Pittsburgh School Board Calls Special Meeting; Will Likely Keep Hamlet
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The fate of Pittsburgh school superintendent Anthony Hamlet could be decided at a special meeting Wednesday night.
The school board will review an independent investigation of Hamlet's credentials.
After more than a month of controversy, the board will decide. Are the inconsistencies and plagiarism on Anthony Hamlet's resume acceptable blemishes on its chosen candidate, or do they rise to a level that another candidate should be found?
The local watchdog group A+ Schools thinks the latter.
"My hope is that the board decides that they will restart the search and have a much more transparent process," said Tracey Reed Armant with A+ Schools. "Ultimately, we want a search process and a candidate that will unite the community and not fracture it."
Wednesday night, the board will publicly discuss the completed independent review of Hamlet's credentials. The board spent five hours behind closed doors Monday discussing many of those findings.
No board member would comment, but sources indicate that even after that discussion, Hamlet has the majority support of the board with only two and possibly three dissenters.
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At the meeting Wednesday, the board may take a vote, but none will be needed if they decide to retain Hamlet, who is scheduled to take his position on Friday.
For the past few weeks, Hamlet has been taken to task for claiming successes as the principal of two Florida schools with data that differs from state records. He also lifted most of a statement from a Washington Post editorial in describing his educational philosophy.
And while sources say the independent probe may have discovered other inconsistencies, the majority of the board doesn't consider them severe enough to restart the search. And to their disappointment, opponents of Hamlet are hearing the same thing.
"It certainly appears that he has the support of the board, and I remain hopeful that the board will listen to its constituents," Armant said.
But if, in fact, Dr. Hamlet retains the full confidence of the board, he will take office as superintendent without the full confidence of the district, which remains deeply divided about his selection and confirmation.
