Harrisburg High School (Capital-Star photo by Elizabeth Hardison)
Nearly six years after a Dauphin County judge placed the Harrisburg schools under state control, the district has emerged from receivership, acting Education Secretary Carrie Rowe announced Tuesday.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education petitioned the court for control of the district in June 2019, as it struggled with poor finances and substandard student performance.
Former Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a court petition at the time the district failed to achieve the goals laid out in its long-term recovery plan, which was approved jointly by the school board and the Department of Education in 2013.
Rowe said in a statement Tuesday the Harrisburg City School District was the first in Pennsylvania history to end receivership. State law requires the Education Department to apply for receivership when locally elected school officials are unable or unwilling to follow a financial recovery plan.
“This accomplishment is a testament to the dedicated school leaders who are committed to serving the learners in their community,” Rowe said. “When the district entered financial recovery in 2012, it was a very different district than the one we see today.”
Rowe credited Superintendent Benjamin Henry, the Harrisburg school board and the department’s appointed chief recovery officer Yvonne Hollins with “leadership, vision, and tenacity,” that led to the implementation of a financial model that is an example for other distressed districts.
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In its 2019 petition, the Education Department described patterns of financial mismanagement and poor personnel decisions including the failure to hire a full-time chief financial officer and a qualified business manager, neglecting to cancel health benefits for dozens of former employees at a cost of $700,000, and hiring 37 teachers at the wrong salary step, leading to costly labor grievances from its teachers union,
Since the receivership was renewed in 2022, the superintendent and school board made significant progress in implementing its financial recovery plan. It updated school buildings and infrastructure through a capital improvement plan and maintained fund balances of at least 5% of annual spending for three consecutive years. It also passed three years of audits with no negative findings, the Education Department said.
“Their return to local control is an opportunity to put into practice everything they have learned about effective governance,” said Court-Appointed Receiver Dr. Lori Suski.
Chester Upland School District in Delaware County was placed in receivership in 2012 and is continuing efforts to complete a financial recovery plan. An Allegheny County judge in March extended receivership for Duquesne City School District until at least 2028.
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