Roosevelt principal status still murky
By Carole Carlson ccarlson@post-trib.com/648-3154 February 14, 2013 9:38PM
Principal Terrance Little speaks during an informational assembly for parents and students at Roosevelt College & Career Academy in Gary, Ind. Monday July 23, 2012. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 17, 2013 6:40PM
GARY — Terrance Little’s status at the Roosevelt College and Career Academy is expected to be resolved today, an EdisonLearning Inc. official said Thursday night.
On Tuesday, the Gary School Board named Little, who’s principal of the Roosevelt turnaround academy, as an administrator specializing in transforming schools in the Gary Community School Corp.
On Wednesday when asked about his new job, Little said in a text message that he didn’t have a new job.
Charmella Greer, spokeswoman for the school district, said Thursday that Little was hired and the district expects him to start work in March. “He’s not called to turn down the position,” she said.
Meanwhile, at a Roosevelt school board meeting Thursday, EdisonLearning official Vanessa Ronketto, who serves as Roosevelt’s superintendent, received authorization to appoint an interim principal, if the need arises. Little did not attend the meeting.
“We’re working through the situation,” said Todd McIntire, senior vice president at EdisonLearning, a for-profit education management company hired by the Department of Education last year to operate Roosevelt.
Little couldn’t be reached for comment.
EdisonLearning hired Little last year at a salary of $135,000 to help turn Roosevelt around after years of plunging test scores and academic struggles. He’ll receive a salary of $95,000 a year from federal money for his Gary schools position. Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said Little will focus on improving Gary’s “F” schools.
Staff writer Teresa Auch Schultz
contributed to this report.
