Kenney launches meetings with school principals

Todd Kimmel just pocketed something he never imagined he'd possess: the mayor's cellphone number and personal email address.

Kimmel, principal of Hackett Elementary in Kensington, was part of a group of city principals who sat down with Mayor Kenney after school Wednesday at City Hall, the first in a regular series of meetings Kenney plans to hold with school leaders.

During his mayoral campaign, Kenney said that if elected, he would regularly seek out the wisdom of rank-and-file educators who know their schools and communities best. He said he hopes to meet every Philadelphia School District principal, either hosting them at City Hall or meeting with them in the community.

Kenney has placed education front and center in his administration, vowing to move toward universal prekindergarten and to institute 25 community schools, packing buildings with social, emotional, and recreational resources.

After Wednesday's meeting, Kenney praised the principals, calling them "good, hardworking, committed public servants."

"With our coordination, they can be even more effective at their jobs, and bring in resources into the schools that allow teachers to teach as opposed to being nurses and psychologists and counselors and all the other things that they need to do," he said.

While he does not intend to take a top-down approach, Kenney said, city help is needed to heal the cumulative effect of several years of cuts in funding from the state - cuts that are still deeply felt.

"Resources are continuing to dwindle, and we need to make sure that we bolster those lost resources with things the city does already," he said.

The handful of principals who clustered around Kenney after the meeting nodded heartily.

Kimmel said he was thrilled. "It's a really exciting day," he said, "just to have his ear."

kgraham@phillynews.com 215-854-5146 @newskag www.philly.com/schoolfiles