Janet Samuels remembered watching the Ed Sullivan show in her youth. She looked on as a performer spun plates atop long wooden poles, trying carefully to balance each of them without dropping any, and to keep them all spinning.
That act is a good metaphor for Samuels’ role in the Harrisburg School District, she said during a Tuesday morning meeting with the PennLive Editorial Board.
In June, she was appointed to serve as the district’s receiver, making her the leader of the court-ordered takeover of Harrisburg schools. Now, she’s working to balance district finances, academics, personnel, infrastructure and much more in a bid to bring the district back to success.
The takeover came after years of financial and academic underperformance in Harrisburg. And on Tuesday — little less than three weeks before the Aug. 26 start of the 2019-20 school year — Samuels talked about her work toward her goal.
Among numerous topics, she spoke about the district’s financial problems and personnel challenges, the role of the elected school board and her surprise at ending up as the leader of Harrisburg schools.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Samuels’ visit to the PennLive office:
1. Improvements can be made quickly.
Samuels remains optimistic that improvements can be made, and they can be made quickly.
They have to be, she said.
“There has to be this sense of urgency,” she said. “One thing that children don’t have is time.”
Samuels has not shied away from the fact that the road to financial and academic recovery won’t be an easy one.
Just last month, district officials gave a progress update, explaining that financial records are a mess, some teachers lack necessary certifications and clearances and dozens of professional positions are unfilled.
Those problems are all holdovers from the previous administration — some of them were problems that Samuels foresaw before entering the receivership role, she said.
“Of course I had concerns about some of the things that were underway and some of the things that were occurring,” Samuels said. “There were concerns about everything.”
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With all of that said, Samuels remained optimistic Tuesday that improvements can be made, and more specifically, she expects to see those improvements quickly.
“Hopefully, we’ll see those positive results right away,” Samuels said.
Those improvements will be achieved firstly by changing the “climate and culture” of the district and its schools, she said. That includes everything from appearance to operations, she said.
“It tells a message to both our students and families,” Samuels said.
Samuels talked about work to clean the schools inside and out, plans to provide continuing professional development for district staff and efforts to track down realistic financial records so that a reliable budget can be created.
Last month, district officials announced that about 60 professional vacancies existed within Harrisburg schools. Already, about half of them have been filled, Samuels said.
Samuels was asked about how optimistic she is that the district can return to success.
“There’s so much potential . . . It’s very doable,” she said.
Harrisburg School District Receiver Janet C. Samuels introduces Harrisburg School District Financial Recovery Plan Service Director John J. George, July 2, 2019. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
2. Samuels never expected to be in the receivership role.
Granting a petition filed by state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera, Judge William T. Tully ordered the state takeover of Harrisburg School District on June 17 after years of financial and academic underperformance.
The takeover is commonly referred to as receivership, and with his order, Tully also appointed Samuels to the role of receiver. That appointment basically made Samuels the district’s chief executive, wresting nearly all decision-making power from the elected school board.
Prior to that appointment, Samuels served as the district’s chief recovery officer, appointed by officials at the state Department of Education to aid Harrisburg leadership as they worked to meet goals laid out in an approved financial recovery plan.
“The role was to really implement the recovery plan,” she said. “That’s exactly what I thought I’d be doing.”
During that time, Samuels said she saw the need for a state takeover, especially as the district’s leaders failed to make progress toward their recovery goal and ignored requests from the secretary of education, she said Tuesday.
However, she did not think she’d be leading that takeover.
“I did not expect to be in this role or this position,” Samuels said. “I didn’t wish to be.”
Now that she is, Samuels said she plans to work — with the assistance of her leadership team from the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit — to bring the district back to success.
“There is no reason why the Harrisburg school district is not a high performing school district,” she said.
The Harrisburg School District monthly board meeting with receiver Dr. Janet Samuels was held on Monday, June 17, 2019. Sybil Knight-Burney, James Ellison, and Janet Samuels at the board meeting. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLiveVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive
3. The plan to improve the district was not well communicated before the state takeover.
On Tuesday, Samuels also talked about one of the reasons why that return to success has not yet been achieved. The state- and district-approved financial recovery plan was not well communicated, she said.
Samuels made clear Tuesday that she would not be laying blame. But when implementation of the recovery plan was brought up, she made reference to her relationship with former district Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney and members of the elected school board.
“My goal was to work with them to implement the plan,” Samuels said.
That goal was not achieved.
Samuels talked about the recovery plan ― a checklist to follow to improve the district’s stability ― as a “living, breathing document," not one that can simply be created and placed on a shelf.
Instead, it has to be widely communicated throughout the district and monitored to ensure progress, Samuels said.
“I wasn’t convinced there was real ownership of the plan,” she said. "I didn’t believe all of the staff or the board really knew, understood or embraced the plan.”
Samuels still serves as the district chief recovery officer in addition to her role as receiver. She is the third chief recovery officer to serve in the district since 2012.
Currently, she is working to update and amend the recovery plan, which will continue to serve as a guide while Samuels and her team work to move the district toward financial and academic success.
The Harrisburg School District Board held a special meeting to vote on hiring in-house solicitor James Ellison, Monday, April 22, 2019. Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLiveVicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive
4. School board members will serve as liaisons between district leadership and the community.
Since her appointment to the receiver role, Samuels has repeatedly stressed that she wants to remain transparent, keeping members of the public informed and involved in the district’s recovery.
On Tuesday, she said that transparency will take the form of public meetings with community members, updates on progress at board meetings and in the posting of agendas, meeting minutes and related documents to the district’s BoardDocs webpage.
There is a role for the elected school board members in that process, she said.
Under receivership, elected school board members have only taxing authority. All other decision-making power lies solely with Samuels.
Still, Samuels said she plans to work alongside the elected board members, even continuing the practice of closed-door executive sessions, at which school board members will be able to express their opinions about district business.
“They should be partners in this,” Samuels said.
She did not say whether those opinions will affect her decisions.
When she met with editors in the PennLive office Tuesday, Samuels suggested another duty for the school board members. The board members, she said, should serve as liaisons between community members and the district’s new leadership team.
“The school board are elected officials. They are elected by our constituents,” Samuels said. “They should be communicating consistently with their constituents. ... It’s also an opportunity to take information, messages right back to the community.”
State Education Secretary Pedro Rivera responds to lawmakers' questions at Monday's budget hearing before the House Appropriations Committee about Gov. Tom Wolf's proposal to raise the state's minimum teacher salary.
5. Samuels is required to make regular reports to the state Department of Education and Dauphin County Court.
While Samuels is chief within the school district, she still will be held accountable for her decisions and progress toward improvement. That is true in both of her roles — receiver and chief recovery officer, she said.
The discussion about accountability began with Samuels’ comments about her continued work to amend and update the recovery plan. That plan, is intended to “put the school district on a path to financial solvency and to create conditions for student success,” according to Eric Levis, press secretary for the state Department of Education.
That plan must be approved by the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas, Levis said.
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Along with the plan, there are reporting requirements, Samuels said. Monthly, she will be filing progress reports with the Department of Education. That has been true as long as recovery has been in place, she said.
And in her role as receiver, Samuels said she is required to make similar reports quarterly to Judge Tully throughout the duration of the state takeover, which will last at least three years.
Depending on how much progress is made, the duration of the takeover could be extended.
“It is ultimately the decision of the judge as to the length of the receivership,” Levis said.