young man and reject that old thinking of, ‘Because we did it this way 20 or 30 or 40 years ago, that’s the way it’s going to be done — just because it’s always been that way.’

“I think he’s going to have a hard row to hoe. He’s got the teacher contracts coming up. The district’s being investigated by the federal Department of Education and the Justice Department. And although they say things are changing in the discipline, I don’t really see it.”

Page said that as long as Durant, Gant, Gault and Murphy work as a team, they “might have a chance” to succeed.

“I don’t see it happening, though,” Page said. “They’re going to have to fight the unions. And in the paper, the unions have already started to fight back.

“And in order to get that performance audit, with those 169 recommendations, implemented, it’s going to take some strength. And it’s not going to come from just the superintendent. It’s going to have to come from his cabinet.”

Credit where credit is due

Durant was unanimously chosen to be TPS’s interim superintendent on April 8. He is careful to point out that Pecko is the TPS superintendent and that he is only in contract negotiations with BOE president Brenda Hill and TPS legal counsel Keith Wilkowski for the interim position.

The earliest the BOE might vote to accept his contract is April 23, at the regularly schedule business meeting. And if his contract is accepted and he officially becomes the interim superintendent, Durant emphasized that Pecko will remain the acting superintendent until he leaves the position July 31.

Durant said he gives Pecko credit for much of what he has accomplished in the past few years.

“He allowed his administrative team to do what they needed to do and operate,” Durant said. “Many companies would not have allowed their lower executives to pretty much change an entire organization through a transformation plan.

“We devised the Transformation Plan and went to a K-8 model. You’re talking about transitioning 50 buildings to the complexity of changing to a K-8 concept. You’re talking about multiple student, staff and community impacts with boundary lines. That was a huge overtaking.”

Taxpayer perception

Because taxpayers will face a renewal levy on the ballot in either August or November, Durant wants citizens to feel confident that under his leadership, TPS will invest money wisely.

“No. 1, the district is going to be much more outcome-based-driven to provide taxpayers some sort of return in regard to the investment,” Durant said.

“No. 2, I want parents to understand that we’re trying to provide a variety of choices for their child. No child is born into one-box-fits-all. We’re providing them with a transformation of choices. They’re allowed to have a child who identifies certain strengths and are able to find [someone or something] in the school system to be able to maximize their potential passion and skill set.

“When you find something you’re passionate about, you never work a day in your life. And I think when we begin to identify those things early on — that’s the whole cradle-to-career concept — that you’re able to identify much more in detail certain strengths and weaknesses of children to where they can start to begin to [make] clear college or career tech [choices] earlier than what you see now.

“In essence, the district is going to look at the [performance] audit and implement the best suggestions of the audit while providing quality. The main thing is, all decisions are going to be student-driven in the best interest of children.”

Teacher, staff concerns

Durant said he’s confident that all TPS employees know that as their interim superintendent, “I’m going to give them 110 percent.

“This job and what I do — I live this. I sacrifice a big portion of all my personal life and time to do this, and that I’m always going to work in the best interest of the children, the best interest of the people.

“At the same time, no one works for me. As my dad said, ‘No one’s above you, but you stand above no man or woman.’

“No one in this district works for me, but more importantly works with me in regards to a plan for a mission to allow our kids to be well-balanced and to be career- and college-ready. It’s going to take a collaborative of all of us in regards to working together to make these things happen. And I will go through all means and will support them in all regards. If they haven’t seen it thus far, they will see it.

“There’s going to be a mindset of us coming to them as opposed to them having to come to us.”

Student-driven

Duran said he wants all TPS students and potential TPS students to know “they’re at the heart” of everything TPS does and “that all decisions are made in their best interest.

“There’s going to be a continued effort to provide them leadership opportunities. They will begin to own the mission and vision of Toledo Public Schools and the understanding that, yes, they will be well-balanced in life. They will be career- and college-ready based on the quality programs provided here.

“But more importantly, it’s going to take effort among them to continue to be part of leadership groups, to be part of some support network, whether it’s the ones we provide or outside of that.

“They have a moral and social responsibility to each other, and more importantly, to themselves. That’s going to be the culture and mindset of the district — high expectations for each and every person, always giving 110 percent. Every day is your ‘A’ day.”

