Parents and board members praise Primary Hall at Buffalo City School District public hearing

Community members, school staff and board members praised Primary Hall’s teachers, family atmosphere and academic progress during a public hearing hosted by Buffalo City School District.

Dr. Ebony Prophet Bullock, chief accountability and information officer for Buffalo City School District, opened the session by asking the school to provide written disaggregations of instructional models for students with disabilities and a breakdown of languages spoken by students. She told school staff to submit the requested materials to staff and said the Board of Regents would be the next contact in the school’s renewal process.

A school representative described the school’s recruitment and outreach strategy for its K–5 and UPK programs, saying applications open Dec. 1 and the school uses radio, sponsored Instagram and Facebook ads, billboards, commercials and grassroots outreach through libraries, churches and word-of-mouth. “We also are very grassroots,” the representative said. On finances, the same representative said, “We just finished our audit. We had another successful audit. There were no findings,” and added the school was anticipating about $254,000 in cash reserves.

Parents and local partners spoke in support of the school. Leticia Harris, a parent of a Primary Hall student, said the school felt “more like a family” and praised teachers’ engagement and volunteer opportunities; she also said her first-grade child was reading at a third-grade level. Dr. John Tory, a professor of philosophy at Buff State and a neighboring community member, said the school’s graduation ceremony was “the highlight of the year for a reason,” and praised the school’s role in the neighborhood.

Members of the school’s governing board also spoke. Tiffany Hamilton said she had been invited to join the board and praised the governing body’s functionality and Dr. Peterson’s vision for cultivating community partnerships. Pam Stevens Jackson, board secretary, thanked staff for their “wholehearted dedication,” saying they “go above and beyond” for students.

Brianna Caranto, the school’s Director of Student Supports, described the newly created role and plans to strengthen interventions, including hiring another intervention coach and beefing up math interventions. “We are making baby steps every single day towards those academic goals,” Caranto said, noting daily collaboration with teachers and community partners to serve students with identified needs and those without.

Bullock closed by providing contact information for follow-up and explaining that once the school sends the requested documents staff would forward them to the Board of Regents, which will notify the school of the next steps in the renewal process. No formal vote or regulatory decision was taken during the hearing; staff said they expect to package the materials and forward them within a day or two once received from the school.

The hearing included expressions of support for Primary Hall’s staff and students and requests for basic supplemental documentation (demographics, financials and program clarifications) required for the Board of Regents’ review. The Board of Regents will contact the school about renewal after receiving the materials.