By David Cruz
Correspondent
You might remember Hawthorne Avenue School Principal Grady James. He’s no fan of the One Newark school reforms. In fact, his criticism of the plan got him suspended temporarily last year. Today, he was outside, greeting kids and downplaying the controversy.
“We need to deal with the business of educating children, so my focus is always on educating children and whatever needs to happen for that to take place is what we do,” he said this morning. “We prioritize in that order so the focus is to get the kids inside the building so we can start instruction right away. People need to feel comfortable on their first day, and that’s what we’re doing.”
But, across the city, many parents were still fuming over the plan, how it’s being implemented and what effect it’s having on their lives. Veronica Smith just dropped off one child and is getting ready to drop off the other across town.
“I work doubles and I get off at 7 o’clock in the morning,” she said. “To have my daughter at school at 7:30 in the morning is kinda hard when you have to come all the way from the other side of Newark. To come get her ready to take her to school at 7:30 in the morning? That’s kind of early. And I haven’t even gotten any sleep yet.”
Michelle Fuller considers herself lucky. Her son and his cousins can still walk to their school a few blocks from home.
“They’re happy the school stayed open or else they would’ve been all mixed up in different other schools and not together,” she smiled. Asked how she felt on the first day of classes: “I’m glad; school is back!”
Meanwhile, police, firefighters and crossing guards were out in force to monitor the new transportation system, which, on the first day of classes, featured many empty, or nearly empty, yellow buses. Mayor Ras Baraka was out early this morning, too, monitoring a plan that he says was doomed almost from day one.
“The superintendent, the state, could have involved parents and the community into this process and thought about what was going to happen pragmatically, to not think about it in such a dogmatic and theoretical way,” said the mayor.
Baraka and Superintendent Cami Anderson appeared together at one school.
“It’s our job to get along,” said Anderson. “Our kids’ futures are at stake. Every year that kids get behind we’re making huge decisions for them, so, bottom line, we’ve got to come together.”
How much is riding on this school reform plan? A lot, evidently. Gov. Chris Christie’s spokesman was watching closely as Christie’s new Education Commissioner David Hespe joined Christie appointee Cami Anderson for lunch with kids at East Side High.
“As the change process continues,” said Hespe, “I think people will get more and more comfortable that, not only is this the right thing to do for the children in Newark, but it’s being implemented well.”
As first days go, today was pretty standard, all things considered, but officials say it’ll be weeks, and months, before they can effectively gauge the impact of these historic changes.