Reading School District continues its progress

[This story is not well reported. I talked to no students, parents or teachers. Nevertheless, I wanted to list some accomplishments since Superintendent Khalid Mumin took the job. If he fails as quickly as past district leaders have, it will be a baseline for future comparisons.]

by Steve Reinbrecht

Talk is cheap. In this report, I’ll try to stay with what the Reading School District has actually done since Superintendent Khalid Mumin took charge.

The Reading School District is the most important institution in Berks County. It is struggling back from a long history of nepotism, meddling school board members, incompetent administration and public neglect.

It draws students from a fifth of Berks’ population. It maintains 19 schools and serves about 17,300 children – nearly one out of four of Berks’ public school students. The budget tops $200 million – most of it funded by state taxpayers. The district is Berks’ sixth-largest employer, with about 2,000 employees.

After a string of quickly departing or fired district superintendents, staff members from the Berks County Intermediate Unit, an educational-services agency, arrived in January 2014 to straighten out the district’s accounting and finances. Two troublesome school board directors resigned. Mumin took the job in June 2014, for $185,000 a year.

Mumin has worked to engage students. For example, Mumin meets with a group of 40 high school students twice a month to engage them about their concerns and ideas, School Board President Reading School Board President Robin Costenbader-Jacobson said.

The meetings started in November as a way for Mumin to talk directly with students and get to know them.

“The agenda is theirs,” Mumin said. “I’ve learned so much from them. I’ve gotten a lot back on that investment.”

Recently, Mumin said, members of the squad showed administrators unsecured areas in the high school that students were entering for mischief. That led to new security gates. The students got a look at the cost of the project to give them a sense of risk-benefit decisions.

Mumin said the students report about the meetings on social media.

The district plans to start a similar squad at the Reading Intermediate High School in the spring.

To attract “lost students,” the district started the Red Knight Learning Academy evening program at the beginning of the school year. It’s designed for students who have dropped out and would need only a few more credits to earn a high school diploma. Some students finish the required work in only weeks. Then they can join graduation in June.

In a video about the program, a student says she slacked off in school and gave up lacking only one credit to graduate. Once she joined the evening program, she earned that in three weeks.

[The city’s only charter school, I-LEAD, was started to educate such students. The district is in the process of revoking I-LEAD’s charter.]

Reading School District leaders have improved the curriculum. It’s refreshing to hear educators mention curriculum before diving into finances. I’ve been at Reading School District board meetings where the agenda was many pages of personnel actions and very few about education. News stories have focused on finances.

In 2013, independent curriculum auditors called the district’s instructional curriculum “disparate, almost random and incongruent.”

Planning guides were scarce, their report said. Worksheets and other materials were frequently below the correct grade level, did not align with state or federal standards, and lacked challenging problem-solving and analytical thinking.

Now, at least, Mumin said, teachers in different schools are following the same curriculum on a schedule. That’s important in a district where children frequently switch schools.

“Teachers should be proud of that. They worked hard.”

The district has started a new reading and writing program. On the 2015 PSSAs [state standardized state tests], the district’s 13 elementary schools had an average of only 28 percent of their third graders scoring proficient or above in English test. The percentages in the schools ranged from 17 to 43 percent.

Students in grades 6-8 started the new language-arts program in the 2014-2015 school year. Students in grades 4 and 5 began this year. Younger grades will be added next year.

Part of the program rewards students for reading books at their level for at least 30 minutes a day. A handful of students have read for more than 250 hours.

Mumin has developed ties with other leaders. Before Mumin started, I’ve been told, it was hard to work with or even contact district officials. Now access seems easier.

Anna Weitz, president of Reading Area Community College, said Mumin is committed and open to seeking community input.

“We are exploring ways we can work together,” she wrote.

Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk said he has met with Mumin several times, often about aproject at Glenside Elementary School, where teachers from both schools collaborate. Mumin has been attending quarterly Penn State Berks advisory board meetings, Hillkirk said.