7 of Durant’s educational philosophies

Use the Strive model

Romules L. Durant is an advocate of the Strive model, based in downtown Cincinnati, which helps schools leverage an area’s resources into improvements in education.

“Toledo has an abundance of resources. The Strive model can leverage these resources as a whole city so we’re not duplicating services. We’re allowing ourselves to operate much more efficiently as a city collectively, as opposed to doing the same work in the same area. How can we work together as partners to where I’m leveraging your resources and you’re leveraging my capacity and making this better?”

Durant cites the Boys and Girls Clubs at Sherman, East Broadway and Marshall elementary schools as examples of how the Strive model can work in TPS.

Romules L. Durant

Own your data

Durant tells students and teachers that the purpose of data is to motivate them and show the impact and rate of return of their work.

“We sometimes have to talk about being on probation,” Durant said. “So I tell the schools, ‘Here’s where you’re at now. What’s your goal for third quarter? Where’s your PI (Performance Index) goal for third quarter?’

“Because now we’re seeing goals should be set at a building level. And I’ve developed a calculator that you can program it all in. So at the grade level, you set a goal. But who’s more important when you set the goal within the teacher’s classroom? The students.

“So we call it, ‘What’s your story?’ The student says, ‘Here’s my scale score. My scale score was 363 which put me on a proficient level. I want my scale score for the next bench mark period to be 370.’

“That’s when the teacher says, ‘What are you doing to get there? Here’s what you’re weak at. If you improve some in this area, you can see some growth in your scale score.’

“However, that’s the child owning the data. We’re talking about a system schoolwide and getting to the level where it’s in the child’s hands. Then you really have a good culture and system going because when a child owns it, now they’re motivated and intrinsically moving to improve as opposed to just being pushed along where the teacher says, ‘You’ve got to do better.’

“However, when the child owns the data, the child says, ‘I’m setting a goal to do better and this is how I’m going to do it.’”

Be the LeBron of what you do

Durant teaches students that being outcome-based, bench mark-based and data-driven are the key attributes to being a successful organizational leader.

“If you have no bench marks and no goals, what are you working toward?” Durant asked. “I learned that early on. I always appreciated my father. Ultimately, I don’t know where I would probably have ended up without having his presence. By being fortunate to have that, I try to provide that for students.

“I’m passionate about that. Any of the kids will tell you, ‘Durant is passionate about what he does.’ So I kind of consider myself the Ray Lewis of education or the LeBron James of education. I tell kids, ‘Be the LeBron of what you do.’ No matter what it is in life, if you always be the LeBron of what you do, you will have that same status but in the field that you choose. More and more, they adhere to that.

“We have this model. I say, ‘We walk into a room.’ They respond, ‘We own the room’, meaning there’s a power presence of yourself. You own what you do, and people will see it and see a glow about you they want to be around.

“That’s how you develop a positive group. Three hundred kids just didn’t come together in SAAB just to be coming together. They came together because there’s a positivity growing around others. There was a self-righteousness and a business look that the kids are attracted to.

“One of the things I tell kids is, ‘Be a game changer about things that you do.’ If you do it to a certain level of perfection, people realize that they have to change the ways they go about achieving certain things.”

Justify a renewal levy

Durant said passing a renewal levy will require at least six well-developed strategies:

• Continuing to build community trust.
• Developing the energy behind TPS.
• Establishing and nourishing community partnerships.
• Acknowledging those things the district has been doing differently.
• Focusing on what future taxpayers can expect from TPS.
• Devising a strategic plan for “getting out the word” about the best practices in TPS.

“There are a lot of great things going on in the district that are unknown,” Durant said. “There’s the aviation center. Toledo Technology Academy is in the top 10 percent of high schools ranked by U.S. News & World Report. There’s the Early College where our students earn 60 credit hours toward a college degree coming right out of high school. We have close to 60 career tech [programs] within the district.”

Durant said few people are aware of the array of programs TPS students can pursue.

“You seldom say that you’re doing well in the district,” he said. “You have to brand it. It’s about always putting our best foot forward, announcing these things and always mentioning the positive things going on in Toledo Public Schools.

“And safety is our priority, No. 1. We’re the ninth safest school district in country (as reported in the March, 2013 issue of Urban Educator). How many people realize that?

