'A dream realized': York City School District celebrates exit from financial recovery
The York City School District successfully exited financial recovery status on Thursday after a 10-year battle.
Surrounded by a room framed by the stoic smiles of York City school district officials, Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty was the first to rise to the podium to share the news that, “York will become the first school district in Pennsylvania history to be approved to exit their status as being in financial recovery.”
Faces broadened with joy as hands were held high in applause. The press conference unfolded into a celebration culminating in officials signing the official documents.
The York City School District was assigned a recovery officer in 2012. The district identified areas for improvement and educational goals, including third grade literacy, PSSA achievement, Keystone Exam achievement and high school graduation, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Since 2015, state funding has increased for education by more than $3.7 billion, the Pennsylvania Department of Education said in a press release about reaching the recovery milestone.
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"Magical things can happen … like the city of York bringing their schools around and showing the world what districts are capable of when historic inequities begin to be addressed," Hagarty said, concluding his remarks while thanking teachers.
“This is the day everyone has been dreaming about for the last ten years,” said Chief Recovery Officer Michael Thew.
“Even though our zip code said that you're in extreme poverty and you have everything else going against you, the belief that they can be educated and will succeed never, never went away,” Thew said.
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Thew, who was retired at the time and lives in the eastern part of the county, said that five years ago former superintendent Eric Holmes asked him if he could help “for two months and support us, (and) that was seven years ago."
“We’re so proud…,” Thew concluded his remarks.
Thew said that he will continue to monitor the status of the school district for five years as part of the agreement.
Current Superintendent Andrea Berry, who was appointed four years ago, rose to the podium immediately repeating, “I’m not going to cry, I’m not going to cry.” She went on to say, after thanking everyone in the room, that when she arrived she asked her team initially to “dream the impossible dream.”
“Today I stand before you talking about a dream imagined, now being a dream realized,” Berry said.
Michael Breeland, president of the school board, rose to the podium with his school logo cap emblazoned with a “Y” front and center and a tie with blue and yellow stripes. William Penn Senior High School was once named York High. Many alumni still fondly refer to the school by this name.
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“The colors I wear today are symbolic. I am a Bearcat. Raised in the York City School District and joined into the fray when there was talk of chartering the schools. Not under my watch … I cannot let our children fail. It tugs at my heart … And when it comes to our children, I will challenge everything,” Breeland said.
Breeland thanked all the staff who make the school district run on a day-to-day basis.
“It’s about a family," he said. "It’s about us. Thank you. We have just begun to fight."
The history
A district can be entered into financial recovery for multiple reasons, including requesting an advance on its funding, which York City School District did in April 2012.
The state then appointed a financial recovery officer in late 2012 to help create a plan to get the district's finances in order.
The school district initially pushed back against the state action, saying that their financial issues were not so serious. The state countered that the district lacked a concrete, long-term financial plan.
Some of the actions that were available under the financial recovery were reopening the budget, raising taxes, converting schools to charters, renegotiating contracts other than collective bargaining agreements, and more. Former school board president Margie Orr said in 2019 that the district had rebounded so well, they hadn't raised taxes in six years.
I have captured life through the lens since 1983, and am currently a visual journalist with the USA Today Network. You can reach me at pkuehnel@ydr.com.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York City School District exits financial recovery after 10 years
