Next leader at S. Phila. High sees a long haul

If Otis Hackney III knows one thing about taking over as principal of troubled South Philadelphia High School, it's this:

Nobody can change the place overnight.

The problems are real, deep, and long-standing.

"This is going to be a gradual process. It's a tough road, but one I'm looking forward to traveling," Hackney said in an interview, his first extended remarks after the abrupt resignation of principal LaGreta Brown.

Brown quit Thursday after The Inquirer raised questions about her lack of an active Pennsylvania principal's certificate, and just ahead of a no-confidence vote by teachers and staff.

She left a school that made national headlines Dec. 3, when groups of mostly African American students carried out a daylong series of assaults on about 30 Asians. Seven Asian students went to hospitals, and about 50 boycotted classes for a week.

The violence triggered inquiries by the Philadelphia School District, the state Human Relations Commission, and the Justice Department. Even now, despite administrators' statements to the contrary, Asian students say they remain targets of taunts, petty abuses, and outright violence.

"It's still happening," said Duong Nghe Ly, a junior from Vietnam. "It's still happening every single day at school."

Hackney, a former math teacher and basketball coach at Germantown High School, is principal of Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County. He will take over at Southern, as the school is known, on July 1.

"I'm going in with a mind-set of success," he said. "I still have faith in Philadelphia public schools."

One important job, he said, will be to listen - to students, to teachers, to community groups. "People need to be heard," he said.

Hackney said he planned a close look at academics in the school, which for years has failed to meet state performance standards and been labeled "persistently dangerous" under federal law.

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said in an interview Friday that she had told Brown in March that she would not be returning - and had personally hired Hackney, impressed by his intelligence, energy, and enthusiasm.

"He's bright, and willing to take on a challenge," she said.

Advocates for some of the city's Asian communities, however, said they were disappointed to have been left out of the conversation about Brown's replacement.

"We've been here before, so we're kind of guarded," said Ellen Somekawa, executive director of Asian Americans United, who said her group was not among those who helped the district select Brown.

Brown's departure by itself "doesn't really solve anything. It gets rid of what we perceived to be an obstacle," Somekawa said.

Ackerman said she had not involved the broader community in hiring the new principal for a specific reason: "We did that last year, and it didn't work."

She said Brown had been chosen by a committee of educators, parents, and students. "If I'm going to take responsibility in the end for who is hired, then this time I'm going to make sure I have the last say-so.

"Last year, that's exactly what we did. Now people seem to have amnesia."

She said groups that opposed Brown's leadership "now have an opportunity. The person they felt was the primary person responsible for all that has gone wrong in that school is gone."

Somekawa said - and Asian students concurred - that problems big and small had existed before Brown arrived and remained today.

For instance, notes and letters sent home from the school continue to be written in English, which many immigrant families cannot read. The same applies to most public-address announcements and written school policies - such as whom to contact if assaulted in school.

"A clear protocol for reporting harassment, proper interpretation - all these things don't change just because Principal Brown is no longer in charge," said Cecilia Chen, a staff attorney with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF).

Brown could not be reached for comment.

In January, Chen's agency filed a federal civil-rights complaint against the district, saying it acted with "intentional disregard" to the welfare of Asian students. District officials said those allegations were hurtful and untrue.

As part of the complaint, AALDEF identified at least 26 assaults committed against Asian students during the 2008-09 school year. Federal investigators have since spoken with dozens of students, teachers, and other staff members.

Ackerman acknowledged that problems at the school ran deep, including a teaching staff that she said was racially divided.

Still, she insisted that "a lot of people have been working very hard to improve the climate." She promised to continue making what she said were positive changes, and to review aspects of the school operation and personnel.

She said she had told teachers Thursday: "If you think that moving LaGreta Brown means there is not going to be change in this school, then you need to take another job somewhere else, because there is going to be change at this school."

That day Ackerman issued a statement saying district efforts have "brought about an improved climate for all students at the school" - an assertion that some Asian student dispute. Some say they're frightened to go to school, worried they may be next to be punched, tripped, or slurred.

Ozzie Wright, a retired district principal who had assisted Brown since December, took over Friday as interim principal.

Hackney, 37, grew up in West Philadelphia, graduated from West Philadelphia High and Temple University, and earned a master's degree from Lehigh University. He's married and lives in Philadelphia, where a daughter attends public school. He's a longtime member of Church of the Redeemer Baptist at 24th and Dickinson Streets in South Philadelphia.

Hackney said he loved working in Springfield, where he became an administrator in 2007, but couldn't resist the chance to return to Philadelphia. He was an assistant principal at Southern four years ago and held other district summer and interim principal assignments.

At Germantown, Hackney was "loved by the students, loved by the faculty," said the Rev. LeRoi Simmons, coordinator of the Germantown Clergy Initiative, which works closely with school leaders and teachers.

Simmons said he believed Hackney offered Southern its best chance for success. That's if the district keeps Wright in place as a mentor, and if the school leadership becomes more proactive than it has been since Dec. 3.

"They could have taught classes that have been a model for the rest of the School District - how to deal with folks just coming to the country, how to be a real melting pot," Simmons said. "Now, let's go back and do it right."