District 5- Terry Kennedy
Q: Are you in favor of raising property taxes? Why or why not?
A: Yes under the right conditions. More money is needed to fund initiatives that directly help or impact students. The last two budgets were not passed under the right conditions. The 2020 millage rate and budget passed in December 2019, a month after a ballot referendum passed adding to taxes to directly support city parks. I have constituents on fixed incomes that could not afford both that tax and an increase in taxes by PPS. The COVID-19 impact to many people's budgets kept me from voting to increase taxes to support our 2021 budget.
Q: Pittsburgh Public Schools is facing a systemic deficit of millions of dollars a year, how would you work to address the deficit in both the near future and the long term?
A: The short-term solution is to consolidate resources. The long-term solution involves working with politicians in Harrisburg to address issues that impact the district budget.
Q: Do you think Pittsburgh Public Schools current physical footprint matches the needs of the students we serve? Why or why not?
A: It does not match the number of students we serve. Building closures should not occur without understanding the impacts of the various closures that have occurred since the start of this century. The impacts include but are not limited to equity, neighborhoods, and transportation.
Q: Superintendent Dr. Hamlet has started a Student Advisory Panel to incorporate student voice into the administrations. How will you ensure student perspectives are heard and factored into board decisions?
A: Student perspectives are very important which is why I value their testimony more than other people's testimony during monthly public hearings. As a board member I ask if students were consulted on issues that directly impact them. Many times the students are already involved. Administration knows the board expects the students to be consulted. It was one of the points clearly communicated when Dr. Hamlet was initially hired.
Q: What are your top 3 priorities to improve the district?
A: 1. Equity 2. Culturally responsive curriculum at all levels. 3. Providing in-person technology support to students in more locations across the district to make it more accessible to them.
Q: What are 3 things you think the district is doing well and how will you support those initiatives?
A: 1. Administration is serious about providing a more culturally responsive curriculum. The committee working on this initiative is not yet finished but I like what I have heard to date. I will support this initiative by listening to presentations and reading information provided to the Board, and asking questions as appropriate. I will further support this effort by voting to approve recommended changes once all of my questions are answered. 2. Administration is working to provide updated graduation requirements and course options for students in grades 9-12. They have been responsive to Board feedback along with feedback from other stakeholders who have previewed the work. Rather than rushing it forward to be implemented in time for the upcoming school year, a more thorough effort is being completed at the request of the Board. I will support it by continuing to provide feedback and asking questions as appropriate. The goal is to approve the new graduation requirements and course options prior to the start of course selection for the 2022-2023 school year. Part of the revised course options on the high school level will be the result of the work on a more culturally responsive curriculum. 3. Administration did a great job involving district stakeholders in the "All In" effort in advance of the current school year. It is unfortunate the in-person learning plans were derailed by the continued pandemic. I believe it was a good model for providing the opportunity for stakeholders to participate. I will support future efforts that follow this model.
Q: Teaching in Pittsburgh Public Schools is a great opportunity. As a board member how will you promote teaching in the district so that we attract high quality diverse teachers?
A: I will continue to support efforts in place to prioritize hiring of the students who complete the PPS Teaching Magnet program and a college education degree and the Paraprofessional employees who complete the "Para to Teacher" program. The diversity in the teaching magnet is far better than in the various schools of education in our state -- either individually or collectively. Many of the district Paraprofessional employees are people of color. The teaching magnet usually has a full cohort of students but it can never hurt to provide more information to students about the opportunities provided by this program. A large effort occurred to provide information to Paraprofessional employees about the “Para to Teacher” program. These employees were also provided with financial assistance. This information and assistance was provided jointly by the district Administration and by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. Despite many good efforts in the past to hire a more diverse teaching staff, the reality is you cannot hire people who do not apply or do not exist. Other efforts such as recruiting at HBCUs and various other focused places have not resulted in sufficient applicants to help diversify the staff. They are part of a lengthy list of efforts related to recruiting a more diverse teaching staff.
Q: What is your vision of a community school? How will you as a board member work to create partnerships to strengthen our schools?
A: A community school should be providing programs and services for the community in addition to the ones provided to students during school or outside of school. Examples include but are not limited to a health clinic, a dental clinic, an asthma clinic, mental health services, etc. My view also has a community school hosting events that provides community members an opportunity to learn more about the school and the district. These types of events would also provide community members an opportunity to meet new people and to get to know more about other people with whom they are already acquainted. These events may include but are not limited to a community dinner, community carnival, open gym nights, food truck roundups, visits by the Carnegie Library Bookmobile (if the community does not have its own library branch), and other recreational activities.
Q: What resources do you think schools need to better engage with families with limited English proficiency? How will you advocate for those resources?