Kevin Murphy, president of the Berks County Community Foundation, a philanthropic organization, has had “frequent and wide-ranging” conversations with Mumin. For example, the school district accepted a foundation grant to hold the 2015 graduation in the Santander Center. On the other hand, the district rejected an offer for mediation with the I-LEAD charter school.

“We’ve discussed district finances, board governance issues, curriculum and other issues,” Murphy wrote in an e-mail.

Alvernia University has started a program for teachers to earn certificates in teaching English as a second language. About 40 Reading teachers have enrolled.

With United Way of Berks County, the district is providing books in three barbershops and plans to supply them throughout the city where children spend time with parents, such as barbershops, rec centers, hairdressers, and coin laundries.

Costenbader-Jacobson said she communicates daily with Mumin, discussing the strategic plan, curriculum, communications, finances, operations and facilities.

The district’s statistics are improving. Many Reading students don’t learn as much as counterparts in non-urban districts. The district’s graduation rates and achievement-test proficiency have been consistently near the bottom of the 500 or districts in the state.

With changes in standardized testing, it’s not valid to compare scores from year to year. Cheating and the response to cheatings – not in Reading but in other cities – also have skewed scores.

Nevertheless, the district’s numbers are going in the right direction.

The district’s [4-year cohort] graduation rate rose from 61 percent in 2012 to 71 percent in 2014. [A department spokeswoman said the 2014-2015 figures are not available! As usual, the state is maddeningly behind on basic data.] Mumin acknowledges that 90 percent would be better. The state average was 85 percent. 

The number of graduates rose from 716 to 742. Reading High School’s state performance profile rose from 60.2 to 65.2 from 2014 to 2015.

The high school offered 10 AP classes this year. Mumin wants to offer more. Wilson School District offers 20. Boyertown School District has 14.

In January, Reading High School [along with Brandywine Heights Elementary School, Exeter’s Jacksonwald Elementary School and Wilson’s Shiloh Hills Elementary School ] was named a Distinguished Title 1 School, based on improved test scores and other factors, by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Federal Programs.

While student engagement is a focus, Mumin acknowledged that the district needs to improve communications with parents.

In the past, educators have told me it’s difficult to attract parents to the city schools. Beside balancing jobs and dependents, parents have been reluctant to come to buildings because they lack faith in their English or have felt discriminated against.

Mumin says parents are especially active on social media and spread news about the district among themselves.

“It was like a great untapped resource for us. Our parents are active, active, active on social media.”

Costenbader-Jacobson said administrators have started a “#RSDproud” campaign “as a way for the community to rally behind our students, staff and alumni.”

The site has posts but seems a bit thin and district-driven. It will be interesting to see if more students, teachers and parents start using it or if it fizzles.

Mumin’s Youtube video after a fight in City Park in September got more than 4,400 hits.

Most, but not every, school lists a “parent outreach assistant.” I e-mailed just one at random but got no reply.

A couple of months after he started the job, Mumin told me his ability to understand and connect with an urban community such as Reading’s will help him succeed.

He grew up in Philadelphia, missing 75 days in high school. He turned himself around, began his higher education at a junior college and finished with a doctorate at the highly selective University of Pennsylvania.

In any case, Costenbader-Jacobson said, “Dr. Mumin understands and relates to our community. He visits the schools daily and constantly talks with students, staff and parents.”

Mumin said he hasn’t had to remove many people from the existing administration because it was a thin staff when he arrived.

He has two vacancies: Chief instructional services officer and the federal programs director.

He’s had to do some shifting – for example, his chief of office of instructional services, Kandace A. Williams, left for a new job at a school in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

All the schools have a “full cadre” of assistant principals, Mumin said.

The top issue right now is getting good work contracts for all the staff, he said.

Reading teachers have been working without a contract since Sept. 1, 2012. Wages and benefits have been frozen.

“That’s Numero Uno. Being able to compensate them fairly would enhance our buildings’ culture.”

