I just saw this posted on EdWeek.com – I don’t know the back story here, but if the article is true, this is exactly the type of issue that prohibits successful turnarounds. Lead Turnaround Partners can’t do their jobs if the districts won’t work with them.
But, what are the consequences for the partners? They will be fired or their contracts will not be renewed. For the districts? In many states, district staff will keep their jobs and will continue to run the failing school year after year. That makes sense, right?
Turnaround firm sues Gary schools to get records
Published Online: July 26, 2012
GARY, Ind. (AP) — A company appointed by Indiana to run and try to turn around a troubled Gary high school is suing the Gary Community School Corp., demanding that it turn over student records it needs to run the school.
EdisonLearning Inc. senior vice president Todd McIntire told The Times of Munster for a story published Wednesday that the lawsuit requires the district to release student records and provide the for-profit firm with services as required by law, including those associated with student transportation and school maintenance.
The Indiana Department of Education appointed the Knoxville, Tenn.-based company last summer to operate Gary’s Roosevelt College and Career Academy, one of seven Indiana schools approved last year for private takeovers after poor student scores on standardized tests placed them on continued academic probation. The school had been on probation for six consecutive years.
McIntire said the lawsuit was filed Monday in Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis because the company is acting on behalf of the state Department of Education.
Gary attorney Robert Lewis, who represents the school district, said his firm received the lawsuit on Tuesday and is still reviewing it.
“I don’t know the basis for any lawsuit. We are reviewing it and will respond accordingly,” he said.
McIntire said the district provided some student records to EdisonLearning on Wednesday morning, and company officials are auditing those records to determine exactly what it has.
“We’re going through them now. Transportation is connected to the records, and we can’t develop transportation until we have all of the student records,” he said.
McIntire said he meets weekly with the school district’s new superintendent, Cheryl Pruitt, and that she has been cooperative.
However, he said the company has had “very little response” from the school district on maintenance issues plaguing the school, including a malfunctioning elevator.
McIntire also said the school’s heating and air conditioning fails on a daily basis, and there are a number of areas with no ventilation. He also said the building also experiencing flooding last week following heavy rains.
“We have not been successful in getting the school corporation to address these issues or a date when they will get to them,” he said.
Strategy • Implementation • Transformation 
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