Audenried 'struggling,' school-district data show

Philadelphia School District officials yesterday described Audenried High School as a "chronically low-performing school" that is "heading in the wrong direction" academically.

The district rebutted statements made by Audenried English teacher Hope Moffett, who was banished to the district's rubber room on Feb. 18 and now faces firing for violating district policies. She has publicly questioned the district's data and the selection of Audenried to become a charter school.

But yesterday, the district said its data indicate that the school, which reopened less than three years ago, is still "struggling."

"This school has not made the improvements we needed them to make," said David Weiner, associate superintendent of academics. "It's really heading in the wrong direction."

Weiner conceded that Kenny Gamble's Universal Companies had been selected to operate Audenried without community approval because Universal won a $500,000 federal Promise Neighborhood grant to create a plan to provide services in the community around the school, at Tasker Avenue and 33rd Street in Grays Ferry.

Universal is one of 21 groups that received a planning grant, but only four of the groups will split $200 million in funding for the program. Universal did not respond to a call for comment.

But Weiner made it clear the district planned to convert Audenried into a so-called Renaissance School, whether or not Universal won the grant.

In 2003, when students at the old Audenried took the state tests, only two or three out of every 100 students scored at proficient level, Weiner said. In predictive tests that current students took less than a month ago, Weiner said there was some improvement, but not enough.

"They had three out of every 10 students performing at a proficient level in reading and math," he said.

"At this time we have an absolute moral obligation to stop what is happening there and to provide these children with a better education than what we provided in the past," he said. "It has been an adult failure to provide these students with the supports they need."

Moffett maintains that Audenried's predictive scores were higher than predictive scores at two Promise Academies the district operates at Vaux and University City high schools.

Moffett shared district data that Vaux had 24 percent of its students proficient in reading and 21 percent in math. At University City High, 21 percent were proficient in reading and 20 percent in math.

At Audenried, Moffett said 39 percent were proficient in reading and 37 percent were proficient in math.

"How are monumental gains like that 'not enough?' " she wrote in an e-mail.

Moffett, 25, spent her 11th day in teacher jail yesterday.

She faces a hearing in front of Penny Nixon, the district's associate superintendent of schools, as early as tomorrow before the School Reform Commission weighs in on whether to fire her.