“It goes back to if people don’t know that, [then they ask themselves] what is it that they are investing in and getting a return on.”

Acknowledge the critics

Durant acknowledged that some critics questioned his suitability as interim superintendent because they mistakenly believe his entire professional educational experience has been limited to TPS and Toledo. Durant suggests a careful study of his resume will alleviate any of those concerns.

“It’s not about where you reside,” he said. “It’s about where you’re willing to go to collect information. I go to professional development [across the country], picking up best practices. That’s the diversity. Superintendents have a tendency to bounce all over the place. That diversity doesn’t necessarily bring anything unless there’s a success record based on the trail that you left.

“In any organization, your best and most successful attributes are those you’re able to train within you. Because if the person underneath you isn’t good enough to run the organization, what does that tell you about you as a leader?

“When I talk about football, some of the best coaches in the NFL have played under [New England Head Coach Bill] Belichick. And they begin to see that there’s a certain level of coaching when you’re able to produce assistant coaches who end up becoming head coaches elsewhere. That probably means there’s something about your leadership that has impacted them that they become recognizable amongst the league.

“If you’re not able to produce leaders underneath you, then you have to question your own leadership.

“Organizations are sustained based on having leadership in place. In other words, there are all these individuals coming through. You’re recruiting and providing the means to educate them in a way that is competent to the district. Surrounding districts may recruit your administrators, but if you always have a pool [of administrators to choose from], the day doesn’t stop. You still have individuals to put in.”

Encourage reciprocal teaching

Durant says he supports the reciprocal teaching model because it teaches students how to think.

“In reading, students are taught to use four guided practices when they read. First, they predict. Second, they question. Third, they clarify. And fourth, they summarize.”

In a classroom where reciprocal teaching is used, Durant said, students work in a cooperative learning group.

“The kids are in a group being led by a student who watched a teacher model it over the course of weeks. Now, the student becomes the instructor in reading a passage and asking, ‘Who has a question?’

“The questions that are driven are modeled by a teacher. So the students begin to have the good sense of asking, ‘What questions should I be asking when I read something?’

“And at the same time, that predictability becomes a transferrable skill to science. Science is all about prediction, research questions, your findings and your conclusion, which is the same as prediction, questioning, clarifying and summarizing in reading.

“Kids begin to make that transferrable connection, realizing I can predict my outcome of research in science. I can ask myself guided questions to get to a particular outcome.’

“I tell people, when you can integrate reading and science and predict why chairs roll, let’s read it. Let’s ask ourselves some questions.

“So now you’re challenging kids to develop a thinking mechanism within themselves, to think how to think when they read certain things. It will eventually become the skill that they naturally do after they’ve been trained so often in doing it.

“When they begin to transfer that to any other situation, that’s the whole idea of execution of education. You may have all the knowledge base, but if you’re not able to transfer it to life, it becomes wasted stored knowledge.”

Delegate leadership

Durant said he’s a believer of top-down, pluralistic leadership.

“You invest in others what you’re passionate about, making certain things are in your agenda that others are able to lead. And you allow them to lead in that capacity,” Durant said.

“But my main thing is being the driving force of a mission. The mission is only as good as those who are part of it and own it. So when it gets down to the very core of students, you have to truly imbed your mission in the minds of those you serve.

“That’s the whole idea [behind] the groups that I work with. I have to be grounded with those I serve, meaning those youths of today. I need to be within their grasp of understanding, and that means being around them at different times.

“When they own the process, that’s when school districts or organizations are invested. When kids own their data and own their learning, that’s when you’re talking about transferrable skills for jobs and career-readiness. They weren’t just rote. They weren’t just picking up and acquiring certain knowledge. They’ve picked up a certain strategy that allows them to transfer what’s in the career and college world.

“Those are the things that are very important. It starts with the mission. It starts with the vision, and then it goes through the execution in regards to how to connect from cradle-to-career in addressing important indications of certain skills, like reading and math. Those things become very important.

“I’m very big about cognitive theory in developing a meta-cognition for students to begin to own those processes. Ultimately, that’s what creates a successful person.

“It’s not about the GPA. You see a lot of kids with 4.0s, but are they able to transfer certain levels of skills to make them successful within the workplace? I think it’s that process in teaching them how they go about [reaching] a level of comprehension.

