Baltimore City school leaders offered an apology Tuesday night following a bombshell report that an area high school had promoted hundreds of students with failing grades and high truancy records.
However, the comments made at the meeting by School Board President Linda Chinnea and Baltimore City School CEO Sonja Santelises prompted more questions than answers.
Chinnea did not provide details about the grading issue at the Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts but called the situation “painful and unacceptable.”
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She added that she was aware of “significant shortcomings” by school staff three years ago. She also claimed the school district acted immediately and had conducted routine audits, selected a new principal, and has been working with students to make up lost credits.
That’s news to parents like Tiffany France, one of the mothers profiled in the Project Baltimore investigation. The report, released earlier this month, found that hundreds of students, including France’s son, were failing basic classes such as English and math, with the top grade point averages at Augusta Fells hovering at 0.13.
France said she thought that her 17-year-old son would be receiving his diploma in June but learned that after four years of attending the west Baltimore school, her son would be moving back to the ninth grade.
Santelises said students at Augusta Fells would be given priority during the pandemic for additional tutoring and mentoring.
“We will continue to work with families to get back on the path to learning,” Santelises said. “I want to take this opportunity to apologize to the families.”
But for France, it might be too little, too late.
The Project Baltimore report led to an outcry in the state, with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan demanding answers and calling for a full investigation.
“This is completely unacceptable,” Hogan said. “It’s worse than anything I’ve heard in the whole time that I’ve been governor. The fact that this particular school in the Baltimore City School system is failing that many kids is just outrageous.”
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Part of the growing frustration over the Augusta Fells saga is the silence that followed the report. Chinnea, Santelises, and most of the city council had stayed tight-lipped about the shocking scholastic findings. Only one Baltimore council member directly addressed the issue, saying that he would call for a city council hearing but did not provide any specifics.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott did speak out but received immediate backlash after he attempted to blame the school’s problems on funding.
A comparison of similar school districts in America found that Baltimore was fifth in per-student spending among the nation’s 100 largest school systems, spending more on education than Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit. The city spends $6,000 more per student than Houston, which has a similar demographic. Houston also outscores Baltimore on English and math proficiencies, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The Washington Examiner has reached out multiple times to council members, the school board, and Santelises’s office seeking comment. None of the calls or email requests were returned.