Mitchell Hettinger, president of the Reading Education Association – the teachers union – did not respond to an e-mail.

Mumin also wants to find space for new programs and get rid of trailer-classrooms at elementary schools.

For examples, he’d like more space for AP classes and for English-language learners, acknowledging that newcomers from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and many other countries arrive in the city with almost no English and need a lot of help to succeed.

Improving safety is at the top of his action plan, and is at the top of the list for parents, Mumin said.

In general, the district is headed in the right direction, with more openness, efforts to engage the community, and professional staff. And Mumin is being recognized for his role.

“The school district is building momentum and morale under our new board's governance and Dr. Mumin’s leadership,” Costenbader-Jacobson wrote.

A Facebook friend who watches the city closely credits the improvement to: “The diversity of the school board and within the administration. The coaches of the major sports in the district reflect the student body who play those sports. Students are engaging with teachers who are similar to them. It's just a great culture that has been built from the top down. A lot of great energy.”

Newsworks.org called Mumin for his opinion on how the budget delay is affecting public schools.

Mumin said being invited to Harrisburg recently is further sign of the district’s progress. He went to Harrisburg on Feb. 3 to watch Gov. Tom Wolf sign a bill postponing Keystone Exam requirements.

Mumin said he was humbled that Wolf invited him to attend the bill signing postponing Keystone Exam requirements.

"This illustrates the momentum we have in the Reading School District. Pennsylvania lawmakers are recognizing our successes, as well as understanding our challenges and finding ways to address those."

The day before, the governor had visited Reading’s 10th and Green Elementary School to announce his proposed education funding plan.

The district was wretchedly managed and monitored for years, ripping off many taxpayers, children and Berks County overall. Again and again, there have been new starts. We should keep a close eye on this one.

Latest Reading schools chief says he is different than predecessors; replaces Citadel principal

by Steve Reinbrecht

The new Reading School District superintendent told me the reasons he thinks he will succeed when his predecessors have failed to improve student achievement, manage finances or keep the public informed.

Hired in June, Khalid Mumin has already taken some action – he’s replaced the principal at the Citadel intermediate high school, a school he calls a “hotspot.”

Mumin has three advantages – a truly different school board, a finance department rebuilt by independent professionals, and, he says, the knowledge of how to change uninspired students’ attitudes because he made the change himself.

The district serves about 17,600 students, employs about 2,000 people and has a budget approaching a quarter of a billion dollars.

It has had a string of ineffective leaders. The latest, Carlinda Purcell, was hired in March 2012 for five years with a starting salary of $175,000 and was fired in November, with never a clear explanation of the reasons or how her contract was resolved. Mumin’s salary has not been set, at least that I could find publicly.

Of course, all the recent superintendents also said they had their board’s support. But there is a difference with this board. Of the nine members who hired Carlinda Purcell as superintendent in March 2012, six have been replaced. The school board is rid of its biggest troublemakers. Yvonne Stroman, newly elected in November, resigned at the beginning of the year. Karen McCree ended her 14-year tenure on the board when she submitted her resignation. I wonder if Stroman and McCree were “counseled out,” to use the term educators use when ineffective teachers are pressured to leave. 

For the first time in decades, perhaps, sensible technocrats such as BCIU leader John George and small-government guru John Kramer, now on the school board, are calling some shots at Berks County’s most important institution.

Mumin acknowledges that the district has been closed off to the public and vows to change that. He wants to connect better with families, despite the cost such face-to-face efforts to help city students require. Perhaps public-service organizations can add bodies to the job, he said. In Syracuse, N.Y., he noted, administrators hand-deliver disciplinary notices to students’ homes after school. They quickly become known in the community.

Mumin knows many parents are uncomfortable or even intimidated entering district buildings.

“800 Washington is a scary place.”

He wants to set up tables during the annual Salsa Fest and at events at places like the Hispanic Center, the YMCA, and the Olivet buildings, to help get his message out. 

