43
New Farrell principal talks only about future
Photo
Lora Adams-King
Lora Adams-King is looking forward to the coming school year.
FARRELL, Pa. — A new principal means “a new day” for Farrell High School.
Lora Adams-King, hired by the school board Aug. 11 to fill the position formerly held by Lee McFerren, doesn’t want to talk about the past.
She didn’t want to discuss McFerren, who was fired by the school board in July after a public dismissal hearing in the spring revealed much infighting between him and teachers, other staff and the acting superintendent.
“This is a new day and we move forward from this point,” she said.
She’s had to move fast, looking forward last week to the beginning of her new job and the beginning of a new year.
School starts Wednesday, with teachers returning Monday. She was extremely busy, she acknowledged, but excited as well.
“I’m just elated to be here in this position,” said Adams-King, until now a sixth-grade teacher who’s spent her eight-year career in education solely in the Farrell district. She finished her master’s degree work and obtained her principal certification last year. She will be paid $74,000 a year.
A native of Wheatland, she attended Farrell High. While in the elementary school, she taught many of the pupils she’ll see this year.
“I know most of the kids and their families,” she said. “I’m not a stranger to this community.”
She believes Farrell has always had a tradition of excellence — in academics, the arts and athletics, and she wants to see that continue.
That goal won’t be met without some challenges. She said “high-stakes” testing under the No Child Left Behind federal law and in math and reading in the yearly Pennsylvania System of School Assessment caused academic issues the high school is struggling with now. There were a number of factors that contributed to the problem, she said, but did not elaborate.
Right now, the school is under a state accountability system status of Corrective Action II, though the district as a whole has met Adequate Yearly Progress, according to the state Department of Education.
Corrective Action II is the lowest status, meaning a district or school has not met all its AYP requirements for five years in a row, according to the state. AYP is calculated from PSSA test results, attendance and graduation rates. In the recently released 2007-08 data, the school made graduation and test participation requirements, but missed all of six academic requirements.
“We’re a lot better than we’re being portrayed,” Adams-King said. “We have all the ingredients here to come out of corrective status.” She said the community, staff, students and parents will make up the recipe for that success.
Getting the school out of corrective action is her No. 1 priority, she said.
Her short-term goal: “To get out of it.” Her long-term goal: “To never get there again.”
She and other administrators are consulting test data, making curriculum changes that include remediation, and focusing on staff development.
Distinguished educators, which are consultants sent by the state to schools or districts in corrective action, are also on hand to help.
“I believe the Farrell School District is a great place, and that’s why I’m here,” Adams-King said.
Adams-King, 44, and her husband, Howard, have six daughters. They live in Sharon, where she’s been on the school board for 12 years.