When Jason Kamras placed his hand on his late grandfather’s Torah and was sworn in as Richmond’s new public schools superintendent on Feb. 1, 2018, he was not totally aware of the depth of challenges ahead of him.

The 2005 National Teacher of the Year, his wife, Miwa, and two young sons, Ezra, 8, and Akiva, 6, were excited to move to Richmond from Washington, where Mr. Kamras had been a star in that public school district and an education adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Since taking the helm of Richmond Public Schools, Mr. Kamras has been faced with major accreditation issues for the city’s 44 schools, poor student performance and a city government grappling with how to fund renovation or replacement for dilapidated, crumbling school buildings.

Over the course his first year in Richmond, Mr. Kamras has worked with the School Board and the community to produce Dreams4RPS, the school system’s 2018-2023 strategic plan; completed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Virginia Department of Education in an effort to have more schools become accredited; engaged the community in helping to clean up deteriorated schools through RPS Shines!; and has hired new leadership to work with the community to narrow gaps in academic achievement and social justice that plagued previous administrations.

Although Mr. Kamras couldn’t give himself a grade for the first year, he said, “We (RPS) must confront all of our challenges and be honest about them. Name them and deal with them, and then you move on. That is what we have been trying to do.”

He said he also has plans to “kick off the discussion on rezoning and RPS’ complete inventory of facilities, whether it is closing or consolidating facilities,” as well as examining non-instructional facilities.

With some challenges behind him and others looming, the Free Press sat down with Mr. Kamras after a busy day of visiting schools to get his views on his first year in Richmond.

RFP: What are your major first year accomplishments?

Mr. Kamras: There are three big things I am excited about. First and foremost, our strategic plan, Dreams4RPS. It is not my plan. It is not the board’s plan. It is really our plan — the city’s plan, the community’s plan. We had more than 3,000 people participating in more than 170 meetings to debate the future of RPS.

I am extremely proud we have this incredible map for the future, which truly reflects our children’s and our families’ dreams. The administration has a budget proposal for the strategic plan estimated at $150 million over five years. I shared that with the School Board and we shared the proposal with the public. That is why we are advocating for more money — first and foremost from the state, which has been short-changing public schools for quite some time — as well as from the city.

Secondly, renaming J.E.B. Stuart to Obama Elementary is but a symbol that’s so powerful given the history of Richmond. It speaks to the kind of city we want to be in the future and the kind of schools division we want to be — inclusive where every child and every family is welcome. I doesn’t matter what your skin color or what language you speak at home or what faith you are. We are a school system that believes in every single child.

Third, we are beginning to see some movement on the equity front. I visited George Wythe High School and saw students in AP classes that were never offered before. The administration and board said every high school will have AP classes — calculus, Spanish, biology and literature. Now these things exist.

I have always said students will rise to the occasion if we give them the opportunity to do amazing things. You can’t expect greatness of students if you don’t ask for greatness. So many RPS children are facing so many challenges in their lives. We have to make sure that our schools are places where students can feel safe, loved and nurtured.

Dr. Ram Bhagat’s Restorative Practices pilot program created mindful spaces at Albert Hill Middle School. When I visited their restorative circles, it was beautiful. I asked students, ‘Why is this helpful?’ The children said, ‘Because we can share our feelings. We get to know each other better. It feels like a family.’

The entire world opens up for them when you create that kind of culture, and that’s why the work Ram Bhagat is doing is indispensable to the RPS mission as a system. For me, that is an equity issue and so I am really, really happy about that.

RFP: What is the plan for renaming other schools named after Confederates?

Mr. Kamras: The next three schools where we are considering name changes are the three we are rebuilding — George Mason Elementary, E.S.H. Greene Elementary and the old Elkhardt Middle School site. After that, we will consider the next set of schools named after Confederate generals and others of that nature.

I am excited about the process because we have a lot of great local heroes, whether it’s Henry Marsh, Oliver Hill, Barbara Johns or so many other individuals that we can honor.

RFP: In October, you proposed a 10 cent increase in the city’s property tax rate to support RPS. Are you still behind that idea?

Mr. Kamras: I am agnostic about where the funding comes from for RPS. I believe in two things when it comes to funding and the 10 cent real estate tax increase is just one proposal. I know it is not popular. The second thing is, I put it out there to start a conversation. If there is another proposal that will help RPS to get revenue, I am all for it. I just want to make sure our students get everything that they deserve.

We can use the money we have much better and more efficiently, and that’s why I am making cuts to the central office.

I also think our schools need more and if you spend time in our buildings, you would see that. If you talk to students who have lost family members to gun violence and you know the trauma they are dealing with, you would know we need more counselors and more social workers. If you talk to our nurses, some have resigned because of low salaries.

I will do everything I can to stretch every dollar we have to be efficient, cut redundant programs and slash things that are not making a difference for our students. However, I can’t cut my way to greatness. We are going to need additional resources and where it comes from, I defer to the public on that.

RFP: Characterize your relationship with Mayor Levar M. Stoney.

Mr. Kamras: When I was named superintendent, Mayor Stoney called me and said, “Welcome to the city” and told me he really wanted to be a partner. I think we have developed a great relationship and I really appreciate his leadership.

Let’s just take the meals tax. That was a really big move and as a result, less than a year later, we are starting construction of three new schools.

The African proverb says, “When the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” I believe students win when adults get along. I want to do everything I can to collaborate with the mayor and City Council, the School Board and state lawmakers because, if we do that, students win.

RFP: How important is classroom technology in bringing equity in academics?

Mr. Kamras: Technology is an equity issue because we have some schools with a lot of technology while other schools don’t. The playing field needs to be leveled. More importantly, we need to make sure we are equipping all of our teachers with training so they can use classroom technology as best as they can.

What often happens is you put a smart board in a room and you expect everything to be different and better. That’s nonsense. That’s not how it works. As with anything, you have to take the appropriate time to help people use the tool. Technology is just a tool.

RFP: RPS has a growing Latino population. What are your plans for English as a second language support?

Mr. Kamras: We have started by adding more bilingual teachers, counselors and office staff. We need to do more. We have to do more than words to make sure that RPS has the support services to truly address their needs. We have a lot of families coming from Central America. Some students in high school coming from their homeland may only have a third- or fourth-grade education. They are coming to high school with a lack of education and don’t speak English. That is one of the reasons RPS has such a large dropout rate.

We have to make sure that we are completely thinking differently about how we are supporting these students and families. That’s why the “Equity and English Language Learners” are part of priority one in the strategic plan. We have to tear up the traditional way of doing high school for many of these children because it is just not working.

RFP: RPS has a majority of African-American students and few male teachers who look like them. How are you addressing that?

Mr. Kamras: One of the key actions the strategic plan is to launch an effort directly aimed at recruiting more African-American male teachers into RPS. I am delighted Rodney Robinson, our Teacher of the Year from Virgie Binford Education Center has been talking a lot about this. Hopefully, he will be a spokesperson for this recruiting effort.

RFP: How long do you want to stay in Richmond?

Mr. Kamras: My contract is for three and a half years, but I hope that I am still in Richmond with RPS for a long time. RPS didn’t get where it was in a year or two or three, and it is going to take some time for us to achieve what we want to achieve. The strategic plan is a five-year plan, but that is not the end. There is more after that. I hope I can stay here for a really long time.