Mumin said he can relate to the students and parents in Reading because he grew up in Philadelphia. Mumin told me he was often truant, missing 75 days in high school. He turned himself around, began his higher education at a junior college and finished with a doctorate at the highly selective University of Pennsylvania.

And he comes in after the Berks County Intermediate Unit, an education service, spent months transforming the district’s organizational nightmare, which included stacks of unopened mail in the finance office, which oversees the budget of $227 million.

The BCIU identified all the district’s important operations and fixed them, especially finances, which now has state-of-the-art software, he said. The IU also began work on curriculum and also hired him as a superintendent.

I have to say, you can’t beat Mumin for charisma, which has to help in a job like his. He seems about eight feet tall and is lanky and animated, with a bow tie and cuff links and an English teacher’s tendency to elaborate. He complimented me on my hat, pegging it as a Bailey with a glance at it across the room. He’s the type of man who gripped my hand a little longer than I like, but when I let go, he didn’t keep holding it as some Masters of the Universe are wont. He’s young, 42, and handsome, and I’d swear his big brown eyes got a bit moist once or twice when he discussed topics that move him.

Mumin said he’ll measure students’ academic progress by their performance on standardized tests, of course. But he mentioned some other metrics – how many children are taking tests, such as SATS, that are necessary for higher education. How many advanced placement (AP) scholars the district has. Attendance and truancy. The raw number of graduates. This year, 753 graduated. A short-term goal is 1,000. 

Unlike at other poor urban districts, Reading has good attendance, Mumin said, but the achievement scores are still low. That shows him the teachers need more support in how to reach the children, he said.

Mumin has put Alex Brown, who was principal of Southwest Middle School, in the Intermediate High School, also known as the Citadel. Mumin called the school the “hot spot” of the district. Dennis Campbell, who had been Citadel principal, will be principal of Southwest.

Mumin is also looking for a principal for 13th and Green Elementary School to replace Chasity Cooper, who recently resigned.

With a week until school starts Aug. 25, he needs to fill other important positions, listed on a whiteboard in his office. Two positions oversee the district’s principals: the chief instructional services officer and the literacy and humanities director.

The district needs to find a director of equity, concerned with diversity and race relations, a position required by the state Human Relations Commission.

And he needs a director of English as a second language, in a city where a third of the residents lives in homes where no one speaks English very well.

He wants to set realistic goals for students. He knows many are likely to go to 2-year schools and certificate programs. Reading High School could be a prime source for future technicians that manufacturing and health sciences will need around here.

Mumin confirmed that county educators and leaders have had trouble working with the district on projects such as a “career in two years” and Reading Area Community College’s technical academy.

“There’s been a perception that we close our doors on our partners. … Our partners want to help.”

Mumin said he has met with leaders of RACC, Greater Reading Economic Partnership [a development agency], Penn State Berks, the YMCA, Olivets children’s clubs, Berks Women in Crisis, and other groups who have also pledged support. He said he hopes to use their energy to address problems in the districts that need direct human attention.

Those leaders said, Mumin reported, “We’re here to help, but for years we haven’t been able to get into this building.”

Mumin said every hire goes through his office or the office of Assistant Superintendent Juliette Pennyman.

He said he hired a nurse just before he talked to me, and read some notes about why she got the job:

She was born and raised in Reading. She had worked in a hospice setting. Her mother had been a nurse. She sees her job as more than being a nurse but helping students “holistically.” She’s not afraid of different people. She is student centered. “These kids need us.”

Berks County deserves real-world answers from new Reading school chief

by Steve Reinbrecht

Berks County Television [BCTV] scooped the Reading Eagle, landing a 30-minute interview with Reading’s new public school superintendent.

If you had one question for the new city school chief, what would it be?

Maybe: “There’s been like 13 superintendents in the last 8 years, and none could wrangle the board or pull the district out of about the bottom 2 percent or so of Pennsylvania’s districts.

“Why are you going to succeed when they all failed?”

