City schools hire deputy to Hamlet from Florida
Two were colleagues in Palm Beach Co.
Pittsburgh Public Schools chief Anthony Hamlet began building his team of advisers this week with the board’s approval of a deputy superintendent who worked in the same Florida school district as Mr. Hamlet.
Anthony Anderson, a region superintendent for 16 middle schools in Duval County, Fla., since 2014, will begin Oct. 3 as Pittsburgh’s deputy superintendent of school support and accountability with an annual salary of $158,400. He and Mr. Hamlet both earlier worked as
principals of academically struggling schools in the Palm Beach County school system.
In an interview Thursday, Mr. Anderson, 53, said he contacted Mr. Hamlet for his input after seeing the job posting for the deputy position, left vacant when Donna Micheaux retired in June. In Palm Beach, Mr. Anderson said, he and Mr. Hamlet were “friendly colleagues” who shared best practices and were sometimes competitive.
Mr. Anderson said among his strengths is his ability to change school culture and “getting people to understand that I’m in the trenches with them.” Pittsburgh was appealing because, “I felt that it would be a great challenge, and I also have an opportunity to work with Mr. Hamlet,” with whom he said he shares a vision.
The school board accepted Mr. Anderson’s appointment in an 8-0-1 vote during a special legislative session Wednesday, with school board member Kevin Carter abstaining. He wasn’t available for comment Thursday.
Members also unanimously approved the hiring of James V. Cooper as principal of Perry Traditional Academy. He also worked in the Palm Beach County school district.
District solicitor Ira Weiss said his law firm “reviewed and confirmed” the information in Mr. Anderson’s resume within the past several days.
“Given the issue that arose before we thought it prudent to do that,” he said, referring to the discrepancies in Mr. Hamlet’s vita first reported by the Post-Gazette in May. “We wanted to make sure what was in there was, in fact, accurate.”
Forty-four people applied for the deputy superintendent position, and eight were brought in for in-person interviews that included a presentation detailing their past work and a writing exercise, said Brian Glickman, the district’s director of talent management.
Asked if Mr. Anderson and Mr. Cooper were his friends, Mr. Hamlet said: “I know them, yes, of course. But still, it’s about the work. I want to make sure I get the best and the brightest individuals to come work for Pittsburgh Public Schools but also support and grow what we have currently in our district.
“There was a national search . ... There was a panel. Those two particular individuals came to the top during the panel interview. So it wasn’t just Dr. Hamlet pointing at anybody.”
School board member Terry Kennedy said the hiring of Mr. Anderson “doesn’t raise any red flags.”
School board president Regina Holley didn’t return messages. But in a statement issued Wednesday, she said, “We’re very lucky to be welcoming Mr. Anderson to the Pittsburgh Public Schools. We look forward to his collaborative work with principals and educational leaders to improve student outcomes.”
The hiring of Mr. Anderson comes amid recent turnover in the district administration.
Ms. Micheaux, the former deputy superintendent, and Connie Sims, former chief of school performance, announced in January they would retire at the end of June. Allison McCarthy resigned Aug. 8 as executive director of curriculum, instruction and assessment; Jody Spolar retired Sept. 1 as chief of human resources; and Viola Burgess retired Sept. 6 as executive director of the Office of Equity.
Mr. Glickman said he hopes to bring recommendations on those hires to the board next month.
Mr. Anderson’s role will differ slightly from that of Ms. Micheaux. He’ll supervise the executive director of the Program for Students with Exceptionalities, the chief of school performance and the chief academic officer — a new role that replaces Ms. McCarthy’s.
In 2010-11, the longtime low-achieving Glades Central High in Belle Glade, Fla., where Mr. Anderson was principal, received its first B on the “report card” from the Florida Department of Education. That letter grade went down, however, in the following years, ending in a D in 201314, according to state data. He moved to Jacksonville in 2014.
“I will admit as a leader, you never want to fail, and you don’t want to decline,” he said. He cited a dip in graduation rate and a new computer-based testing system that presented a challenge for students in the rural, poor school who weren’t “fluent” in computers as among the reasons for the decline.
Grades aren’t everything, though, said Alex Marx, principal of Mandarin Middle School in Jacksonville, one the “sweet 16” schools Mr. Anderson oversaw.
“My school grade didn’t move, and that’s the criteria by which we are judged in the public eye,” she said. “But if you look at the culture … and [my] growing as a principal, I think he was very successful.”
Mr. Anderson has a master’s degree in education from Florida Atlantic University and a bachelor’s from Nova Southeastern University, where Mr. Hamlet earned his master’s and doctorate.