According to a list of filed candidates, Jonathan Christopher Mallard has thrown his hat into the 4th District School Board race. Bert Berlin had previously announced his intention to run for the seat being vacated by George Braxton. 5th District representative Betsy Carr is the only candidate who’s filed for that particular seat.

On the City Council side, Kathy Graziano is so far unopposed in the 4th, and nobody has yet filed to run in the 5th.

…still doesn’t seem to like the PH charter school.

The Richmond School Board met this evening at 6PM to consider a host of what looked to be rather typical items and also to receive and vote upon a recomendation from the Charter School Review Committee (SR07-08-72)(agenda). Dispatched to the back corner of a room adjacent to where the schoolboard meeting was taking place, part of the overflow crowd, the obvious draw was the Patrick Henry Initiative vote.

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Just a quick reminder that the School Board will vote on the PH Charter school at tonight’s meeting. The agenda confirms that it’s to be held during the 6PM portion of the meeting.

Prior to the vote, George Wythe students will be recognized by the board for various reasons.

Maybe it was the lack of weekend rain, the Lebanese food festival, or maybe it was just a general apathy. Whatever the reason, Saturday’s public forum on choosing a new RPS Superintendent drew a mere 5 people.

The Virginia NAACP has come out in opposition to the Patrick Henry charter school. The REA and Richmond Council of PTAs also reiterated their opposition.

I’m not sure whether this one falls more under “All Education All The Time” or “High Comedy.” Either way, the Richmond Defender has a small blurb on the PH charter school (No website, but PDF here). Their first couple of questions are some that we’ve heard a lot the last couple of weeks:

Will the proposed charter school be open to all Richmond children, including the disabled? Will the school’s requirement of “parental involvement” and a staggered, year-round school schedule be an obstacle to working parents?

But the knee-slapper comes at the end:

And what will be the involvement of the Lexington Institute, the neocon Virginia think tank that has been advising the project?

Now, not being involved with the effort, I don’t know anything about the Lexington Institute, who they are or even if they’re actually involved. But of the people I do know who are involved and/or supportive of the the PH effort, “neocon” is the last descriptor that would come to mind.

Never a dull moment in Richmond…

The Richmond Waldorf School holds its May Faire celebration tomorrow, Saturday May 10, from 10-2. Open to the public, this event is brings members of the larger Richmond community to RWS to celebrate. Children decorate wreaths with fresh spring flowers, dance around the Maypole, and sing songs of Spring. Children’s activities, stories, and delicious treats are available for the whole family.

The Richmond Waldorf School is tucked in behind Westover Baptist Church, at 1000 Westover Hills Blvd

Thanks to the I Have A Dream Foundation, 15 George Wythe seniors have earned college credit during high school and will be able to continue their education at university and/or the military. These students are also acting as mentors for younger children at Broad Rock Elementary, where students receive academic support, cultural activities and individual attention through their elementary, middle and high school years, plus tuition assistance for higher learning.

Southampton Elementary has been recognized as a 2008 Title I Distinguished School. Title I schools typically draw 40% or more of its students from low-income families, and as such, receive direct federal funding for instruction. Recipients of this award have maintained full state accreditation two consecutive years, met No Child Left Behind benchmarks in reading and math, and scored above the 60th percentile in both subjects.

Ross at RVANews (among other places) came through big and summed up last night’s meeting nicely. Between that and the constant updates from Gray & other folks here, it was a pretty impressive reporting effort, especially when compared to other articles that didn’t say too much we didn’t already know.

The next milestone comes May 15, 5PM, in a public meeting between the PHI folks & the school board. Let’s hope that someone affiliated w/ RPS actually reads the proposal thoroughly by then.

Gray brought this up comments to another post, but I thought it warranted a more prominent mention. The school board discussion on the Patrick Henry charter school initiative is scheduled for the 4:30 portion of today’s meeting, with a closed meeting to follow. It’s likely too late to do anything about it, but contacting your board rep today might be therapeutic, if not exactly productive.

I’ve received some questions about this site and occasional editorializing, and its relationship with RPS and the PH School Initiative. So I’ll take a potentially long-winded moment to clarify things below the fold.

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The Patrick Henry Charter School is open to any Richmond City elementary student and the upcoming School Board vote, likely to occur on 5/5/08, will impact every child and district within the city limits. They’re asking for your help. See their mailing for all the details: PDF here, Word doc here.

With the news that 4th District rep George Braxton wouldn’t be returning to the School Board after his current term is up, we wondered who would be best for the 4th District. The first candidate has stepped up in the form of local blogger Bert Berlin. We’re hoping to catch up with Bert for a brief Q&A regarding his candidacy (and if you have any burning questions, shoot ‘em our way).

