School Reform Comission rejects consulting proposal

A divided School Reform Commission yesterday dealt Philadelphia schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman her first setback in implementing her five-year Imagine 2014 strategic plan.

Rejected by a 2-2 vote was a $95,000 contract proposal to hire management consultant Leroy Nunery II to create the framework that the school district would use to hire management companies for failing schools.

The plan calls for transforming about 30 chronically low-performing schools into "Renaissance Schools" by hiring successful management companies and charter-school operators to run them. The first 10 schools are to open under new management in September 2010.

But hiring Nunery's PlusUltré LLC, of Wyndmoor, Montgomery County, before the commission has "voted on a policy around this system of schools" would be putting the cart before the horse, said Heidi Ramirez, who, with Johnny Irizarry, voted against the hiring.

"We as the commission, the district and community should be real clear about what our goals are overall," she said after the meeting.

"I expect that in June we'll be voting on a theory of action for the district on these issues," Ramirez said. "So I hope that [the consultant contract] will follow that process."

Commission Chairman Robert Archie, along with Denise McGregor Armbrister, voted to hire Nunery's company.

"I'm in support of Imagine 2014. That is an element of it," Archie said when asked what prompted his vote.

Ackerman said the proposed contract failed as a result of Irizarry - who joined the commission in April - needing more time to study the plan and Ramirez's support of him.

The work that Nunery would have done will be carried out by district staff until the commission is ready to approve hiring a consultant, she said.

"This is not a setback," Ackerman said. "We'll get it done."

This upcoming school year will be the first for Imagine 2014 and will cost $126 million. More than 1,000 teachers, counselors and other employees are scheduled to be hired in order to reduce class sizes and implement other reforms.

Nunery, who was one of three finalists to become district superintendent last year, declined to talk with this reporter about yesterday's vote.

The contract he was seeking called for him to create the requests for qualifications and proposals to which prospective school managers would apply.

Earlier this month, Nunery was awarded a no-bid "limited contract" to help the district begin the process that was voted down yesterday. The SRC did not have to approve that contract because it is less than the threshold that requires a vote, said Cecilia Cummings, a district spokeswoman.

Before forming PlusUltré, Nunery was president of school management at for-profit Edison Schools Inc., which has managed some district schools since 2002.

In other business, the commission approved new operating agreements for nine charter schools, but decided to hold off on renewing New Media Technology Charter.

The commission members and Ackerman said they wanted more time to investigate allegations made by some parents during last week's meeting that the school's officials are responsible for financial mismanagement and for failing to provide students with enough textbooks, certified teachers and other services. The district's inspector general also is investigating.

Irizarry, McGregor Armbrister and Ramirez voted to postpone the vote until the investigation is finished. Archie abstained from voting, he said, because his wife recently served on the school's board of trustees .

Before the vote, supporters of the school gave impassioned statements.

Hugh Clark, president of the school's board of trustees, said all 79 seniors this year were on track to graduate and all have been accepted to one or more colleges, while the average daily attendance is more than 93 percent for students in grades five through 12. *