The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
CEO reports on first 30 days
Continuing conversation with community a priority
David Hardy Jr. says the first 30 days of sifting through conversations and data with staff and citizens turned up challenges for the district.
Hardy was appointed chief executive officer of Lorain City Schools on July 24 and was tasked with lifting the district from academic distress.
“I think today was a very productive day,”
Hardy said. “I think it was important to continue the conversation with the community. Understand that I want to operate from a level of transparency that is necessary for us to move forward, at the same time start to create the direction that we need to put in place to ensure our kids are getting everything they need.”
Three areas jump out at him from his sifting through data and listening to folks, he said.
The first is the performance of students, which is the reason for the academic distress.
The second is a level of distrust in the organization that is very high, Hardy said, adding trust is a foundation of an organization.
The third is the community is passionate about the work being done in Lorain, but the district needs better alignment to use community members in better ways. Also, parents are not respected the way they should be respected, he said.
“A parent had very real concerns about how she was treated on entering a building, and she didn’t want to ever go to that building again,” Hardy said.
The district also needs to create a consistent and equitable vision for student success, he said.
There are still questions that need to be answered, Hardy said.
He intends to retain TNTP, a consulting firm hired to gather information from staff and the community, because he hopes to dive deeper into areas of focus. And some of the topics need more study, he said.
Hardy also intends to find and hire an auditing firm to evaluate the finances and whether the resources of the district are being allocated properly, he said.
“Are we using money appropriately?” Hardy said. “For example, if we buy 10,000 pencils, are those 10,000 pencils going to 10,000 kids or going to two? There are things that have been brought to my attention.”
Money is being pushed around the district not from a compliance standpoint, but from a performance standpoint, he said.
His entry week was to be the first week of October, he said, but because of concerning things he’s hearing, he’s moving the date up by two weeks.
“I think we’ll be here in a way that will support the efforts quicker,” Hardy said.
Areas of focus for diving deeper include analyzing academics, improving instructional culture, evaluating central office staff and aligning money allocations.
“The things that are keeping me up at night are: One, what are our barriers, and how do we remove those barriers?” Hardy said, “Two, how can we improve our culture and outcomes in our schools? And what barriers can we remove to encourage deeper ownership and investment from our community?”
The team has touched bases with 892 Lorain community members, Hardy said, including 18 focus groups, 52 individual meetings, and eight school and community events, and received 635 responses to the recent community survey, he said.
“Plus, I want to make sure there aren’t any fear levels going up among our school leaders and teachers,” Hardy said. “You are the ones we are trying to make this better for.”
He’s proposing organizational changes at the central office this year, he said, and changes in the buildings and classrooms next school year.
Key dates include Oct. 22, when Hardy intends to make available for public review a draft of an academic improvement plan, he said.
On Nov. 6 Hardy intends to present the Academic Improvement Plan to the Academic Distress Commission, he said.
“I think it was important to continue the conversation with the community. Understand that I want to operate from a level of transparency that is necessary for us to move forward, at the same time start to create the direction that we need to put in place to ensure our kids are getting everything they need.”
— Lorain City Schools Chief Executive Officer David Hardy Jr.