Peduto meets with PPS board amid superintendent controversy

PITTSBURGH — Mayor Bill Peduto met with members of the Pittsburgh Public Schools board Tuesday regarding the controversy around the district’s newly appointed superintendent, Dr. Anthony Hamlet.

Peduto suggested the district should be as transparent as possible as it decides Hamlet’s future with PPS.

Hamlet’s new $210,000 per year contract goes into effect on Friday, but accusations of fabrications and plagiarism on his resume have plagued him since he was introduced last month.

“What’s really needed and what everyone agrees to is transparency,” Peduto said. “There have been legitimate questions that have been brought up and there needs to be really through answers to those questions.”

An independent review of Hamlet’s resume is underway and district solicitor Ira Weiss told Channel 11 News it is expected to be complete this week. The school board expects it before Wednesday night’s meeting.

When Channel 11 asked Peduto about the process of Hamlet’s initial hire, he said the focus should be on what’s to come.

“I’m not happy with the process,” Peduto said. “I think the background checks should have happened, but that’s in the past.”

Peduto now calls for the school board to make the results of the review public. Whatever decision is made on Hamlet’s future, Peduto said it’s important for all sides to find a way to work together.

dug further into Hamlet’s professional past Tuesday, obtaining his personnel file from the school district that he led in Florida before coming to Pittsburgh.

His employment in the School District of Palm Beach County dates back to 1994, but a letter in his file from 2014 raised similar questions that have come up recently.

This letter shows Hamlet applying for the superintendent's job in the School District of Palm Beach County, noting his ability to bring his school there from an “F” to a “C” under his leadership. It's the same school he told Pittsburgh leaders that he brought from an “F” to a “C” and later backtracked, saying the school went from a “D” to a “C.”

Calls to a number listed for Hamlet for comment were not returned Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the PPS board hired an investigators to look into Hamlet's past. A second letter shows all of the information she requested, including a note about the difficulty verifying some records and a message saying that they can't "underscore how important this information is to the district.”

While questions of lying and plagiarism have plagued Hamlet since his hiring, only positive evaluations were in his personnel file from his tenure in Florida, with comments that he’s "assertive and self-confident when making and sharing decisions" and "conscientious and dedicated to his profession.”

The PPS board has three days to decide if Hamlet will lead city schools for the next five years.

Cox Media Group