The Hartford Board of Education Tuesday hired Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez as the acting superintendent of the Hartford Public Schools.  A graduate of Hartford Public High, Dr. Torres-Rodriguez brings a deep Hartford understanding – and commitment – to the job of keeping expectations high and surmounting barriers.

In fact, that is her own story, Dr. Torres-Rodriguez told the Board Tuesday evening, pledging to keep the District’s commitment to hold high expectations for – and work on behalf of – each and every student.  Having arrived in Hartford as a nine-year-old from Puerto Rico with barely a word of English, she told the Board after it unanimously confirmed her appointment, no one ever should let the “narrow narrative” of demography, of the disenfranchised, of students of color, or of English learners – define either the students being served … or her.

Because her story surpassed hardships, she said, she has gone on to lead learning and change.  “And here I am,” she said.

Her journey from poverty on Park Street took her from a social and behavioral sciences professorship at Capital Community College to school social worker and freshman academy director roles; then school principal-ships at the CREC Public Safety and Great Path Academies.  At the CT Center for School Change, she coordinated and facilitated a leadership development program for turnaround principals, before taking on an 11-school HPS network in January 2015 as one of Hartford’s assistant superintendents of instructional leadership.

Dr. Torres-Rodriguez earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Central CT State University in 2008, building on her UConn master’s in social work and bachelor’s degrees; a journey she attributes to a relentless and personal commitment to continuous learning, service, and excellence.

Her record prompted Board Chair Richard Wareing to advise that he knows no educator with greater courage and determination – or who is better organized – than Dr. Torres-Rodriguez.

At the same time, the Hartford Board faces the most challenging times since the State takeover of the District in the late 1990s, Chair Wareing reflected, citing the significant budget issues that loom for the District – and the even greater ones sitting on the City and State horizons.

Introducing Dr. Torres-Rodriguez, he predicted, she will do a lot more than just hold the fort while the District searches for a permanent superintendent.  Speaking at the 3:30 mark of this video, Chair Wareing offered unvarnished views of the District’s imminent challenges.

The full remarks from Dr. Torres-Rodriguez are inspiring (at the 6:30 mark of this video).

Hartford School Superintendent Beth Schiavino-Narvaez December 8^th completed her last day on the job after a whirlwind hiring process, deliberate transition planning, listening tours leading to a five-year strategic plan, and efforts in line with her self-identification as an “equity warrior”.  She leaves for her family but recognizes the cost to the District in terms of leadership stability.

“I feel guilty about that,” the superintendent told us in a recent interview in her office.  “There’s been so much uncertainty throughout my entire time here … so much churn.”

Even before she was hired, in her first April 2014 meetings with stakeholders, Dr. Narvaez made clear her interest in confronting equity issues – and adapting her past approach of deploying assistant superintendents to promote and sharpen instructional leadership at the school level.

Gracefully, Dr. Narvaez last month took a clear look back on her Hartford experience during our interview, highlighting these points of emphasis during her leadership:

• Making a big bet on development of a strategic plan at the system-wide level and student success plans at the individual level, knowing the District would have to be explicit about adult expectations, too;
• Reversing the trends on chronic absenteeism and out-of-school suspensions, in part through restorative justice techniques (closely related factors), about which Dr. Narvaez declared early on, “We will not criminalize our children”;
• Advancing an acceleration agenda for the lowest-performing schools (“There was not a turnaround strategy here except to give schools to other people to manage”);
• Seeking to diagnose needs and build on strengths, crafting a community of practice with principals (comprising assistant superintendents of school improvement, including her acting successor, Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez);
• Taking the job at a time when City funding had been flat for seven years and therefore seeking to change the climate (which elevated people to protect their agendas as “You see that happening in a time of scarcity”);
• Questioning the lack of planning that led to an unsustainable number of under-enrolled schools (“We started adding without taking away”);
• Pursuing the vision that “neighborhood schools can be a true – high quality – option for all families”; and
• Looking at consolidation and relocation:  The Equity 2020 planning effort began when renovated Clark and Martin Luther King, Jr. Schools still were on the table.  But those options evaporated fast.

A Positive View of Hartford

Rebutting the notion that she focused more on virtues than difficulties, Dr. Narvaez told us, to the contrary, that she did not do a good enough job of extolling the virtues of this hard-pressed school system.  “This is not an incompetent system – and not a system without capacity,” she insisted.

Asserting that Hartford is gradually changing the narrative of what is possible in urban education, she offered a vision for the future she will not realize: that Hartford hosts high-quality neighborhood and magnet schools and full-service community schools throughout the city.

Commenting on what’s next, Dr. Narvaez advised that “the next superintendent needs political cover to take on school consolidation; these are the toughest issues and they have not been addressed for decades.”

Citing “a little case study” for the good of the order: when Clark School had to close for environmental concerns, its student mergers gave Wish School a robust enrollment – and some 60 Clark families have elected to go to West Middle School.  Those developments showed that some school closings and consolidations can indeed work, Dr. Narvaez observed.

As to the Early Departure

“I was getting recruited to other districts and I said no,” Dr. Narvaez noted.  “For me, Hartford has been a really incredible experience.”

Yet, as she has stated, her husband and daughter come from the Pacific, which is why she accepted a job offer in the Department of Defense system, where she will be based in Okinawa.  Family first.

