(This article originally appeared in the June 2015 edition of Foxhall News, the newsletter published by the Foxhall Community Citizens Association, available at Foxhall.org.)
$900,000 More for Wilson? School’s New Principal Hails from Aspen High
By John Bray
Wilson High School, slated for a budget cut by DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson despite rising enrollment, now has been targeted by City Council to get $900,000 it hadn’t counted on.
But whether the money added by City Council following community protest actually goes to the school remains to be seen.
A May 28 e-mail from Ward 3 DC State Board of Education Representative Ruth Wattenberg noted that City Council’s final budget “made clear that these funds were allocated to DCPS in order to assure” that Wilson got the full amount.
The main entrance at Wilson High School, located near Tenley Circle in Northwest Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: John A. Bray
“It is unfortunate that we have had to deal with the challenges of the last few months,” Wattenberg said. “But I think it’s clear that between our very strong community and our committed city leaders, Wilson’s future as an increasingly excellent school is secure!”
DCPS’s chief of communications, responding June 5 to my inquiry about the status of Wilson’s budget, acknowledged the City Council action.
“However, the amount of the additional funding the school will receive has not been determined. We are committed to ensuring that additional funding goes toward supporting the continued success of students and staff at Wilson, as evidenced by the recent appointment of Kimberly Martin as principal.”
So Martin, who spent the past three years as principal of the 550-student Aspen High School in Colorado, might or might not come to the job with more money to work with than the $15.6 million allotted for 2015-16 by DCPS. The budget figure is down $309,600 from the current year, with DCPS’s own enrollment projections showing an increase of 170 students to a total of 1,878.
DCPS does not necessarily follow the direction of City Council. City Council’s Fair Student Funding & School-Based Budgeting Amendment Act of 2013 called for a special allocation for at-risk students (eligible for food stamps, homeless, in foster care or who are overage for their grade) to be distributed proportionally to schools based on enrollment of qualifying students. DSPC distributed the funds at its own discretion.
Wilson’s $384,600 allocation for its 343 qualifying students in 2014-15 was short by about half, according to Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh.
Henderson, in April 28, 2015 written testimony to City Council about the school system budget, noted that the Wilson community “felt that their allocation was unfair.” For 2015-16, DCPS stated that the money has been allocated proportionally.
Henderson stated in her testimony that “we are proud of Wilson’s success” and will “monitor Wilson’s enrollment and class sizes over the summer to determine if we need to increase funding.”
The DCPS communications chief said Wilson’s 2015-16 budget “will have no impact on out-of-boundary students or the enforcement of rules regarding attendance by such students.” While Wilson has an attendance boundary focused on Northwest, students from across the city are enrolled based on a variety of arrangements.
Martin will take over June 29, 2015 from interim principal Greg Bargeman, who stood in following the mid-year resignation after six years of Pete Cahall, who departed in conflict with Henderson’s office. Cahall has since been named to head Thomas Edison High School of Technology in Montgomery County.
In announcing Martin’s appointment as principal, Henderson said in a June 2 message to the Wilson community that the school system each year conducts a national search for principals.
Henderson said Martin was the candidate recommended by the Wilson community, whose input was balanced with her own office’s review. The Beacon, Wilson’s student newspaper, reported in its June 5 edition that the decision by Henderson and a Wilson committee to choose Martin was unanimous. The newspaper said the Wilson selection committee – comprised of parents, students and Dan Shea, who is an instructional superintendent for multiple high schools — met with three candidates.
Martin spent five years in Lorain, Ohio teaching high school English and history, according to Henderson’s message. She was named Lorain Admiral King High School principal in 2003. After two years, she moved to lead Thomas W. Harvey High School in Painesville, Ohio, for seven years. She then went to the post at Aspen High School. The Aspen Times reported that she was named to the job six months after the “abrupt resignation” of the principal who had been in place for two years, and that she was the third principal since 2010.
According to Times articles, her tenure included a no-confidence vote by staff members, the circumstances of which were unclear, followed by “outpouring of support” from parents and students, as well as efforts to mediate police-school community relations after a forceful arrest at a bus stop near the school of a student suspected of marijuana possession underage.
Martin announced her departure in a May 12, 2015 letter to parents. She noted her pursuit of a doctorate in urban education and policy studies and that she had “decided to return to my roots, as it were, and begin working in my area of greatest passion.” She expressed excitement about “pursuing a position in a metropolitan area” and having the chance to “get back to work on my dissertation.”
According to Henderson’s announcement, Martin has a bachelor’s degree in English and history from Case Western Reserve University and a master’s degree in education from John Carroll University. Henderson’s introductory e-mail referred to her as Dr. Martin and stated that she possessed a doctorate from Cleveland State University. A subsequent e-mail referred to her as Ms. Martin and noted that she is “in the process of completing her doctorate.”
The Beacon reported that Martin’s “decision to move to DC began on May 6 when she was offered a position as a DCPS principal and was later selected for the Wilson slot.” The newspaper interviewed Martin, quoting her as saying that Henderson is the “most important educator in our country right now” and that Wilson is “fantastic.”
© 2016 John A. Bray
Potomac Times 