In a scathing report issued by the Buffalo Public School District's 'distinguished educator,' Judy Elliott claims the district's central office is "out-of-touch" with principals at struggling schools.
Elliott says district administrators rarely visit city schools and often ignore calls from schools for assistance. Her report claims the central office did not schedule meetings with principals during the 2011-2012 school year and that principals have little say in the teachers hired at their respective schools.
Elliott says the district's central planners offer little support to the principals at Buffalo's "priority schools," the 28 city schools that rank among the lowest performers in the state. The report offers 39 steps the district should take to make changes.
Schools superintendent Dr. Pamela Brown told reporters Thursday afternoon the findings are not surprising to her.
"I'm not shocked at all because these are things that I saw when I came on board," Brown said.
Brown says some suggestions are already being implemented, but noted the situation won't change overnight.
"There is a need to be very clear about what expectations are for employees and that's something that we have been doing over the last couple of months," Brown said.