To put it mildly, Dr. Narvaez’s decision to resign, just two years into her tenure, notwithstanding a contract extension to 2018, was a big surprise.  Yet, plainly, from her first public meetings when she was applying for the job, through the deliberate work on transition and strategic planning, Dr. Narvaez has been all about sounding this District’s call for educational equity.

The Bottom Line

Continuing the focus on equity – and taking it to the next level – is now the job of those still here and those still to come.  As we mentioned in our Annual Letter earlier this fall, bold ideas on how to shift the concentration of need and resources in our neighborhood schools are what’s needed, or it won’t matter who the next superintendent is.  Without that focus on neighborhood schools, change will still come too slowly for our students and our region’s economy.

On December 9, Achieve Hartford’s “Transformative Education Governance Forum” brought together dozens of education stakeholders – public officials, students, teachers, principals, business leaders, community organizers, funders and social workers – to discuss the role of government in ensuring every school is of high quality and every child gets a high-quality education.  Sponsored by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the forum focused on just how governance could be restructured to help the Hartford Public Schools transform into a high-performing, student-centered system for all.  Here’s what came out of it.

At the forum, attendees came to join together in an honest and shared assessment of what is working (and, in many respects, not working) with our current approach to school board governance.

We heard:

Paul Diego Holzer

A provocative call to action from Achieve Hartford!’s executive director Paul Diego Holzer  (at the 23:30 time stamp), outlined the urgency to reexamine our governance structure here in Hartford so as to better promote student success for all.

Tiffany Glanville and Richard Wareing

An insightful roundtable discussion with Board of Education Chair Richard Wareing and Vice-Chair Tiffany Glanville (at the 37:47 time stamp), offered an overview of the various obstacles currently facing the Board of Education and the limitations faced when addressing current HPS student, educator, and community needs.

Amy Anderson via Skype

Skype presentation from Amy Anderson of ReSchool Colorado, (at the 2:22 time stamp) unveils a learner-based (as opposed to school-based) model that includes providing each individual student with a “Navigator”/advocate to guide and track the student to and through a wide range of learning sites both in the class room and beyond.

Matt Matera

The forum also took in an in-person presentation from Matt Matera of Empower Schools, showcasing a highly collaborative approach at the 33:59 time stamp of this video, examining shared responsibility and governance among many key education stakeholders.

Mayor Luke Bronin

(Following an introduction by Achieve Hartford’s Paul Holzer) Wide-ranging Q&A remarks from Mayor Luke Bronin (at the 1:22:15 time stamp), including a forward-thinking vision on the need for collective leadership and responsibility in the greater Hartford region.

Journalism & Media Academy Students

A very moving student-led panel from Journalism and Media Academy seniors, sharing the profound impact that student-centered learning has on the lives of Hartford students – coupled with a direct call to action for the leaders in the room to do more to support student success. Please see the :40 time stamp.

Dr. Leslie Torre-Rodriguez (background)

Powerful comments from Acting HPS Superintendent Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez and others, including addressing the need to transform HPS’s culture into an “emboldened culture of continuous learning”. Please see the :35 time stamp and hear it out.

The Bottom Line.

Can school governance in Hartford be reconsidered on a clean slate?  The jury is still out on this.  But last week’s Transformative Governance Forum revealed in stark detail that the need to improve (if not outright transform) is as clear as day for students and adults alike.  As State Board of Education Chair Allan Taylor put it, the attendees were engaged for the whole day – and it was not an easy one.

Just the idea of transforming Hartford school governance sends a chill up your spine – and requires you to have one!  As we here at Achieve Hartford! finalize our next steps, we offer the following guiding principles for any actions to be taken regarding governance in Hartford:

• Place Students at the Center.  Success for students must come by centering conversations about education (and education itself) around students AND by inviting students meaningfully into the conversation to help create what education could and should look like in the 21st century.
• Break the Mold.  Alternative models from Colorado and Springfield, MA, respectively, suggested break-the-mold attempts to shake up the system of governance, through collaborations among traditional authorities, teacher unions, and programs networked across schools. Unusual alliances are welcome; even more unusual ways to center on student needs may be needed.
• Bring in New Blood.  Should there be representatives from community organizations on Board of Education committees, as Board Member Tiffany Glanville suggested?  “We have a lot of problems and we could use all the help we can get,” Board Chair Richard Wareing advised.  There may be a real opportunity here.
• Elevate the Work Politically.  This is a pivotal time for Board of Education recruitment of new members – and training for those well-intentioned souls now on the job, who want to do it right but cannot be asked to continue flying blind.  And two seats remain unfilled.  Neither Mayor Bronin (in the case of his delayed, fifth appointment to the Board) nor the Democratic Committee (in the case of its obligation to fill the seat left open when elected Board Member Beth Taylor moved out of the city) has yet to appoint.  It’s time.
• Do More than Stick a Toe in the Water.  Can student exposure be increased to the adult workplace world, as described by Journalism and Media Academy seniors who have interned at the CT Public Broadcasting Network CPBN) this year?  “This is a real-life building; you have to be serious,” JMA’s Ashley Floyd said.  Several other students concurred; working with deadline assignments, and just being expected to fulfill them on time without being treated as children, was a real eye opener.  How can that be expanded and enhanced for all students?

Overall, our Transformative Education Governance Forum revealed that, if we truly want to prepare our students to be 21st century leaders to engage in a robust post-secondary workforce pipeline, we must all do better and must demand more from our governing bodies – including the Board of Education.  But we also must be willing to do things differently to get there.  Stay tuned for more discussion on transforming governance!