The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Lorain Promise sets challenge before community
David Hardy Jr. recently told about 200 people they have no idea how he has longed to present the Lorain Promise to the community.
“Our kids are behind before they start school,” Hardy said at the Nov. 1 public meeting at Lorain High School. “Teachers don’t feel supported. Our scholars aren’t prepared for success in today’s world.
“If we realize that the values we bring to school every single day are the same, and promote what we want to see, we can get further faster,” Hardy said, adding he proposes in the Lorain Plan the vision and direction. The district needs to center around core values that will drive the work, he said, and who Lorain residents are as people.
“It will push us to think about how promises are kept, and who they are kept for,” he said. “And most importantly they’re kept for our scholars – not students – scholars.”
Rather than doing extras for one or the other, the district should do them for all students, he said.
“Preparing a school system where we don’t leave anyone behind,” Hardy said, “but more importantly promote the success of everyone. And to do that we have to realize that we’re having some fun, some joy.
“This joy only happens when success leads us to this level of happiness,” Hardy said. “But to do that we have to experience and expect excellence in everything we do.”
He prescribed restorative justice rather than punitive measures against children.
Hardy also described reorganizing the district with a chief strategy and innovation officer on one side and a chief of staff on the other.
And he plans monthly meetings to hold employees accountable for exceeding academic goals.
Four ways the community can monitor progress include:
• Quarterly Lorain Academic Distress Commission meetings, with the next one scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Nov. 6, at a media center at Lorain High School at 2600 Ashland Ave. in Lorain. Park in front of the building. The commission is expected to approve the plan and file it with the Ohio Department of Education.
• Progress updates on the first Monday of the month on the Lorain City Schools websites.
• Town hall meetings with Hardy on the second Thursday of the month.
• Community Business Schools Partnership meetings at 8 a.m. on the third Wednesday of the month.
Audience questions included involvement in preschool, drops in academic rigor since the 1990s, and common core curriculum.
The district has been discouraged by multiple changes in state standards, Hardy said, but the state promised him the changes would be minor for now.
Ultimately the district needs to move beyond common core to creating scholars with the ability to solve problems, collaborate and think, Hardy said.
“I think we really have to deal with parental accountability and responsibility,” said Rhoda Lee, a citizen. “And we realize there are a number of our children who are going into our buildings traumatized. Do we have a safe place for them to go? How do we put that together as a strategy as soon as possible because it’s a problem. They need that stability as part of the learning process.”
Hardy said the district needs to reach out to parents better.
“I think it’s us going to our homes,” Hardy said, illustrating a flip in strategy.
Anthony Gallo, executive director of Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, said a bigger need in the county is to fill manufacturing jobs vacated by retiring baby boomers.
“We’ve got great manufacturers in Lorain County,” Gallo said. “Parents don’t steer their children into manufacturing because they think they’re going away, but they’re changing.”
The manufacturing jobs require a different level of expertise, he said.
The Rev. Marilyn ParkerJeffries asked how open the district is to partnerships coming from faith-based organizations.
Hardy said he is open to partnerships, but they need to align with the academic improvement plan.
Marcia Ballinger, president of Lorain County Community College, said she attended the meeting to offer 100 percent support of the partnership and collaboration with Hardy and Lorain Schools.
“We are so thrilled and delighted to participate with the team,” Ballinger said, adding every scholar’s dreams matter. She does not want to see anyone fall through the cracks.
Ballinger offered to help the district find funding sources and grants so good programs can continue.
After the meeting, Parker-Jeffries said she chooses to be optimistic.
“It can’t remain status quo,” Parker-Jeffries said. “It simply can’t. I believe (Lorain is willing). We have to have hope for the sake of our children, and commitment for the sake of our children, just to know what’s possible, because why isn’t it possible?”
Mechelle Cave, who works at the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority, said she’s heard talking but hasn’t seen change.
“I’ve heard and seen so much with this school system,” Cave said, “I guess I’m from the ‘show me state.’ I want to see it happen. My son doesn’t attend Lorain City Schools because I saw the decline in the district. I would like to see more court support. Instead of punishment, collaboration with the schools.”
Her 13-year-old son is gifted in music, she said.
“My son plays multiple instruments,” Cave said. “If he were going here, he wouldn’t have those opportunities. In my opinion, music is key to academics, and they took that away. Would I bring my son back here? Probably not. I attended Lorain City Schools, but they’re not what they used to be when I attended here. I know five or six graduates who are very successful (the district) could bring back to talk to kids. One works for the government, one is an FBI agent, one owns her own business.”
Martha Pye, a great-great grandmother, said she used to be the person who called parents and asked them to show up for school functions, and they did. She approves of the plan.
“This is exciting,” Pye said. “If we work together, it can become our future. I want to see the young people out there speaking out. That is what we need, too, is a blessing. It’s like we just now have woken up. We need better communication. Another thing, you don’t wait until the conferences to talk to the teacher. You meet the teacher and tell the teacher, ‘You can call me any time about my child.’ First of all, education starts at home with me.”
Hardy also described reorganizing the district with a chief strategy and innovation officer on one side and a chief of staff on the other.