Paul Kadri: Groton's Controversial School Superintendent

Paul Kadri was superintendent in the Neshaminy School District in Pennsylvania a few years ago when he decided the various administrators could do more.

He wanted to know more about their jobs, so one day he poked his head into the office of the director of elementary education, recalls Joseph Blasch Jr., a former board of education member there.

“He said something like, ‘I don’t know what you do all day',” Blasch said.

She didn’t take it well. Neither did the school board.

Blasch said he supported Kadri and believes he was an excellent administrator, but the superintendent ultimately faced political enemies on the board.

“He was ousted here because the majority of the board members didn’t agree with him and they didn’t like him,” Blasch said. “It was strictly political.”

The Groton Board of Education hired Kadri in 2008 as an agent of change, and since then, board members said he has managed the district through two difficult budget years, delivering zero percent increases without layoffs. He has also angered some parents, teachers and administrators, and become an at times divisive figure.

"People say I'm not transparent," said Kadri, 46. "My problem is, I'm too transparent. I tell people exactly what they need to hear. And sometimes, what they don't want to hear."

Last week, more than 60 people jammed a Board of Education meeting to protest changes he made to the middle school schedule, which they said was imposed on teachers without consulting them.

"He's not collaborating with them," Board Member Beverly Washington said later. "You don't just jam it down their throat and say, 'This is the schedule. Deal with it.'"

The Kadri pushed as part of an overhaul of the town's school system failed by an overwhelming margin at referendum in May, and is still the topic of bitter exchanges. Kadri said he was the main spokesman for the construction plan so he has become equated with it.

Three main objectives

He said his goal has always been to improve the quality of education so students can live their dreams. He said he's had three main objectives: provide a safe environment, boost academic achievement and create fiscal stability. He believes he's had success.

Fitch Senior High School made "adequate yearly progress" by the state standard for the first time in five years, he said. Fitch Middle and Mary Morrison Elementary were also removed from the list of district schools needing improvement.

"Think about it," Kadri said. "How many people are suffering? We've had no budget increases. No layoffs, and the majority of (staff) live in Groton. Resources in the classroom are phenomenal."

Contract extended

The Board of Education recently voted 5-2 to extend Kadri’s contract one year until 2014 and gave him a B+ in his evaluation. The board said Kadri is an “aggressive, goal-oriented administrator” and a leader in the state, but one who at times displays limited tolerance for opposing views.

“He’s controversial and I think he’s splitting the town up, big time,” said Kevin Trejo, a longtime parent volunteer and one of Kadri’s most vocal opponents. “And it’s not because they’re afraid of change. This town has changed a lot over the years. It’s more his tactics have turned people off.”

Washington said she voted against Kadri's contract extension because she believes he has upset so many people the school district and town can't move forward together. She said people don't trust Kadri, and you cannot have a superintendent people don't trust.

"He doesn't seem to do any self reflection," she said. "Like, 'What part do I have in this problem?'"

She added, "In all of my 18 years, I have never head someone say (to the board) 'Get rid of the superintendent' and then people clap in the audience."

Discrimination lawsuit

Kadri is at the center of a discrimination lawsuit filed in August in New London Superior Court by former central office administrator Dottie Hoyt, now an assistant principal in Groton. Hoyt’s lawsuit contends Kadri created a hostile work environment and caused her to develop an anxiety disorder, then refused to accommodate her disability.

Michael Rose, the Hartford lawyer handling the case for Groton, said he could not comment now but would do so in the future. Kadri said he was advised not to comment.

A business background

Groton hired Kadri after a national search. School board member Patricia Doyle said they sought the advice of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, which placed an ad in a national publication, then narrowed the list. The board interviewed several candidates.

Doyle said Kadri appealed because he was different.

He grew up in Detroit and New Jersey, earned his bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and worked for private companies like IBM and J.P. Morgan. He said he realized education was his calling while volunteering as a fifth and seventh grade civics teacher in Manhattan.

He believed he was best suited to an adminstrative role, so he interviewed superintendents, then searched for a university that offered a program combining business and education. Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania liked his idea, and he earned a master's degree. He worked in two doctorate programs, but has not finished his dissertation.

He served as assistant superintendent in Trenton, N.J., as an adminstrator in Newark schools, as director of operations in Jersey City, then as superintendent in Moorestown Township, N.J. and in Bucks County, Pa.

Board member Doyle said Kadri was enthusiastic about Groton’s diverse student body.

“We liked that he was an out-of-the box thinker,” she said.

Before his hire, two or three Groton board members went to Neshaminy and talked to parents, board members and teachers there, she said.  She said Kadri was frank about his experience in other districts.

“I got a sense that (his leaving) was voluntary, but I think with any position where you are like a lightning rod, you can only do it for so many years,” she said.

Blasch said Kadri led the district through the closure of a middle school, won parent support through a series of open forums, and moved aggressively forward with a program to track student progress in kindergarten through grade 12. He said Kadri's efforts were undermined by board members who became upset after they learned that he had been involved in a controversy at his previous job in Moorestown Township, N.J.

Valedictorian uproar

Kadri was superintendent in Moorestown Township in 2003 when Blair Hornstine, a senior and the valedictorian, sued the township and the board of education. Hornstine had been tutored at home for much of high school because of an autoimmune illness, and when she was named valedictorian, other parents complained to Kadri that she had received special accommodations and had an unfair advantage.

Kadri proposed changing the school policy to allow multiple valedictorians, and Hornstine sued in U.S. Federal District Court. She won, but the case drew national attention and Hornstine was scorned in her community.

Groton School Board Chairman Brian Shirvell said the board knew about Kadri’s background when he was hired, including his experience in New Jersey, and the majority has been pleased with the result. In addition to Kadri's financial management in Groton, Shirvell said he shuffled schedules to accommodate 75 percent of kindergartners in all-day programs and provided more time for students who need extra help or enrichment.

Shirvell said Kadri sought the input of staff late in the process when he changed the middle school schedule, so the decision was viewed as a top-down directive and needs some adjustment. But Shirvell said he believes it will ultimately improve education.

Union frustrations

Beth Horler, president of the Groton Education Association, which represents about 450 teachers, said teachers are frustrated by the top-down style.

"He needs to listen," she said. "That's the issue."

Trejo, who has served on the school improvement teams of three schools and on the Groton Parent Council, said parents want to be involved in school decisions.

“He can’t bully me because I’m not working for him,” Trejo said. “He’ll try to attack you and shoot you down if you say something, instead of listening.”

Kadri said people misunderstand his desire to make improvements.

"What I've heard is I'm so passionate and my personality is so strong that it comes across as 'my way or the highway'," he said.

Archie Swindell, a former Groton school board member and now chairman of Representative Town Meeting education committee, said Kadri was hired to bring a fresh perspective, and he does.

During the proposed Phase II construction referendum, Swindell said Kadri sought solutions to issues like socioeconomic conflict at the high school and racial imbalance in the district, although the plan tossed out some prior decisions such as where the new school should be located.

Swindell said he believes the plan was well thought out and that Kadri has made improvements, even if he is not always diplomatic.

“He doesn’t make super attempts to sort of stroke his opponents as it were, and make them feel like they really had a good point,” Swindell said. “He just says, ‘You’re wrong, and this is the reason why.’ ”