“I’m a big fan of reciprocal teaching as well as being more student-led in the reciprocal teaching, which actually brings about that. When students begin to lead their instruction based on the modeling of the teacher, you have true learning going on. You also have peer-to-peer learning, which is always the best [way] to leave an impact on learning.”

Tags: Brenda Hill, Brian Murphy, Dave Pitsenbarger, Jack Tatum, James Gant, Jerome Pecko, Jim Gault, Keith Wilkowski, Romules Durant, Toledo Public Schools, Tom Amstutz, Twila Page, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 18th, 2013 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Community, Education, Featured, Toledo Public Schools, Uncategorized.
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After a second round of interviews that lasted three hours, the Toledo Public Schools (TPS) Board of Education (BOE) voted unanimously to name Romules Durant as its interim superintendent, April 8.

Durant, 37, TPS’s assistant superintendent of the Bowsher, Scott and Waite Learning Communities, said he was overjoyed to receive the news.

“I’m very excited,” Durant said. “We have a road ahead of us, and [I’m looking forward] to being able to be in charge as well as developing a lot of energy that I have with myself along with [what’s] already here with the board. I’m just very excited to begin to look at the vision of TPS, to begin to work with our partnerships and to continue on with the Transformation Plan that we put forth two, three years ago.”

Durant said he was looking forward to the challenges he knows he will face.

“In regards to any superintendent, your sole duty is working in close relationship to the board members. [I look to] begin to be much more inclusive in the discussions as opposed to in my previous position, [where I] kind of took a back seat to Dr. Pecko.”

Durant said his regular interactions with TPS students “in walking through the hallways, as well as [working with] many of them [as] part of my student youth group,” makes him a firm believer that student input is essential for the district’s success.

“I expect to [tell students to] look for more leadership positions,” Durant said. “We want you to begin to own the mission individually in TPS. When you’re capable of saying it, then we know we’ve done our job in due diligence in regards to setting a tone of what we expect from our youth.”

Durant, a 1994 Waite High School graduate, said he is looking forward to “reinvest within the district and provide the things” he was afforded as a TPS student himself.

Durant said he was never really nervous about whether he would be offered the interim superintendent position. He said he used the training and preparation from his student football-playing days to be prepared for whatever decision the BOE reached.

“Coming from my athletic background, you’re used to performing on certain days,” Durant said. “I think what I’ve taken away from the game of football, when we’re talking about data and statistics, [is the] results in regards to how to go about 48-hour preparation—how to prepare yourself [in the preceding] 48 hours [of any event] which will allow you to perform in a means that you visualize on a day-to-day basis.”

Durant deferred any comments about goals he may have for the district, saying “I leave that in the hands of my board.

Durant

“My main thing is, one, start with youth in regard to what their philosophy is, as well as their goals. I’m looking forward to make sure that I step forward and carry through with those.”

‘Best meet the needs of the district’

Brenda Hill, board president and spokesperson, said the BOE selected the candidate “we think will best meet the needs of the district.”

In their second interviews, Hill said the BOE asked Durant and candidate Douglas Heuer “general questions about the school system and how would you see us moving forward. And then we had a discussion. We talked about what’s coming up. We just decided, with academics, and all other kinds of issues, and the levy, we needed someone who would be organized and someone who would have accountability.

“It’s not that the other superintendent candidate didn’t [have those qualities]. We just had to decide between the two of them who we thought would do the best as far as organizing, having accountability, moving us forward, making our report card improve, and also be able to get the confidence of the community. We decided Dr. Durant would probably be the best one.”

Hill said the BOE was unconcerned with Durant’s youth.

“You find most people who do things and are famous, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., started in their 30’s and 40’s,” Hill said. “So leadership comes at an early age. I think sometimes people are kind of born with leadership and leadership abilities. Dr. Durant has leadership abilities. He’s worked. He’s shown it. And we believe he would be a good leader for our system.”

Hill said the BOE discussed offering Durant a one-year contract, “but those things have to be worked out” in contract negotiations with Durant, Keith Wilkowski, TPS legal counsel, and Hill. Once an agreement is reached, Hill said the board will publicly vote to approve Durant’s contract.

Hill also left open the possibility that Durant could be named superintendent at the end of his interim contract.

