Rebuilding Rockford schools from within - Gate House

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By Corina Curry
Rockford Register Star
December 21. 2014 5:00AM

Rebuilding Rockford schools from within

ROCKFORD Bridget French vividly remembers her first Rockford School Board meeting.
It was fall 2010. The community, the board, teachers and administrators were debating a switch from an elementary
school choice plan, in which parents could choose which school their children attended, to school zones, in which
students would attend schools based on geographic boundaries.
French, a Rockford native and mother of two, had heard her fair share of horror stories about the Rockford School
District, a public school system serving 30,000 students beset by angry residents, unsatisfied parents, failing students,
frustrated teachers, and a board and administration at odds, sometimes bitterly.
It wasnt a new story.

P H O T O / RR S TA R. C O M F I L E P H O T O

Teachers and supporters march March

The district was known for decades as a hotbed of controversy.

27, 2012, in front of the Rockford School

District Administration Building.

Much of the angst and ill feelings stemmed from a pair of racial discrimination lawsuits that hung over the district like
black clouds from the early 1970s through 2002, when the district finally removed itself from a court order. The district
had been forced to comply with a series of remedies, from building schools on the west side to imposing a new student-assignment plan that led to widespread
busing.
The lawsuits and subsequent court order brought civil unrest and skyrocketing taxes in a community divided by skin color, the Rock River and wealth.
Rockford families fled the district by the hundreds, enrolling their children in private schools or moving to neighboring communities. Some left the Rock River
Valley.
The turmoil lingered, quietly at times. Then there were nights like the one when French attended the School Board meeting.
It was very much an us-versus-them atmosphere, very much union-versus-administration, she said. The issues we faced seemed insurmountable. ... I
remember leaving thinking How are we ever going to overcome these barriers?
The answer, French would learn, was right around the corner.
Aligning resources
Far away from the board room battles and union uprisings, a group of residents was working on a plan.
Led by Laurie Preece, a group called Alignment Rockford was formed. It would invite civic and business leaders from across the city to get involved in the
School District, lending their expertise to educators and putting their voices behind efforts to transform the schools.
People from all walks of life bank CEOs, engineers, nurses and more would learn about the districts challenges and become part of the solution. Theyd
support building referendums. Theyd help teachers develop lessons in project-based learning.
Theyd change the way people view the district and begin a new chapter of public schools in Rockford.
In 2010, French was a marketing manager at a real estate developer.
Four years later, shed sit at a School Board meeting as Alignment Rockfords new executive director and watch as Rockford Education Association President
Dawn Granath and Superintendent Ehren Jarrett stood side by side answering questions about an innovative new approach to bargaining they wished to
pursue: interest-based bargaining. It stresses collaborative problem-solving rather than digging in heels in hopes of landing in the middle.
The discussions would lay the groundwork for the districts upcoming round of contract negotiations with the teachers union.
I got goose bumps, French said. All I could think was, Wow, we have come so far.
Collaboration
Today, French is one of many believers.
They include hundreds of business and nonprofit partners French works with to improve outcomes for Rockford students. Parents who sense the beginning of
a new era for the schools. Board members, union leaders and the districts leadership team.
Its more than lip service and a wave of good feelings, Jarrett said.
Its the beginning of systemic change fueled by a spirit of collaboration and a commitment to improving student achievement.

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Rebuilding Rockford schools from within - Gate House

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Jarrett became superintendent in July 2013. He joined the district in 2011 as an assistant superintendent during interim Superintendent Robert Willis tenure.
Hes seen the changes in people and institutions across the community. He feeds off the positive energy. Maintaining the momentum is a priority for Jarrett
and his entire leadership team.
We have enough challenges making sure all of our students are college- and career-ready, and we have a competitive workforce, and Rockford becomes the
community we all want it to be, he said. Theres enough challenge and opportunity there that we dont need to be fighting ourselves. ... Thats just the way I
view the world, and I think thats the way (the leaders of the teachers union) view the world, and I think thats how the majority of leaders in our community as
represented by our board feel, as well.
The revolving door
Jude Makulec joined the School Board in 2009. Shes had a front-row seat to some of its best and worst times.
The board that hired LaVonne Sheffield as superintendent in 2009 went to great lengths to find a leader who had the experience and ability to turn around
Rockford schools. There was a sense of hope, Makulec said.
Then came the communications breakdown. Then an erosion of trust between some board members and Sheffield.
Sheffield was gone less than two years later, and the board looked for another new superintendent.
The revolving door of leadership was nothing new. It was part of the districts story. Superintendents would come. Theyd make changes. Theyd leave in a few
years. A new one would come, make changes, leave.
Its like building a house, Makulec said. You start with one contractor. A couple months in, he leaves and you get another one. And then you get another and
another one. Each one knows what the other guy before him should have done, but he doesnt know if everything was done the way he would have done it. ...
Its the same with this. If every couple of years we have a new group. Nobody has really taken the time to take a deep dive into evaluating the departments.
Shared leadership
Makulec is hopeful that the cycle has been broken with Jarrett, a Rockford native.
She, too, has noticed the change in people. The feedback shes getting about Jarrett and the direction hes taking the district is different than the feedback shes
heard in the past.
Dr. Jarrett is very genuine in his willingness and desire to get to every school and meet with the staff. People are noticing and saying that hes really listening
to them.
Granath and Paul Goddard are noticing it as well.
The union, known for being at odds with district superintendents, is moving in a different direction with Jarrett and his team.
Theres a sense, the union leaders said, that the districts decades of high leadership turnover are being replaced with stability and shared leadership.
The big dysfunction was administrative turnover, Goddard said. During my seven years at Auburn High School, I had 28 principals and assistant principals.
I was really excited to be a teacher. I wanted to be with the program. Id get with the program and it would feel like 15 minutes later it would change.
The latest change started when Sheffield left, Goddard said. After Willis interim stint, the board decided to hire from within the ranks of the School District,
specifically looking at Jarrett and Deputy Superintendent Matt Vosberg.
They didnt come in trying to revolutionize the district, Goddard said. They seem really committed to Rockford and committed to turning around Rockford
schools. That makes a huge amount of difference. You dont have to live with that anxiety of turnover.
Whats next
A similar story of change is being written in Nashville, Tennessee, which serves as the blueprint for Rockfords Alignment program.
Nashville witnessed many of the same changes in attitude and perception when Alignment Nashville formed.
We went through a phase like Rockford, Executive Director Sydney Rogers said. Theres still a huge momentum around the academies and the success in
Nashville, but were a bigger city. Its the capital. There are more politics involved. Its harder to maintain that focus. ... There are those who want to start up
more charter schools and point fingers.
Corina Curry: 815-987-1371; ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry

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