Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993 TAG: 9308130296
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I need to know a great deal more," he said. "I want to do a little investigation into why that did not materialize, because that is of benefit to our students and to our community."
Day said he asked Superintendent E. Wayne Harris to look into the matter and report back to the board.
But Harris said no such request had been made.
"These are not the comments that the chairman made to me," Harris said. "That just simply hasn't happened."
Hurt Park withdrew from the two-year pilot project, part of the statewide World Class Education reform movement, because the entire faculty could not commit to it, Harris said Wednesday.
Specifically, some faculty members were unable to attend training workshops in other parts of the state, he said. But he did not know why.
Day said Thursday he needed more details.
"There are a lot of factors I want to know and would like to find out," he said. " `Investigation' might make it seem a bit too suspicious. I want an understanding about factors that caused the decision [to give up the grant] to be made."
Day insisted that he communicated this to Harris.
"Yes, I've told him that," Day said.
Harris repeated that Day had not. He also questioned why so much attention was being paid to the situation.
"It's a whole lot about nothing at this point," Harris said.
The grant was to have provided parent training and better access to health and social services for some of the city's poorest families. Roughly 70 percent of Hurt Park's students come from low-income families.
It also provided training for teachers in the methods of "High Scope," a philosophy that encourages children to become more active learners by making choices about how to spend classroom time.
The grant ended after a year of planning. Hurt Park was to have become one of 12 schools statewide that would be used as models for other schools.
"I'm disappointed that we aren't going to continue to receive the grant money," School Board member Nelson Harris said. "However, I'm not myself familiar with all of the details."
Harris said a member of the school administration called him Wednesday to bring the matter to his attention and told him that details would be "forthcoming."
The grant may have been difficult for Hurt Park to manage, he said, because it came with "lots of mandates and strings attached. It's my understanding that this grant was that kind of grant."
School Board member Jay Turner said he, too, was disappointed by the loss but that he was "perfectly willing to let the superintendent handle it."
"I'm also pleased that the state is monitoring the way the money is being spent," Turner said.
Superintendent Harris said he had no more details Thursday about why teachers were unable to make use of the training sessions or fully participate in the grant. Finding out was Principal William Shepherd's job, he said.
Shepherd has referred all questions to Harris.
by CNB