“If we want him, and he wants us, he can apply to us and we could decide to make him permanent, or not,” Hill said.

Denied a chance to speak

Don Yates, president of the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel (TAAP), had his request to address the BOE before it went into executive session denied by Hill.

Yates requested to speak to the board “per contract.” The relevant portion of the TAAP contract, page 8, number 6, reads that TAAP’s representative can “… appear and speak at all regular and special meetings of the board.”

Hill said she would not permit him to speak because she had already moved that the BOE to go into executive session.

“I’m sorry,” Hill said. “I have moved right now that we go into executive session, and I have a second and a motion.”

Hill then called on Treasurer Matthew Cleland to call the roll.

In a three-minute private conversation with Wilkowski, Hill, BOE vice president Cecelia Adams and BOE member Larry Sykes after the BOE dismissed itself to go into executive session, Yates said he given a send, unrelated reason as to why he could not speak. He said he was told he could not speak because the formal announcement of the special board meeting did not include that members of the bargaining units would be speaking. Yates said he was asked not to be confrontational.

Request ‘not to be confrontational’

Yates said he contemplated “their request to not force them into … to not be confrontational. My intention was not to be confrontational. I don’t want to disrupt the process of hiring an interim superintendent. I simply wanted the opportunity to speak to the performance audit to make sure the board knows that we’re supportive of a performance audit that is correct and accurate and the recommendations that come from it are based on correct and accurate data, not inaccurate.

“What I wanted to say to them is that the performance audit is flawed, it needs to be fixed, and we can’t do that by [the] Wednesday [deadline]. We need ample time to go back to fix the inaccuracies with correct data so we can make good recommendations based on facts that are correct. Having that done by Wednesday is not possible.

“I’m finding multiple inaccuracies that have significant impact on the recommendations. Like 2010 student data, the number of kids in the various school buildings is wrong. The data that was provided was pre-K-8 configurations before the district redistricted.

“Also, the number of administrators cited in the report of 429 is grossly inaccurate. The correct number is 200. Even if we included everyone in the bargaining unit, our total is about 265. We do not have 429 members.”

Yates said the Evergreen audit also reports assistant principal salaries inaccurately, thereby gives the BOE a false projection of savings. Yates said assistant principals make $62,000 a year, not the $85,000 cited in the performance audit. “Yet, that was the number used to calculate the $101 million over five years,” Yates said, “and it’s inaccurate.

“Dr. [Linda] Reico made a comment about using the TAAP contract to determine staffing levels for principals. It didn’t include what was really the contract language because it was done outside the contract. We were reconfiguring to a K-8 [structure]. So her recommendation on number of assistant principals based on contract is incorrect.”

Lack of malicious intent

“Mind you, I don’t think any of that is malicious,” Yates said. “I don’t think any of that is because anyone is trying to manipulate.

“I think it’s just wrong data that needs to be fixed. Let’s fix it and move forward. But it has to be fixed. And to do that by Wednesday? Have you seen the report?

“I’ve been reading it. There’s a lot of information in it I agree with and a lot I don’t agree with. But I can live with that.

“What I can’t live with is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading information. And unfortunately, there’s some of that that needs to be fixed.

Yates said he was also disappointed with the BOE’s unwillingness to respect both the letter and spirit of its contract with TAAP.

“I think it’s unfortunate they don’t want to hear a voice, especially since it was a mistake on their part,” Yates said.

It is Yates position that the conflict is the result of a mistake made by someone who works for TPS. And because a district employee made a mistake in drafting the special board meeting notice, a bargaining unit representative who is contractually permitted to address the BOE at any and all board meetings was denied the opportunity to speak.

The notice was signed by Treasurer Matthew Cleland.

“It’s unfortunate,” Yates said. “This performance audit is too important not to get correct.

“It does a nice job of putting together a five-year plan. Whether we agree with all or not, we will have to work with that. [We have to] at least get people focused on what we have to do with our big picture planning, but it has to be right. I want to make sure they don’t rush to get something done because there’s a thought that it’s more important to get a product done than it is to get it done and right.”

Yates also said that Wilkowski told him that he was restricted as to what he could speak about at a special board meeting.