Reading School District Superintendent Khalid Mumin's background and achievements are impressive. I truly, sincerely wish him well and hope he turns the essential institution around.

I was less impressed by his interview because I wanted at least a few concrete and measurable goals. 

I wasn't really expecting BCTV producer and School Board Director Robin Costenbader-Jacobson to ask serious questions. So I can’t wait for the Reading Eagle, Greater Reading’s pinnacle newsgathering operation, to cop an interview and to pin Mumin down on things like: 

• When will he release class-size information? 
• Are all the teachers qualified in their subjects? 
• Will he replace any principals? 
• Who was in charge of the finance office when unopened mail piled up? 
• Why should the public trust his financial figures now? 
• Are all key positions, like director of special education, properly filled?
• Will policies and curricula be available online?
• Why was former Superintendent Carlinda Purcell fired? What are the financial details of her termination?
• What are the priorities? Finance, IT, staffing, curriculum, fixing buildings?
• How will the 80,000 people in the city learn about progress?

Mumin did say, in no particular order and according to my distracted notetaking [all quotes severely out of context]:
• He is a classic-car fanatic, with two Cadillacs.
• The first year will be a year of assessment.
• He found out at the district’s administrative retreat that he has a dedicated administrative staff.
• The fact that most of his staff have 10 or more years with the district shows that the administration has stayed consistent – “They’re in – they’re just looking for leadership and guidance.”
• He wants “to meet everyone and anyone.”
• “I truly believe we’re on the pathway to excellence.”
• “I believe that appreciation and being humble is part of my experience.”
• “Building relationships is key."
Costenbader-Jacobson showed complete support.
• "We did attract the best of the best."
• “He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk, he runs the walk.”

bctv.org scoops Reading Eagle with exclusive interview on Reading schools progress

I’m thrilled that one local journalist has worked hard to find out what’s going on at the Reading School District.

Kudos to Madelyn Pennino at bctv.org!

On this major topic, she sure scooped the Reading Eagle, which has thousands of times more readers and whose newsroom has about 100 more people than bctv.org.

Her interview with BCIU chief John George, the acting superintendent of the dysfunctional district, paints a frightening scenario.

Update: I'm so glad I was wrong about this. The Reading Eagle has published the name of the Russian group Pussy Riot twice since Christmas.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Is our local paper so prudish it won’t publish the proper name of the Russian punk collective Pussy Riot?

Is this the puritanical worldview shaping Berks County’s media monopoly?

A story in the Reading Eagle on Tuesday referred to Russian President Putin freeing “punk-band activists.”

The original AP wire story says “Pussy Riot activists.” Why the change?

A search for “pussy riot” turns up stories about the activists from USA Today, CNN, NPR, BBC, the New York Times … .

A search on the Eagle’s own search engine discovers no “pussy riot.”

Is it because some people use “pussy” as a vulgar word for vagina?

Does the Eagle refer to “a former vice president” instead of Dick Cheney?

“An actor known for ‘Mary Poppins’ “ instead of Dick Van Dyke?

Can Reading fix its school district?

In a letter to the Reading Eagle, Mike Schorn, a former Reading School District teacher and a former city councilman, put his finger on the problem at the Reading School District as clearly and concisely as I’ve ever seen it.

“For nearly two decades self-serving [school board] members have been interested only in employing family and friends, most of whom had little or no professional background. School board members used nepotism to get their people in positions of leadership, and most of them have failed.

“Our teachers and administrators have gone without professional nurturing. Thus when the opportunity knocked elsewhere, they left.”

My question is, how did this go on for so long? What leverage does a community have to intervene when such an important institution is off the rails? Did political and business officials ever privately lean on board members, reminding them of the clearly defined duties of school board members?

Sure, the board members were duly elected, over and over again. Does that mean the local parties or the voters themselves are to blame? I also think the Eagle dropped the ball on this. It never sends reporters to talk to parents or teachers to find out how students are being affected. You have to do more than just cover the public meetings to get to the bottom of things.