Hardy calls out community for kids

New CEO explains interactioning with youth

David Hardy Jr. says life experiences matter in making a difference for youth.

The chief executive officer of Lorain City Schools, Hardy appreciated a crowd of about 80 people Sept. 12 at Harrison Cultural Center, 1922 Hamilton Ave. in Lorain.

“It’s not often you find special people so early on who care so much about the community,” Hardy said. “This is a beginning of a conversation and not the end. We have to take this as an opportunity to figure out what we need to do. The questions that were raised today, there still may be questions tomorrow, but we need to find solutions together. It’s going to take this collective community to figure out solutions.”

People spoke of being pushed aside by school personnel, rather than helped; of math homework a child could not understand, but the way the parent learned it was incorrect according to the teacher; of students who missed walking at graduation by a few points on a test even though their grades were As and Bs, so they shut down and stopped trying.

And a teacher asked why students in middle school should not be held accountable for their work and their grades.

Hardy said before he started at St. Louis Public Schools, he called school buildings saying he was a parent with a five-year-old child.

The first school told him he needed to call the administration. Click, he said.

The second school told him he needed to talk to the principal, but the principal was not available.

The third school’s response was, “Who are you? And how can I help?”

He did not need to explain the difference to the audience, he said, then asked what training Lorain Schools employees receive on how to welcome families to the district.

One man said, “How are we going to create an environment that is more influential than the street corners? I’m saying that as a young man who grew up with a mother on crack and no father. Boys in the hood pulled me in. I pulled more of your kids in.”

“We need you,” Hardy said. Students respond to people with life experiences who help them sort through those types of choices, he said.

He asked how many people can remember at least one commercial.

“Commercials are extremely powerful,” Hardy said. “Think about how long we’re with the kids as educators, and how long they’re out of the classroom. I’m not going to give you all of the bullet points of what that commercial message is now. But what is going to make them excited about coming to school every day?”

Kyriece Brooks, founder of Lorain Stop the Violence Program, asked how the district can get more teachers who look like (African Americans). He worked as a paraprofessional last year in the district.

“As I went through Lorain City Schools last year, a lot of our teachers don’t understand our kids,” Brooks said. “They push you through. They make you upset by punishing you for little things.”

Students often survive a home life of no breakfast or lunch, watching younger brothers and sisters all night for a mother who never came home, and then being berated by a teacher for falling asleep in class, he said.

“I want to be careful about answering this question: How we understand our young people,” Hardy said. “There are ways we can help our teachers understand our young people.”

He listed five influential people in his own upbringing, including his father, grandfather, and a high school basketball coach.

“I do think there is something about our young people being able to attach their heart and soul to some person they believe in,” Hardy said.

He intends to enlist successful people of color to visit the schools and speak with youth to give them possibilities for themselves.

He also hopes Lorain High School graduates will return home to make a huge difference in their hometown, he said.

“There’s a lot behind it,” Hardy said. “I think it’s equally important to engage in conversation with our staff. How do we support teachers here?”

Gloria Buxton said even though she is a retired teacher and administrator from Oberlin City Schools, she found it difficult to get hired in Lorain. Eventually she became a substitute principal, she said.

“It was so hard to get through that door,” Buxton said. “It started with the gatekeeper. They have shut the doors to certain individuals and people of color, not just black. We have tried. I’m speaking of educators of color at Lorain City Schools.”

Key dates for the district include:

• Sept. 14: School District Report Cards are posted on a website for Ohio Department of Education.

• Sept. 28: At 6 p.m. at Lorain High School at 2600 Ashland Ave. is a meeting for parents and seniors about what it takes for a child to graduate.

• Oct. 22: Hardy releases online a draft of his academic improvement plan for public scrutiny, with meetings to be scheduled later.