“Board counsel tells me that I can only speak regarding the matter at hand,” Yates said. “I don’t know that’s there’s anything in the language of the contract that restricts me from speaking about whatever it is that I feel I need to speak about. And they wouldn’t let me speak in violation of our contract.”

Yates said that because he was not allowed to address the board, he intends to do two things.

“One, each of the board members needs to know that performance audit has to be corrected. I will contact them individually. Two, [the board] has to be granted enough time to get it right.”

Yates added a third thing he wants to see come from this situation.

“I want to make sure that on every single agenda from now on, that organizational input be added to the agenda,” Yates said. “And organizational input is not limited to anything other than then what the organization has to share regarding whatever they want to share.”

Tags: Brenda Hill, Don Yates, Jerome Pecko, Keith Wilkowski, Matthew Cleland, Romules Durant, Toledo Public Schools

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 at 6:40 am and is filed under Community, Education.
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Two weeks after more than 20 Libbey High School alumni and supporters documented 370 pieces of memorabilia stored by Toledo Public Schools (TPS), the Libbey High School Alumni Association will host a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. April 9. The group plans to discuss possible placement of the school’s trophies, medals, paintings, photos, portraits, plaques, newspapers, yearbooks and other assorted memorabilia.

The meeting will take place in the Believe Center inside the Aurora Gonzalez Community Center, 1205 Broadway St.

In response to Libbey preservation project spokesperson Sue Terrill’s comments to the Board of Education (BOE) at its March 26 meeting, board member Larry Sykes expressed his support of the alumni association’s mission.

“I am sympathetic to the people of Libbey,” Sykes said. “We can work with them as they attempt to find a home for those artifacts. And I don’t want to see [Terrill] back here because she is complaining that she needs something in the Libbey High School alumni project.”

Speaking directly to the superintendent Jerome Pecko, Sykes said, “Whatever she needs, let’s make sure she gets it.”

‘Too little, too late’

Libbey High School’s original gym at the time of its 2012 demolition. (Bill Albert)

Preservation project volunteers said that although they appreciated Sykes’ vocal support, it is simply too little, too late. They said they needed that support from all board members in 2012 when the BOE voted to demolish the South End high school, leaving the 1200 block of Western Avenue bare.

“It’s just a great big hole, a bare space,” said 1963 graduate Sharon Barton Hamilton. “It will probably grow over in weeds in a couple of years if they don’t find another purpose for it. It will become just another empty lot with weeds.”

Sierra Hines, a 2010 graduate, said she is offended by the BOE’s previous lack of support.

“They already got rid of our school,” Hines said. “It’s adding insult to injury when you just dump the trophies into a storage room and not do anything with them. It’s like all my memories have been taken from me.”

Larry Farren, a 1966 graduate, questioned where the BOE’s support was during the first two years of the preservation project committee’s efforts.

“We’ve tried to save as much of the legacy as we could,” Farren said. “We tried to take as many photographs as we could. The exterior was easy. It was still up. But we had a hard time getting inside Libbey to take pictures.”

Farren said he has “no idea” why committee members were required to wait more than a year before being allowed access to the shuttered building.

“Maybe they were worried about insurance, maybe that we’d get hurt,” Farren suggested. “Or maybe they thought if the documentation got out there, their decision would be reversed. That is a possibility.”

Jean Murphy, a 1966 graduate, called it a “disgrace” that Libbey was demolished within two years of being closed while DeVilbiss and Macomber high schools have stood for 22 years since closing.

Fred Crabtree, a 1963 graduate, agreed with Murphy.

“It bugs the hell out of me that after going through all that information we went through, I couldn’t find a single reason why when they closed DeVilbiss and Macomber [in 1991], they didn’t tear them down. All these years later, both are still standing. But with Libbey, they closed it [in 2010] and they tore it down to the ground in less than two years.”

Bill Albert, a 1966 graduate, was harsher in his assessment of the BOE, calling its actions immoral.

“Now the South End is totally, absolutely deficient in education and everything else,” Albert said. “What they’ve done to those kids’ education down there is criminal.”

A public display

Demolition crews at the Libbey High School site on March 8, 2012. (Bruce Taylor)

Volunteers universally agreed that their work documenting the memorabilia should lead to the establishment of a facility where the items would be on public display.

Hamilton said she would like to see a museum for all closed TPS schools “so that everything could be under one roof to make it feasible.” She suggested the South branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library at 1736 Broadway St. as a possible location.

