Duquesne board wants to talk over next step
The process has started to name a chief recovery officer for the Duquesne School District, a move that could bring major changes to the district’s structure and management.
Financial distress legislation adopted by the state Legislature in July allows state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis to declare a district in “financial recovery” if it meets a certain set of financial criteria. At the time the legislation was approved, Duquesne was among four districts statewide that met the criteria. The others were Chester Upland, York and Harrisburg.
Last month, Mr. Tomalis declared Chester Upland to be in financial recovery and appointed Joe Watkins, a Philadelphia pastor and analyst for MSNBC, as its chief recovery officer. Mr. Watkins was the chairman of Students First, an advocacy group that favors
A chief recovery officer has the power to close schools, renegotiate labor contracts, convert schools to charter schools or send students to nearby schools on a tuition basis.
vouchers and school choice, before being appointed Chester Upland’s recovery officer.
Also in August, Mr. Tomalis issued “preliminary declarations of financial recovery status” for the Duquesne, Harrisburg and York districts and gave them until Sept. 6 to request a hearing on the matter.
If no hearing was requested,
the preliminary declarations would become final and a chief recovery officer appointed for each district.
The Duquesne board of control last week requested an extension on its response until Sept. 18, the date of its next public meeting.
“The board would like to have an opportunity to meet and review this at its next regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 18,” said Duquesne spokeswoman Sarah McCluan.
The elected school board in Duquesne does not have a voice in the matter, said state Education Department spokesman Tim Eller. Mr. Eller said the department is considering the board of control’s request for an extension.
The department granted an extension until Sept. 14 to the Harrisburg district, and the York district has requested a hearing before Mr. Tomalis, Mr. Eller said.
Under the financial distress legislation, a chief recovery officer has the power to close schools, renegotiate labor contracts, convert schools to charter schools or send students to nearby schools on a tuition basis as part of a financial recovery plan for the district.
In Duquesne, grades 7-12 have already been eliminated, and students in those grades attend either the East Allegheny or West Mifflin Area school districts. High school students have used that arrangement since the fall of 2007 after Duquesne High School was closed.
Seventh and eighth grade students are making that transition this fall. The majority of the students attend West Mifflin Area high school and middle school.
In a letter to Francis Barnes, chairman of the state board of control overseeing the Duquesne district, Deputy Education Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq outlined the financial woes experienced by the district that qualify it to be considered in fiscal recovery under the new legislation.
She noted that although the district closed its high school in 2007, “it continues to struggle financially” and this year eliminated its seventh and eighth grades. Ms. Dumaresq also pointed out that the state has provided Duquesne with supplemental funding in recent years, including an additional $2.5 million in state aid for the 2012-13 school year.
In addition, she wrote, the annual debt service payment of the district exceeds the amount collected in property and earned income taxes, illustrating the district’s financial insolvency.
She also noted the district has requested and received multiple advances on its basic education subsidy and that it has been declared in financial distress since October 2000, when the state board of control was empaneled.