Parents of Hardy Middle School students at times angrily voiced concerns about the school at a PTA meeting Wednesday evening. The meeting was organized partially in response to the letter sent home Tuesday by Interim Chancellor of DC Schools, Kaya Henderson and Hardy Principal Dana Nerenberg in which they detailed proposed changes and new policies at the Georgetown middle school. Parents came armed with questions and comments about discipline and scheduling issues as well. Nerenberg was on hand to answer questions and Hardy PTA co-President Keenan Keller organized and moderated the two-hour meeting.

Hardy has been source of  controversy over the past year since then-Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced that popular Hardy principal Patrick Pope would be replaced by Dana Nerenberg, who has served as principal of two schools at once in this 2010-2011 school year.

Keller started the meeting saying he hoped parents would remember "civility" while participating in a "robust" Q&A. The robust part was right, though civility broke down at points during the heated discussion.

The primary concerns voiced by parents were the letter sent home, particularly the Commitment to Advanced Achievement, discipline issues, scheduling problems and ongoing communication failures. Other parents, many new to the school, piped up to express their general happiness with the school, teachers and the administration. At this meeting, however, positive parents were a vocal minority.

Letter from the Chancellor

The letter Tuesday spelled out a series of changes and adjustments at Hardy to address previously raised issues such as discipline and morale at the school. 

Candy Miles-Crocker, a parent and member of the Local School Restructuring Team (LSRT), cited an increase in behavioral concerns at the school. She said she knew of at least seven suspensions this year, six more than last. Other parents were upset over the additional consequences for students with behavioral problems, including Saturday detention. 

Barry Hudson, the PTA co-President, said he was angered because discipline issues had been raised at a December meeting and proposals were floated for parents to be able to provide input. The letter Tuesday overlooked the discussions and potential for contributions from parents. Hudson admitted he realized that "we probably need to fight DCPS" and not the school's administration.

Scheduling and Arts Programming

After the first hour and a half of questions and statements, Keller said that the "core problem" at the school was the change made to the schedule at the beginning of the school year. The school moved from block scheduling and classes over an hour long to classes of 45 minute intervals. Many parents expressed frustration, anger and concern over the schedule change.

Keller spoke out at one point for Nerenberg saying it was his understanding that "they wouldn't let her talk to Mr. Pope" about anything with the school, the schedule included. Taking it a step further, Keller said if Interim Chancellor Henderson (and other administrators) would "get off her high horse" she would see the problems and allow teachers to fix the schedule. 

Hardy has been recognized and sought out by parents for its music and arts classes which have been affected by scheduling changes. "Music brought us here" said Donna Murphy. Though it has been "a good year overall," Murphy said she was "disappointed" that the school canceled its winter concert. Nerenberg said the cancellation was necessary because the performing arts department did not feel prepared to put on a public performance.

Parents chimed in that in previous years students would have all given several performances by this point in the school year. Others were concerned that the school musical would not become a reality because of poor planning.

New vs. Old

Throughout the evening the patterns became clear, those parents who had experienced Hardy in previous years and been through the Principal Pope removal were more likely to be disappointed and frustrated with the school and its administrative team than new parents.

Miles-Crocker said to Nerenberg, "we're used to excellence...you want us to accept subpar and average."

At one point two mothers yelled over one another bringing the discussion to a head. Lisa Simpson, the mother of a new sixth grader, said her child was not having the issues other parents were lamenting. She argued that the discipline and morale issues at the school were a direct result of the "energy" coming from the parents.

Keller spoke to the room, saying he did not want "to have a gap" between new and old parents, "we need to work together."

Peter Eisler, the parent of the new sixth grader, echoed Simpson's satisfaction with the school. He said other parents and anonymous commenters on blog articles seem to be "intent on tearing down the reputation of this school." But if the parents and faculty are not supportive, "no one is going to succeed...Pope couldn't succeed either" under such circumstances argued Eisler. Some parents "make it sound like a war zone" he said, to which several parents sitting nearby commented "it is."

The co-Presidents both did their part to try to draw the heated discussion to a close. Hudson joked that "parents are mad at other parents for not being as angry as other parents." Both said it was time for people to work together to make the best of the current situation and fix what can be fixed. Keller said he felt the PTA had "spent enough time" rehashing frustrations over the removal of Pope and changes made by the Chancellor's office. He added that hopefully the next meeting in a few weeks would focus on lighter topics like the planned Gala and other fundraisers.