Elmer Smith: At West Philly High: Renaissance or inquisition?

JOY HERBERT was anything but joyful when I reached her yesterday.

"I am livid," she said, for starters.

Before taking a breath, she also declared herself "insulted," "incensed," "infuriated" and "frustrated" that her West Philadelphia High School parents group is, in her words, being "degraded by these insinuations."

What set her off is the school district's decision to delay the start of a comprehensive reform that West Philly was slated for when it was designated as a Renaissance school. The district this week delayed the overhaul because of concerns that some members of West Philadelphia High School's Advisory Commission may have had a conflict of interest when they selected Johns Hopkins University/Diplomas Now to manage the school.

West Philly and 13 other schools were slated for the comprehensive reform after years of test scores and graduation rates that had, at best, flatlined. Under the district's reform plan, parents and people from communities surrounding those schools get to choose a management team to reform the school.

At West, the choice was between Johns Hopkins, Mastery Charter and the district's own intense-reform model, called Promise Academy. They chose Johns Hopkins.

But it all unraveled because four members of the commission that made the choice were also members of a parent outreach team that had been paid a paltry stipend for working to increase parental involvement at the school. The Philadelphia Education Fund, which paid the parents group $8 an hour for knocking on doors, has business ties to Johns Hopkins/Diplomas Now.

The district's concern is understandable. At first glance, there may be the appearance of impropriety. Ethical questions can spook a district that is under pretty harsh scrutiny right now.

But it shouldn't take a massive investigation to resolve the district's concerns, and it shouldn't require derailing this much-needed reform. About half the school's teachers have sought reassignment since the reform was announced. Most won't be back.

Even more, the reputations of the parents who have worked to reverse a disturbing trend of parental noninvolvement at the school shouldn't be sullied by even the hint of impropriety where none exists.

The signal this sends to parents who are thinking about getting involved is, for me, more serious than the concerns raised by the chump change these parents received for a service that began before any of them had any idea they would be voting for a reform team.

Joy Herbert was one of the four parents on the 15-member advisory council who had also worked with the Parents Outreach Group. Two of them voted for Johns Hopkins, which won the competition with nine votes, compared with two each for the other options.

None of them, Herbert will tell you, sold their principles for 30 pieces of silver.

"To even suggest that for the $32 a week we got at the end of a week for seven weeks, we would sell our vote," Herbert said, "is insulting. Are we supposed to be so easily bought?

"I'm infuriated. You can't understand until you put in time out in the sun knocking on doors, then have someone insinuate that you did it for some bribe. I see now why some parents at West refuse to get involved. I understand their frustration."

Benjamin Rayer, who manages the Renaissance restructuring process for the district, was adamant about the need to discontinue restructuring pending the outcome of an investigation of the selection process.

"But we're not going to sit by and let West Philly struggle for a year," he pledged. "It will still get added resources as an 'Empowerment School.' "

Meanwhile, the major reform is delayed and the parents group is left slowly twisting in the wind.

The advisory council met last night to map a new strategy and count noses. Herbert, vice chair of the group, expects that some members will give up.

"But, I'm not going anywhere. This fuels me," she said. "I've got a son at West Philly. My other one will be there next year. I can move on. They can't."

They can expect to see a lot of her at school district headquarters this year.

She will not be a Joy to behold.

Send e-mail to smithel@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2512. For recent columns: http://go.philly.com/smith