Hempfield board ponders national ranking amid debate over what is 'woke' in region

A conversation on how to improve Hempfield Area High School’s rating on a Pittsburgh-based ranking list quickly turned into a contentious debate this week as board members expressed their opinions on the best way to proceed.

The discussion came at the request of board President Tony Bompiani on Monday after the school ranked 50th on a Greater Pittsburgh region list from U.S. News & World Report.

“To me, that didn’t sit well,” Bompiani said of the ranking. “I know it might be the first time we’ve been on that list, but it still didn’t sit well. I want to see us No. 1.”

The conversation centered on criteria for the list, which include college readiness index, 30%; absolute performance in academic subjects, 20%; relative performance on academic subjects, 20%; equity gap, 10%; graduation rate, 10%; and college curriculum breadth index, 10%.

Matthew Conner, superintendent of secondary education, suggested possible considerations that could help improve the school’s overall score in future ratings.

Those included increasing instructional time, adding intervention resources and instructional coaches to help support teacher practices and ensuring all students are exposed to rigorous curriculum. Another consideration included having the district pay for the AP exam in an effort to increase participation, something done by Kiski Area and Southmoreland school districts. That could cost the district around $63,540.

Board members largely homed in on the idea, with most suggesting frustrations that the ranking did not take into consideration students who went to tech school or straight into the workforce.

“I’m a little upset with U.S. News that they just use AP (advance placement) exams and not the whole class,” board member Jerry Radebaugh said. “We have great kids going to the tech school, we have great kids that are going right out into the workforce, but yet we’re just focusing on the AP, which, I mean, that’s great. We have great students, they do a great job. But there’s more (than) just that.”

Board member Diane Ciabattoni said she did not want to add more pressure to students who already are studying for multiple tests.

“I don’t want to focus on the test getting us a higher ranking and students not getting what they need. … I just don’t want all this pressure that, ‘Oh, well we have to get our rankings up because our tests aren’t where they need to be,’ ” Ciabattoni said. “If it was because our academics weren’t, then I could see where we would push for that.”

School board member Scott Learn suggested talking to other school districts to see what is working for them rather than trying random ideas.

“I think we feel pretty good about the students when they walk across the field at graduation, that we’re putting good students out there and people out into the world,” school board member Paul Ward said. “So I wouldn’t just change anything just for a U.S. News and World Report, or any other ranking, just for the sake of changing it.”

Ongoing issues

School board member Mike Alfery suggested officials need to focus on improving ongoing issues in the district before anything else. He returned the conversation to several bills discussed earlier in the meeting, which are in various phases in the state House and Senate that touch on different topics.

Bills discussed included the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which states that women’s school athletic teams may not be open to those of the male sex; a Senate bill that would require schools to identify and notify parents of sexually explicit content in curriculum, materials and books; and a House bill titled the Anti-Indoctrination in Education Act.

“If we’re not going to fix (issues in the district), we’ll never be closer than eighth in the county or 50th in the Greater Pittsburgh area. … I want to go and support these people pushing for these bills,” Alfery said. “Let’s fix what’s going on in this district right now with these rogue teachers. You know what we’re going to be ranked for first in the county? We’re going to be the most woke district in the county.”

Superintendent Tammy Wolicki countered, saying, “Your message makes it appear that all of our teachers are rogue, and I will say that that is not the case.

“Our teachers do a wonderful job. They work very hard. We work to be very transparent. And if there is a concern, we as an administrative team will address that. So please bring it to us, and we will work with that parent to resolve that issue.”

Alfery later clarified his point, saying not all teachers are rogue.

Conversations around controversial subjects have taken place in several local school districts, as well as nationally.

The Norwin School Board in April adopted a policy to guide the instruction of controversial issues, including race relations, by employing what the district termed a balanced approach to presenting those issues without inserting opinions or indoctrinating students to a particular viewpoint.

The adoption came months after a debate about whether critical race theory crept into Norwin’s curriculum, a claim by a board member who said CRT was part of a high school lesson.

It was not immediately clear if Hempfield’s school board would proceed with any of the recommendations to improve their ranking.

Administrators noted that improvements were being made within the district as a new curriculum is adopted, a process that involves teacher recommendations and board approval.

“Yeah we’re 50^th, but it’s the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve actually made the ranking so we’re doing something right,” Conner said. “We’ll continue to push forward and move forward.”