Members of the Hardy community protesting outside the John A. Wilson Building, Jan. 14, 2011
LISTEN TO ERIC WOODS
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Wednesday, Feb. 2, Mayor Vincent Gray addressed the North Michigan Park Civic Association in Northeast D.C. During the Q&A, Miranda Woods, an eighth grade student at Hardy Middle School, expressed concern about the ongoing problems at her school. Miranda called for Patrick Pope, the popular former principal, to return. Mayor Gray said he did not “understand why Mr. Pope was taken out [by the previous administration],” but he didn’t “want to be the chancellor of the schools. That’s why we hire a chancellor, to make those decisions.” Gray continued, “I think that there will be a new interim principal at Hardy starting next week.”
What Gray didn’t say Wednesday night – and what his administration had not told the Hardy community despite meeting regularly with them these past weeks – was that the position of Hardy principal may have already been offered to (and possibly accepted by) Clarence Humes, the 8th grade assistant principal at Deal Middle School, according to Candy Miles-Crocker, a member of the Hardy Middle School Local School Restructuring Team.
If this proves correct, it may be difficult for Gray to explain. During the recent mayoral campaign, Gray consistently accused then-Mayor Adrian Fenty of not being transparent, particularly with regards to DCPS. Yet one month into the Gray administration, it’s not clear that much has changed. In a Feb. 3 letter to D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who previously served as former Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s number two, Miles-Crocker said, “Once again the Hardy community has been bamboozled by DCPS… Ms. Henderson, you have lost every ounce of integrity and respect.”
Eric Woods, Miranda’s father, attended the North Michigan Park Civic Association meeting. Hardy is a diverse and historically high-achieving school, but, Woods said, “[It] is in a chaotic state. Hardy has, until last week, had a principal that was over two schools. And the lack of leadership… has allowed [the] climate in Hardy to just deteriorate.” Under Principal Pope, said Woods, Hardy had become “the standard for middle schools” because “[Pope] was performing. Performing for ten years running. Why [was] he removed? We never heard that answer.”
Like her father, Miranda is also awaiting an answer. At two of the town hall meetings Gray held prior to taking office, she asked the mayor-to-be if he would come and visit Hardy to see the problems first hand. Addressing Gray before another crowd Wednesday night, Miranda said, “When people have asked me in the media, ‘Has Mr. Gray come to your school yet?’… I don’t tell them straight out ‘no.’ I don’t tell them that ‘I don’t think he’s going to do it.’ I say that I believe you are a man of integrity. And I hope that you would keep to your word and come to my school ’cause you promised me, Mr. Gray.”