Loudoun superintendent: ‘I have no intention of resigning’

“I must say that I was surprised by the tenor of the letter considering that I had positive feedback from members of the NAACP’s general membership after our March 16th meeting,” Hatrick wrote. “In the more than a month that has passed since this meeting, I received no complaints or expressions of concern until the letter of April 21. I do not believe this letter reflects the general membership of Loudoun Branch, many of whom I have known and worked with for decades.”

The letter cited alleged ignorance on Hatrick’s part concerning the struggle of minority students, a lack of access to districtwide achievement data and “discriminatory hiring practices” in the Loudoun County school system.

Hatrick said in the open letter that he agreed with the executive committee that an “achievement gap” between white and minority students does exist, but added the committee has not fully responded to his requests for examples of schools that have closed this gap.

“This is a situation that exists throughout Virginia and the nation,” Hatrick wrote. “I have asked the representatives of the NAACP repeatedly to provide detailed instructional models for school systems that it claims have eliminated the achievement gap. To date they have named isolated schools, provided outdated information and not shown that these schools have sustained improvement in achievement. Nevertheless, we have pursued every lead they have given seeking to better educational opportunity and results for all of our students.”

School officials disagreed with the letter’s call for Hatrick’s resignation, though two-term school board member Bob Ohneiser did sympathize with the NAACP’s call for more openness in the county. He said the board has been denied access to meetings between superintendents and principals — who make hiring decisions — and that they would be in a better position to defend their efforts had they had access to the meetings.