Larry Noyes, a 1963 graduate, also supports the establishment of a museum.

“Those items are already recorded,” Noyes said. “We have documentation. I would like to see that put into some kind of museum to where somebody can go there and say, ‘Oh, yeah. My grandfather — he was part of that team.’ It would be nice.

“I think that for the amount of effort that went into earning those trophies and awards, we owe something to those people that worked very hard to bring that honor to the school — not so much for themselves, but for the sake of Libbey High School. There were a lot of them over all the years, and I think that should be preserved.”

Jean Murphy, a 1966 graduate, suggested that the memorabilia could be displayed in several buildings, including the Area Office on Aging on Arlington Avenue and the Lyman W. Liggins Senior Center and the Veterans Outpatient Clinic, both on South Detroit Avenue.

“The people of South Toledo could go and see, or take their grandchildren to see, the World War II memorial for the teachers and students lost in World War II,” Murphy said. “They could take their families to see some of the important things in their lives.”

Eddie Auerbach, a 1950 graduate, said he’d like to see the City of Toledo establish and maintain a citywide Sports Hall of Fame to honor athletes from area high schools as well as The University of Toledo.

“It’s just too bad that they had to do what they did to Libbey,” Auerbach said. “It’s gone now. It’s just too bad.”

Public auction

James Hines, a 1984 graduate, said he’d like to see TPS sell the memorabilia to interested citizens.

“I wish there was some kind of way to auction them off,” Hines said. “I know people who they are valuable to would go after them. People would pay a lot of money just to have them. There’s a lot of people that fought with sweat and blood over trophies.

“Auction them off. Give them away. Put them online for people to see them. Do something. To leave them packed up in a warehouse somewhere — and later on probably trash them — is a crime.”

The South Toledo site where Libbey High School stood from 1923 to 2012. (Bruce taylor)

‘Give people pause … ’

Farren said it’s important to save as much of Libbey’s legacy as possible.

“Maybe we’re being pie-in-the-sky, but this is part of the history of Toledo,” Farren said. “We’re hoping that by saving as much as we can, we can give people pause to think about what Toledo once was and can be again.”

Farren said even citizens with no connection to Libbey should take notice of TPS’s demolition of its unused buildings.

“In a way, this goes to the heart of Toledo,” Farren said. “We did not maintain Libbey the way it should have been maintained. Now we have these new schools. We’ve been to the OSFC (Ohio School Facilities Commission) Building Committee meetings, and we’ve heard about problems with the new schools.

“And you have to wonder, are the people of Toledo going to repeat the mistakes of the past? Are they going to maintain these new buildings? Or in 40 years, or 50 if we’re lucky, are these buildings going to have to be replaced and millions of dollars will have to go into the process again?”

‘A piece of history that’s gone’

Noyes said the demolition was, “kind of like they’re tearing down a part of your life. It’s a piece of history that’s gone. It’s just like a lot of other things that are gone. Eventually, it loses its impact. Time has erased a lot of that memory.

“I don’t think you have to save everything. I just don’t understand why Libbey had to be the school to be gobbled up in a steam shovel. There’s a lot of feeling involved. I look at that piece of property now, and I just don’t know what to say about it. They have a big rock out there, almost like a tombstone. When I first saw it, it was kind of like a gravestone for Libbey.”

Albert refuses to even drive by the site of the former high school.

“That’s one part of Western Avenue. I will never go down,” Albert said. “I saw Libbey as it was, and I didn’t see it being torn down. I refused to see it, and I refuse to go onto that section of Western Avenue.

“When I went that way to get to the Frederick Douglass Building for a couple of meetings, I had my left hand over the left side of my face so I wouldn’t even approach Libbey, seeing it. That’s how I am with that. I have my memory and my sight of Libbey, and that’s how I’ll look at it.”

Tags: Area Office on Aging, Aurora Gonzalez Community Center, Jerome Pecko, Larry Sykes, Libbey High School, Libbey High School Alumni Association, Lyman W. Liggins Senior Center, Sue Terrill, Toledo Public Schools, University of Toledo, Veterans Outpatient Clinic

This entry was posted on Friday, April 5th, 2013 at 7:26 am and is filed under Community, Education.
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