A: Right now the district automatically translates materials in the languages used the most by families with limited or no English proficiency. Translation into other languages occurs as needed, based on the targeted audience. Translators are provided for meetings so families are able to participate. The issue with translation services is the turnaround time for written material, especially when communication is time-sensitive. This problem can be partially resolved by paying more for the services but the money needs to first be allocated in the budget. I requested a list of all current translation contracts in the district. I understand most of the contracts are with the same "vendor" but I wish to compare rates and terms across these contracts. Depending on the results of the comparison I may make recommendations for future contracts.
Q: In general how do you think the district has handled the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: The district did its best to respond to the pandemic given the changing and sometimes conflicting nature of information and guidance. It was much better to err on the side of caution when making decisions. I would have loved to have more useful education packets during the last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year. I wish the district had been in a better position to provide true remote teaching earlier than this school year. The efforts were hindered by money and equipment availability. Schools and businesses worldwide were all trying to order more equipment which clogged the supply chain. In a perfect world the district would have had the money immediately available and would have been able to buy equipment that may have been received in a timely manner.
Q: How are you going to deal with the drop in grades and catching students up both near term and for the long haul?
A: I am looking for Administration to provide a plan to determine the education impact to students and to support students getting back on track. I cannot comment on a plan I have not seen.
Q: How can you as a board member support increased literacy? What specific programs would you support/ advocate for?
A: As a Board member I can ask Administration for recommendations that includes explanations on why specific programs should be used. These recommendations should first be reviewed by literacy teachers and coaches to determine if they feel the supports will help the students. Just like with Ready Gen I will ask why none of a curriculum committee's recommendations were brought forward in lieu of Administration's recommendation. I also will not worry about a drop in standardized test scores from the first year a new curriculum is used. A better comparison of test scores will be across the district among students of the same grade level instead of a comparison to test scores from the previous year at a specific school.
Q: Will you ensure that non-Christian Students are allowed the same time off from school for major religious/cultural dates such as Yom Kippur/Rosh Ha’Shanah/Passover, Eid, Diwali, etc.
A: Yes. I even responded to a mother who was concerned about a test during a minor holiday, and explained she should contact the teacher and/or principal to arrange an alternative time for her child to take the test.
Q: The Jewish community is concerned with rising Antisemitism and a record-low baseline education about the Holocaust; what will you do to ensure that these issues are adequately taught in school?
A: I support the curriculum and various anti-hate initiatives. One example is the "No Place for Hate" program offered through the Anti Defamation League (ADL) that is used at Mifflin. This program supports the issue of hate for any reason, including the rising anti-Asian hate. I also support initiatives that provide students a safe space to talk about differences that could lead to Antisemitism and other forms of hate. If necessary I would bring in people who could moderate these discussions and help steer the conversation by well placed questions to the students.
Q: Locally - and nationwide - enrollment numbers in early childhood programs and kindergarten are down due to the pandemic. As a school board member, how will you provide leadership and support for enrollment in district early childhood programs and kindergarten? How can the district provide support for increased outreach and engagement to Pittsburgh families with young children?
A: I continue to respond to questions about our early childhood programs and kindergarten options. I generally refer the questions to either Early Childhood or the appropriate school principal. I believe the Early Childhood Parent Policy Council should be consulted to obtain suggestions for increased outreach and engagement for families who live in the district and have young children.
Q: What role do you think high-quality early learning plays in providing the educational foundation for children to succeed? As a school board director and local leader, how will you work with state elected officials and other leaders to ensure more children continue to receive access to pre-k?
A: High-quality early learning is essential for children to be better prepared for Kindergarten and beyond. It is especially true for families without resources to provide constant learning activities to their young children, such as books and learning-based activities. I already talk to state elected officials about various budget needs to support education, including early childhood. In an ideal world the district would have funding to provide an early childhood education to all children who are three and four years old. At this point we need to prioritize based on funding restrictions (e.g. Head Start and Early Head Start) and other criteria to provide education to children whose families are least able to afford a private preschool.
Q: The 2020 A+ Schools Report to the Community highlighted the joyful learning happening in PPS early childhood education programs. The article focused on the importance of a whole child approach including play-based learning and social and emotional development. How will you support educators and administrators to implement developmentally appropriate, play-based learning in school reopening plans? Additionally, what considerations do you feel need to be made in supporting the mental health, social-emotional development, and physical activity of students during remote learning and as they return to school?
A: I listen to recommendations from the Early Childhood Department and the Early Childhood Parent Policy Council. I approve their recommendations provided part of the budget is allocated to support the recommendations.
Q: How can the Board be more transparent with COVID and schools reopening?
A: In an ideal world the district should provide a comprehensive COVID dashboard on the district website showing the number of people diagnosed and the number of people exposed. The dashboard should separate out staff members from students, and should be a listing for each building. However, we are not able to do it at this time for a number of reasons including HIPPA, cost, and time. HIPPA is a factor when we are on a school-level since people may be able to guess the identities of the people affected. An automated system to provide the information directly to the dashboard would need to be purchased or created, which leads to the cost issue. Right now the information is entered manually each weekend by two people. My understanding is this effort takes too much time to perform each day which is why it only occurs once a week.