Jumping Ship at ARPS

To contact us Click HERE
 Irv Rhodes former School Committee member (left), former principal Mike Morris (right)
One of the downsides to principal Mike Morris abdicating his leadership position at Crocker Farm Elementary School is the scuttling of plans to become an "innovation school" to help the Amherst public schools compete with charter schools that are currently eating their lunch.

Six months ago the state awarded the Amherst schools $10,000 to support "planning activities" to turn Crocker Farm into an innovation school, a first for Amherst --  and hopefully a transformative template for more.

Not much of a chance now. According to Mr. Morris, "Crocker Farm decided not to go forward with applying for the ($75,000) implementation grant."

As a founding member of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, I know all too well the rigors involved with taking an innovative concept and making it happen.  But with Mr Morris at the helm, Crocker Farm had a good chance for achieving that goal.

Interestingly, PVCIC did not get the coveted state education charter in its initial year (2006) of application. The state, however, was impressed enough to award -- for the first time ever -- $10,000 to help make the not-ready-for-prime-time concept, ready.  And that did the trick.

Now PVCIC is the number one competitor to ARPS siphoning away children from Amherst elementary schools at $16,413 per child, while Pioneer Valley Performing Arts continues to drain away kids at the middle school and high school level at a whopping cost of $17,144 per student.

If Crocker Farm had become an "innovation school," maybe those losses could be mitigated, keeping all that money in the district.

B-I-G problem #2 is ARPS is known for being top heavy with highly paid administrators, spending  $697.73 per student vs. state average of $445.97.   A difference of $252.76 per student, 57% higher than state average, or in real dollars $388,969.20!  And this was before they added this new $100K position.

Interim co-principals (don't you just hate that term?) Derek Shea and newcomer Annemarie Foley, I'm told, will have "revenue neutral" budget impact once they agree on a contract, since Mr. Shea will make less than Mr. Morris's previous $87K and Ms Foley will make less than Mr Shea was currently making as Assistant Principal.  

While Mr. Morris was already a member of the $85K Club, he will now move into the more exclusive 100K club in an entirely new position.  Amherst Regional schools will now have eleven (11) employees in the 100K Club compared to Northampton's, umm, one (1)!

And God help anyone who dares to mention it!