Members of the Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP) community are organizing to express our concerns and demands regarding the GAMP principal selection process. 

In August of 2023, members of the GAMP Home and School Association met with School District of Philadelphia (SDP) leadership, Dr. Jermaine Dawson (Deputy Superintendent, Academic Services), Mr. Tomas Hanna (Associate Superintendent of Secondary School Performance) and Mr. Edwin Santana (Director of Community Relations) to discuss the GAMP Principal Selection Process upon the abrupt departure of former GAMP principal Ms. Jovan Moore. 

At that meeting, Dr. Dawson pledged to do a “national search” for GAMP’s next principal.  In subsequent conversations, Dr. Dawson expressed regret for that statement and said that a national search would not be possible. 

Dr. Dawson did, however, express his commitment to casting as wide a net as possible for GAMP’s next principal and gave his assurance that the SDP would engage in a robust and thoughtful recruitment process- as it was his desire to find the best and brightest candidates for this position.  

We have now learned that, instead of a national search, or even a robust regional search, SDP conducted no search at all for GAMP’s next principal. Instead, the position was simply posted on the SDP website with oblique information around position criteria. 

The GAMP principal position has a posting date on the SDP website of 10/19/24( https://aa080.referrals.selectminds.com/Schoolleader/jobs/principal-gamp-9484)  The posting states that candidates must be "in the Principal eligibility Talent Pool, however, it includes NO link nor instructions regarding how to apply for said “pool”.  The "Principal Talent Pool" is posted on the SDP website with a posting date of 10/1/24 and states that "THE DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 15, 11:59PM"  https://aa080.referrals.selectminds.com/Schoolleader/jobs/principal-talent-pool-fall-2024-2025-9416.  Obviously, this would create confusion for prospective applicants and perhaps hinder their interest/ability to apply for the position.  

OUR CONCERNS:

1. The GAMP community was not informed when the Principal position was posted.   
2. The position posting on the SDP website does not reflect the input we in the GAMP community provided around candidate experience and attributes, instead it was a generic job description without even a mere mention of “music”.  
3. There was NO recruitment nor search process for the GAMP principal position, as the position was NOT posted- beyond the SDP website- on any hiring/recruitment websites (i.e. Indeed.com, ziprecruiter.com, Linkedin.com, etc.) in an effort to attract new and diverse talent from outside of the SDP.
4. The criteria and process to apply for the GAMP principal position is ambiguous at best.  It is not clear how prospective candidates become eligible for the position through the "Principal Talent Pool"- when the pool opens/closes, etc.  In this case, the window to apply to the "Principal Talent Pool" lasted approximately two weeks and is now closed- even though the position remains posted on the SDP website.
5. Conducting a search for GAMP's next principal mid-school year is NOT ideal as some prime candidates will not want to engage in a hiring process mid-school year.

OUR DEMANDS:

1. We request an immediate pause in the GAMP Principal Selection Process- with a revised timeline for a new principal to be hired by June 2025. 
2. We request the SDP to develop a robust, thoughtful, transparent, REGIONAL recruitment plan to identify prospective candidates for the GAMP Principal Selection Process; this plan would include a position posting with CLEAR criteria and reflective of the input from the GAMP community AND wide distribution to top hiring websites, professional educational associations, etc.
3. We request that Joanne Beaver remain as substitute principal through the end of the 2024/25 school year to ensure no disruption in service for our students and school community.