After four civic organizations Tuesday jointly called for the Pittsburgh Public Schools board to start anew in its search for a superintendent, a second school board member said publicly that she couldn’t support Anthony Hamlet.
In interviews, leaders of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, the Hill District Education Council, the Black Political Empowerment Project and A+ Schools agreed that the new schools chief should not, as one of them put it, “begin with a pretty serious cloud over his head.”
“I am not happy that we’re in this situation, but we would be remiss if we did not say honestly what we felt. We thought that our opinions need to be on the record for all to see,” said Tim Stevens, BPEP chairman and CEO.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last week that Mr. Hamlet’s “educational philosophy” in his resume included a sentence almost identical to one in a Washington Post editorial from February 2015 — minus one word. He repeated the phrasing, again without attribution, during an introductory news conference last month. That report followed earlier stories that the document included claims about his record that were at odds with data filed by the Palm Beach County school district.
“We just don’t see how further investigation will undo what’s already been done with a search process that was gravely flawed,” said A+ Schools spokesman James Fogarty. “I think it’s time to start over and do it right.”
“I think it is best, in my estimation, for him as well as for Pittsburgh Public Schools, if this is not belabored, if this is not something that is hanging there for people to pick up on every time there’s a question mark,” said Esther L. Bush, president & CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh.
She questioned whether Mr. Hamlet would “really be given the benefit of the doubt” in day-to-day operations if he remains with the district.
“There’s too much second-guessing. There’s too much, ‘I wonder if,’” Ms. Bush said.
Also Tuesday, Terry Kennedy became the second Pittsburgh school board member to say publicly that she can no longer support Mr. Hamlet, 46. District 4 school director Lynda Wrenn took a similar position Thursday.
“I think he’s a good guy,” said Ms. Kennedy, who represents District 5. “While he has a lot of good qualities, my support of him ... was based on the information we had at the time. At this point, it’s been proven to me that my opinion was based on incorrect information, and I can’t support him at this point as our superintendent.”
Other board members declined to comment or couldn’t be reached Tuesday. Mr. Hamlet didn’t return a call. He is being paid this month as a consultant to work with Linda Lane, who is stepping down as superintendent June 30, when her contract expires.
The school district had no comment beyond a statement reiterating that the personnel committee of the board met with Mr. Hamlet Monday and that the results of an independent inquiry “will guide recommendations related to Dr. Hamlet’s status.” District solicitor Ira Weiss on Monday retained former state prosecutor Laurel Brandstetter to conduct an official review of the resume.
Asked Tuesday about what the district might be obligated to pay Mr. Hamlet if it were to break his contract, Mr. Weiss said such a discussion would be premature. “I don’t want to get beyond our headlights here. We’re in the middle of an inquiry. Those sorts of analyses and discussions will be held, if at all, when appropriate. I think it would be inappropriate for me to get into that right now.”
According to Mr. Hamlet’s contract, if he and the board mutually agreed to part ways, he could receive a year’s compensation. He would not be entitled to pay or benefits if he resigned, however.
Steve Robinson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said if the board decides to end its pact with Mr. Hamlet and can’t reach a mutual agreement with him on how to do that, it would be up to Mr. Weiss to advise the board on how to proceed. Costs would “be based on how each side pursues things and reacts to the whole process” and whether the superintendent would “quietly [back] away or [fight] the whole issue.”
For its part, A+ Schools said it had verified inconsistencies in Mr. Hamlet’s resume before the four groups released the statement.
“The board should have vetted this before this was presented to the community,” Mr. Fogarty said. “We feel badly for [Mr. Hamlet], but there are many discrepancies that are here, that we have questions about.”
Beyond the questions over resume claims and possible plagiarism, Sala Udin, co-chair of the Hill District Education Council, aired concerns over what he called the lack of experience of both Mr. Hamlet and Brian K. Perkins, the consultant the board hired to guide the search.
“More important to me is the fact that [Mr. Hamlet] lacks the experience of an urban superintendent. And I think [the school board] ought to build that into the criteria, so that they only search for superintendents who have the requisite experience. ...
“I think although Dr. Perkins has exemplary credentials, he also lacks experience in searching for a school superintendent. So I think that was where the mistake began.”
In the joint statement, the groups called on the board to issue a request for proposals for executive search organizations “with successful track records of placing urban superintendents (including supporting the board in vetting the final candidates)” and “use a community committee to screen applicants and build consensus for selecting the district’s next leader.”
The board meets tonight for a regularly scheduled closed-door personnel meeting before a public agenda review meeting.
Molly Born: mborn@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1944. Adam Smeltz: asmeltz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2625. Chris Potter contributed.
First Published: June 14, 2016, 3:29 p.m.
Updated: June 14, 2016, 7:13 p.m.