This begs the question: will Bert run unopposed, or will other hats be thrown into the ring?

School Board chair and 4th District rep George Braxton will not seek re-election this fall, citing the ever-popular “focusing more on my growing family and career” as his reason for stepping down.

Two questions spring immediately to mind:

• Are West and Braxton it or will more follow suit?
• Who’s best for the 4th District now?

It’s going to be an interesting few months.

The members of the committee charged with finding the next RPS Superintendent have been revealed. While the field of education makes up a majority of the committee, I do find it curious that only 1 current RPS employee is included. I realize the seasons can’t change in this town without Jim Ukrop’s approval, but it seems to me that the inclusion of a couple more principals or, god forbid, teachers (y’know, the ones who might actually know from experience where the current system is broken) might be a wise idea.

At last night’s school board meeting, the PH Charter group had their proposal returned pending more information. Meetings with the school board to provide that information should occur soon, with a tentative vote scheduled by the board for May 5.

RPS Superintendent Deborah Jewell-Sherman announced this afternoon that she won’t seek to have her contract renewed when it expires next year. I think that’s a good start, but is “next year” soon enough? It seems to be that the school board would be well-served to step in and encourage her resignation a bit sooner, even if it would be fairly hollow gesture at this point. I think it’s also key that she’s not the only “turnover” in central administration; again, I’m not holding my breath.

And while we’ve yet to hear a public comment from Mr. Braxton, at least one other school board member has offered up some thoughts (and it’s probably not the member you think it is):

I don’t often use the first person in school board meetings because every decision we make must be a collaborative one. Taking personal credit doesn’t do too much to advance our work, but taking personal responsibility does. I want you to know that I am responsible as a leader of an environment where corruption, incompetence, fraud or waste can pervade such a major function of the system. I am responsible for having the internal controls in place to catch errors before they become regular practice. And to the thousands of kids, parents, mentors, teachers, principals, and support staff who show up everyday to do their best to build something worthy of pride, I am sorry.

The School Board will tonight board produce its audit response plan; Thursday, RPS administration will update the school board and public about its improvement steps at a special meeting of the Facilities and Operations committee.

Will it make a difference?

We typically keep the editorializing to a minimum on these pages, but the combination of Dr. Sherman’s rather lackluster response to the city auditor’s findings combined with an internal RPS revelation that, as of March 31st, there are no more funds for extended-day activities sparked some red-in-the-face ranting that would have made Henry Rollins blush. Better judgment prevailed and we decided to hold our tongues, at least temporarily, until we hear what George Braxton has to say about the situation.

My suspicion is “not much,” but I’d be happy for Mr. Braxton to prove me wrong…

Back in September, Westover Hills Elementary won a Dominion Grant to fund an outdoor learning center. Work crews arrived this week and the center, near on the Jahnke Road side of the school, is shaping up nicely. I understand we should see it in regular use within the next couple of weeks.

Amidst all the personal and political conflicts between school board members, RPS administration and city central government, it’s easy to forget that there are still some pretty damn good teachers employed by Richmond Public Schools. Now you can nominate your favorite to be a Super Teacher . A VA Lottery-sponsored program, Super Teacher Awards will “pay tribute to those educators who go the extra mile each and every day to serve their students and their communities.” 8 Grand Prize winners (1 from each of 8 geographical regions) will win $2,000 credit with The Supply Room Companies to outfit their classrooms and $2,000 cash from the Virginia Lottery. 3 additional teachers will win a $500 preloaded Visa debit card.

Entry deadline is April 11. Enter at the Lottery’s web site; mail-in forms also available.

A new-ish feature over at Richmond.com has recently included some items of local interest, including some answers regarding traffic patterns at WH Blvd and Forest Hill and an inquiry about the Patrick Henry School Initiative.

When your School Board rep just happens to be the Chair of the most-scrutinized quasi-government body in recent memory, there’s never a dull moment for your district. The latest round of George Braxton vs. Keith West flared up this week, with Braxton removing West from his position as chair of the Finance committee. Braxton’s resistance to any sort of criticism combined with West’s abandonment and dismissal of the school system as a parent suggests the ugliness has only just begun.

Full Disclosure: The author’s significant other is a RPS teacher. Neither of us have much faith in the school board or RPS administration.

Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary School will celebrate the school’s cultural diversity with its annual “Multicultural Night” March 20 from 6–7:30 p.m.

The event will feature guest appearances by two acclaimed dance troupes: La Mezcla Que Bailo of the Acociacion Hispano Americano de Richmond and the West-End Academy of Dance. The program also will feature art activities and food from three different continents.

Redd’s “Multicultural Night” celebration is free and open to the public. The school is located at 5601 Jahnke Rd.