Drue Miles, an education consultant and the author of the education chapter in the Harrisburg school district’s state-sponsored recovery plan, is the district’s new acting school improvement administrator, following a unanimous vote Monday night by the board of school directors.
The position, which will pay $600 per day, was to be left vacant by the departure of Sherry Roland-Washington, whose resignation was also ratified by board vote Monday night and is effective August 15.
Gene Veno, the district’s state-appointed chief recovery officer, said Monday that he recommended the emergency hiring of Miles while the superintendent searched for a permanent replacement for Roland-Washington.
Miles, a former principal and assistant superintendent in Lancaster, worked as acting superintendent of the Reading school district for about a one-year period covering the 2011-12 school year. In June of 2013, he was appointed acting superintendent in Boyertown, where he served briefly before being replaced by a permanent superintendent early the following school year.
Miles is also the president of Miles Educational Services, where his services include “analyzing educational systems and writing both recovery plans and school/district plans to assist struggling school districts,” according to his LinkedIn profile. He has additionally worked as a senior education consultant for Public Financial Management, Inc., a national financial advisory firm, since February 2013.
On Monday, after the school board vote, Miles described his new role as “continuing oversight” of the development of the district’s curriculum, which is undergoing a process of alignment with new state standards.
That process was delayed somewhat under the tenure of Roland-Washington, who had initially aimed to have the curriculum alignment completed by last August, in accordance with the deadlines established by the original recovery plan.
Late last February, with the updates still not completed, the district opted to switch from an in-house team of teachers and administrators to a contractual agreement with Scholastic for the purpose of finishing the new curriculum. Then, in April, Veno amended his recovery plan to push back the curriculum deadlines by one year.
The first unit of the core curriculum, which comprises courses in English language arts, science, social studies and math, will now be completed in time for teacher in-school planning days next week, Miles said Monday. The complete curriculum, meanwhile, is slated to be finished by April of 2015.
Miles also said on Monday that he will take a leave of absence from Public Financial Management for the duration of his employment by the Harrisburg school district.
