PPS board to vote on Hamlet’s contract
Less than a month from the start of a school year with unprecedented challenges for health, safety and race relations, the Pittsburgh Public Schools board will vote next week on whether it will renew the contract of Superintendent Anthony Hamlet for a term of four years.
In response, Sala Udin, an often outspoken member of the school board and a frequent Hamlet critic, urged his colleagues not to rush to a decision and said he feels the superintendent has not earned a contract renewal.
District solicitor Ira Weiss confirmed Thursday the contract renewal will be included in the August human resources report that board members will vote on at Wednesday’s legislative meeting.
If approved, the contract would run from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025. Mr. Hamlet and the district agreed to a five-year contract in 2016 that expires June 30, 2021. Mr. Weiss said the board would only vote on the renewal and length of the contract Wednesday, while other details, such as salary, would be determined at a later time.
Mr. Hamlet has been lauded for creating the 2017-22 strategic plan, “Expect Great Things,” the launch of a citywide student advisory council and the rerouting of buses to ensure reliable transportation to the district’s vulnerable youth.
He also released “On Track to Equity: Integrating Equity Throughout PPS,” which seeks to reduce racial disparities throughout the district and elevate the achievement levels of African American students.
But the superintendent, who declined comment for this story through a spokeswoman, has battled numerous controversies during his tenure as superintendent.
Before Mr. Hamlet was sworn in, he faced accusations of inaccuracies in his resume. He has had what some believe to be a high rate of staff turnover. An unauthorized trip to Cuba has led to an outside investigation.
Lack of significant progress in student performance and the achievement gap between Black and white students during his tenure have also become points of frustration for board members and
community groups.
Mr. Udin released figures Thursday showing low scores among Black elementary and middle school students on standardized tests.
The board member, a former Pittsburgh city councilman and a leader in the city’s Black community, has often bemoaned the lack of progress in reading and mathematics skills by the district’s African American students. He said that over the past three years in his district, which includes the Hill District and parts of Oakland and the East End, more than 80% of the students were failing in reading and more than 90% were failing in math.
In a phone interview, Mr. Udin called the test scores among the district’s Black students “criminal,” and said Mr. Hamlet has not done enough to correct to issues.
“Obviously, the results have not changed sufficiently during the course if his contract term,” he said. “I could not say Dr. Hamlet created those conditions — he inherited them — but that’s the point of hiring a superintendent.”
Mr. Udin stopped short of saying he would vote against renewing the superintendent’s contract because he was “trying to walk a fine line between publicly criticizing Dr. Hamlet and not breaking the confidentiality of things we talk about in executive session.”
However, in a letter he sent to the Pittsburgh PostGazette later Thursday, he said Mr. Hamlet has not earned a contract renewal.
He also called for public input before a decision is made. The board has until February to make a decision.
Mr. Hamlet has supporters in the community.
The Western Pennsylvania Black Political Assembly said in a letter to school board members in July that Mr. Hamlet has “built a foundation” that has moved the district in the right direction academically, as well as in other areas.
The letter listed overall rising proficiency rates in English language arts/reading and mathematics on state exams in students in grades three to eight as well as science in grades four to eight from 2015 — the year before Mr. Hamlet’s tenure began — to 2019. Mathematics proficiency increased from 25.6% in 2015 to 28.7% in 2019. English and reading performance increased from 42.8% in 2015 to 47.3% in 2019. And science increased from 46.5% in 2015 to 49.8% in 2019.
The group also noted the significance of having a Black man as superintendent in the district, as more than half the students are African American.
Randall Taylor, a member of the assembly, lauded the stability Mr. Hamlet would provide in the district if he is awarded a new contract.
“I do know that the district is moving forward, and a lot of times when it has stability in leadership, it’s able to do that,” Mr. Taylor said Thursday in a phone interview. “Of course, we all want to do better, and of course, we’re going to challenge this superintendent and this partly African American school board to begin to really do dramatic things to bring all our children to an academic level that they should be at.”
Mr. Udin said he felt as though some board members were trying to hurry the matter along so that those who are opposed to renewing Mr. Hamlet’s contract have less time to voice their concerns.
Under state education code, the board has until Feb. 1 to inform Mr. Hamlet whether they will renew his contract. Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on the possible renewal of Mr. Hamlet’s contract at a comment session before the school board Monday night.
The board, Mr. Udin said, should wait to vote until City Controller Michael Lamb finishes his audit of the district’s technology inventory for the upcoming school year. In addition, Mr. Udin wants to see the results of an ongoing investigation by the state Ethics Commission over issues with Mr. Hamlet’s financial disclosures in 2017 and 2018.
That was not the only investigation into Mr. Hamlet during his tenure.
In May 2019, the school board hired an independent investigator to review a trip that Mr. Hamlet and other administrators took to Cuba. Mr. Weiss said the investigation into the matter had ended and the board spoke with Mr. Hamlet, but no information about any discipline was released as it was a personnel issue.
And even before Mr. Hamlet was sworn in, questions were raised about accomplishments he had touted in his resume.
News articles in the PostGazette and the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post in 2016 reported some statistics about improving student performance at two Palm Beach County schools where he served as principal that were included in his resume appeared to be at odds with Florida state data. Then-school board President Regina Holley acknowledged more could have been done to check Mr. Hamlet’s claims, but she still thought he would “do a wonderful job in the district.”
Current school board President Sylvia Wilson said Thursday in an email that the board would address Mr. Hamlet’s contract at next week’s meeting, and discussing the matter before then would be “premature and devastating to our core mission of getting our children safely prepared for school to begin on time.”
She said the district has been “polarized” by the COVID-19 pandemic and “its leadership are working day and late into the night to ensure that we safely begin school on time.”
“Our district has over 3,000 staff and over 26,000 students who need a safe and healthy work environment with computers and the proper technology,” Ms. Wilson wrote. “This is our main focus and sole priority until the start of school. Dr. Hamlet’s contract is a matter of procedural process that all school boards go through.”
School board member Veronica Edwards said in an email that since the contract was a confidential personnel matter, she would not speak about it until a decision is made.
“I will say that I am comfortable with the majority decision of the board,” Ms. Edwards wrote. “Dr. Hamlet has worked hard for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and I see the fruits of his labor. Is there more work to do, as this pandemic has showed us, yes, but together we can and will make a difference.”
School board members Pam Harbin, Cynthia Falls, Bill Gallagher and Terry Kennedy declined to comment. Board members Kevin Carter and Devon Taliaferro could not be reached.
School board members did not talk about renewing Mr. Hamlet’s contract at an agenda review meeting Wednesday night or at any other recent public meetings. It has been discussed during executive session.
Mr. Weiss said the board did not have to bring up the contract at a public meeting because it is a personnel matter.
“The board does not get into HR matters at agenda review,” Mr. Weiss said.