A former longtime Baltimore educator who once supervised and supported city principals is returning from a stint in Philadelphia to serve as the school district's new chief academic officer.
Baltimore city schools CEO Sonja Santelises announced that Sean L. Conley will serve in the high-profile role she once filled beginning Aug. 22. Conley is a 20-year-veteran of urban education, and brings "an incredible breadth and depth of knowledge to city schools," district officials said in a press release
"And as someone who was deeply involved in classroom teaching, school leadership, and district-level decision making in Baltimore…he is also uniquely qualified to spearhead the development and delivery of rigorous, student-centered instruction that our city deserves," Santelises said in a written statement.
Conley left the school system in 2014 and has worked as an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia for the past two years. He oversaw 22 elementary, middle, and high schools serving 11,000 students with an annual budget of $74 million. In Baltimore, he will oversee the five departments and a budget of $85 million.
Conley's appointment was one several approved by the city school board Tuesday night. Dozens of principals were also appointed, a move that ensures all schools are fully staffed with lead administrators, said DeRay Mckesson, the interim chief human capital officer.
In a presentation to the board, school officials said there are less than 200 teacher vacancies left to fill after the district held two job fairs in recent weeks.
While the challenge in Baltimore city's back-to-school planning has historically been making sure there's a teacher in every classroom, this year district officials are falling short of another goal: making sure those teachers have a full class of students.
District officials have been busy filling teacher and principal vacancies with confidence that the gaps will be closed before August 29, the first day of school. But according to information to be presented Tuesday night, the district has less than half of all elementary and elementary/middle school students — about 42 percent — fully scheduled for the required six classes, and about 76 percent of students enrolled in middle and middle/high schools fully scheduled. The district's goal was to have 95 percent of students at all grade levels scheduled in at least six classes by July 29.
In a statement, district officials said that this year's numbers are on par with previous years, and they "remain confident that all students will be scheduled by August 29."
Rudy Ruiz, executive director of college and career readiness, said that elementary school scheduling was straightforward and when school-based staff are back from vacation, most staff are trained to begin entering class schedules into the district's student information system.
High school scheduling is more complicated because of the range of courses and programs available and the need to work around and meet graduation requirements, he said. Additionally, students will be required to take remedial courses this year designed to help them meet the state's college and career readiness standards.
District officials emphasized that the class scheduling numbers are fluid. For example, on Monday morning the district published a report stating only 32 percent of elementary/middle school students, and 62 percent of middle/ high school students were fully scheduled as of August 2. By Monday afternoon, following inquiries by The Sun, those numbers were changed to reflect updated and higher percentages.
erica.green@baltsun.com
twitter.com/EricaLG