School debate tries new model

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

School of the Arts, a public school in San Francisco, was faced with budget cuts when a parent on the school's site council demanded that a department head be hired for math and science to help improve math scores.

Principal Donn Harris didn't think the school could afford it. But the parent persisted and even threatened to go to the school district, so ultimately he found the money.

"It's sometimes hard for me to hear their opinions," Harris said of site council members, who have an equal voice over the school's budget and academic plan. "But that's the nature of having a board of directors."

Without that demanding parent, Harris said, he probably would not have made the hire. "We ended up voting for it," he said. "And now we're seeing improvements."

Three years ago, the San Francisco Unified School District moved to a weighted student formula — which bases school financing on student need — and gave more power to school-site councils.

Educators in Hawai'i are discussing such changes here, and state schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto and Democrats in the Legislature say San Francisco is a possible model.

Several educators from San Francisco are speaking today at Hamamoto's education summit at Kapolei High School, and will brief lawmakers on Monday.

Gov. Linda Lingle has based much of her education reform package on Edmonton, Alberta, a pioneer of the weighted student formula, and contrasts likely will be drawn as the reform debate continues in the Legislature.

After several years, Edmonton was able to give principals control over 90 percent of school spending decisions, while San Francisco gives principals control over about 65 percent.

Lingle has said principals should have control over 90 percent of school operations spending, while state House Democrats have proposed initially turning over 75 percent. Education experts familiar with the spending formula believe the real question is which functions are controlled by principals.

Arlene Ackerman, the superintendent in San Francisco, has urged Hawai'i educators to choose the course that best fits the state, and not get caught up in a debate about percentages.

For instance, San Francisco kept special education, transportation, food service and custodial work at the district level after consulting with school leaders, who were more interested in controlling areas directly related to education. "We did not decide on a particular number," she said. "We decided what things we wanted to put in there."

Democrats in Hawai'i are still working on how to balance the power of school principals with the new school councils their legislation would require for each school. Unlike the existing School Community Based Management councils, the new councils would have some authority over a school's budget and curriculum.

Educators offer conflicting advice.

A recent report by Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, a nonprofit education services group, recommended that principals not be given veto power over school councils. But an analysis released yesterday by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa/Community Partnership, a group of faculty, administrators and community leaders, urged that principals have final decision-making power.

In Edmonton, school-site councils are advisory, and principals have the final say.

Lingle's supporters, meanwhile, believe that unlike the new councils, locally elected school boards would be able to oversee principals and schools and be less intertwined in — and prone to micromanage — day-to-day operation of the schools.

As with Hawai'i's SCBMs, San Francisco had school-site councils for years, but their effectiveness varied according to the leadership skills of the principal or others who chose to get involved.

The school-site councils, which vary in size with the school, oversee a school's budget and academic plan, and work collaboratively with principals.

Disagreements are resolved by a dispute resolution team that pushes for consensus, said Mat-

thew Kelemen, special assistant to the San Francisco schools superintendent. In recent years, only a few schools needed intervention from the district, he said, but there has been an adjustment period as people learn their new roles, and the school district had to clarify the mediation process this school year.

"It is a fundamental tension in school reform," Kelemen said. "I definitely think that it should be clarified at the outset.

"But I don't think there is one good answer."

School of the Arts principal Harris said he has less control over the school than he did before, but the site council is a "well-oiled machine" that has brought more accountability.

Lance Tagomori, the principal at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the city's ethnically diverse Mission district, said he feels his staff and the community have shared decision-making power and more ownership over the school.

Tagomori, born and raised in Honolulu and a graduate of Roosevelt High School,said he does not mind being just one of 10 voices on the council.

"There is a lot of trust that has been built into the structure," he said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at depledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.