Randolph principal to lead DPS reform efforts

DENVER - Denver Public Schools officials announced late Tuesday that Bruce Randolph Principal Kristin Waters will be leaving the school to serve as DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg's reform chief.

Waters, who has been at Randolph since 2005, will become the new Assistant to the Superintendent for Reform and Innovation, a new position in the district's administration. She will also head the district's New Schools Office.

The move may be Boasberg's strongest signal yet of his intention to speed reform across the city's 140 schools, creating a blend of traditional and innovative options for families in Denver.

"I look forward to working with her to accelerate our district's reforms," Boasberg said in a release, "and to give other DPS schools the benefit of her leadership and vision."

Waters may be best known for her historic proposal in December 2007 to loosen district and union regulations around hiring, budget and time in school. Other schools had sought waivers of individual pieces of the district-union contract but Randolph's was the first comprehensive request for autonomy.

DPS board members unanimously supported the Randolph effort, and union leaders - after some hesitation and many questions - agreed not long afterward.

A number of city schools lined up to follow in Randolph's footsteps and State Senate President Peter Groff created a bill, the Innovation Schools Act, that allows schools statewide to seek similar autonomy. Manual High School and Montclair Elementary were the first to win "innovation" status and teachers at the Cole Academy of Arts and Sciences voted Friday to try to become the state's third innovative school.

Waters came to Randolph from the more affluent Morey Middle School, where her progress in elevating the school's academic rating was often attributed to the school's gifted students. Her decision to move meant she left DPS' highest-performing middle school for its lowest.

She created a five-year academic plan, hand-picked a staff and began the school's climb out of the academic basement. But progress was slower than she'd hoped.

"We keep hitting barriers to creative solutions," an impassioned Waters told Denver school board members in making her bid for autonomy. "This is not just about a contract, it is about district policies, procedures and bureaucracy that have slowed us down. Look at what we've done, and look at what we may be able to do."

Earlier this month, Waters and 200 of her students welcomed U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Randolph in his first visit to a Colorado school.

"There's something magical happening here, " Duncan said, standing before a sea of young faces, most from families living below federal poverty levels.

"I'm just here to listen and learn and try to take some of that magic and see if I can help spread that some other places."

Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, praised Waters on Tuesday for working collaboratively with her teachers and for giving teachers leadership opportunities at Randolph.

"We would hope Kristin's collaboration with her staff could be encouraged throughout the district," Ursetta said.

For more on this story, including the full press release from DPS, visit EdNewsColorado.org.