Assessment Team Reports On Alafia Elementary

The situation might be stressful at Alafia Elementary School, but the problems aren't irreparable.

That was the conclusion of a 16-member school district assessment team sent to Alafia Elementary School Oct. 21 to investigate charges that the school's principal, Ellyn Smith, is responsible for poor staff morale and high teacher turnover at the school.

About a dozen parents attended a Hillsborough County School Board meeting Oct. 7 to complain about Smith's leadership skills after they said they were unable to resolve their concerns with Smith or school administration.

On Monday, the assessment team, comprised of administrators from other schools, school counselors and district officials, met with Alafia staff to go over the results of its assessment.

Among its recommendations, the team said the administration should "eliminate practices that foster fear of intimidation and retaliation."

School district spokesman Steve Hegarty, a member of the assessment team, said the team didn't offer specifics on how this would be accomplished, saying it would occur in the process of implementing the other recommendations.

The team also suggested organizing a committee of administrators, developing a parent involvement plan, increasing the administration's visibility and accessibility, scheduling faculty recognition and award initiatives, forming committees for staff input into decision making, increasing volunteer recognition, providing team building for the faculty and providing interpersonal skills training for the administration.

"I thought it was a good meeting," Hegarty said after meeting with the Alafia faculty. "People spoke from the heart."

Alafia parents, however, have yet to view the assessment team's report or receive a meeting date to go over the report with school district officials as promised at the Nov. 6 school board meeting.

"This is discouraging and frustrating," said Jill Heilman, the mother of a third-grader at Alafia Elementary and one of four parents who met with school district officials several times to voice concerns about Smith. We haven't seen a copy of the report and nobody's called to meet with parents at all."

School board chairwoman Jennifer Faliero said the fact that schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia sent an assessment team to the school shows she took the parents' concerns seriously.

"It's usually not a good thing to have an assessment team come into a school," Faliero said. "It indicates there is enough evidence to suggest there were things that were not working for this school, that there is just cause to go forward and look into it."