By Ronald E. Carrington

The new Richmond Public Schools chief wasted no time getting to work.

Just four days after being sworn in, Superintendent Jason Kamras on Monday night rolled out his plan to get RPS moving.

At a Richmond School Board meeting crowded with schools staff and interested residents, Mr. Kamras presented an ambitious 100-day plan that will center on what he called three core education values — engagement, equity and excellence.

The 43-year-old Mr. Kamras, who has served as an administrator in the Washington, D.C. public school system, an education adviser to former President Obama and was the 2005 National Teacher of the Year, takes the helm in Richmond as the school system faces major accreditation issues, poor student performance and a city government grappling with how to fund renovation or replacement for dilapidated, crumbling school buildings.

Mr. Kamras said he is committed to launching a strategic planning process for a new five-year vision for the school system, establishing a philanthropic effort to support the new strategic plan and charting a path with the state Department of Education to have all 44 Richmond schools accredited by 2023.

Currently, only 19 of the city’s schools are fully accredited.

Additionally, he said he will establish a task force to ensure all schools are fully staffed for the 2018-19 school year. RPS has been operating with dozens of teacher vacancies.

He said his first three months will focus on engaging families and the community by listening to and learning from them.

The plan, which has been posted on the school system’s website, details 10 action points for each of the three core values.

According to the plan, he will visit all Richmond Public Schools; hold town hall meetings in each district to meet parents and community members; hold five citywide meetings for members of the faith, civil rights, nonprofit, higher education and business communities; and conduct 12 “Living Room Chats,” three each in the city’s East End, West End, South Side and North Side.

Last Friday, his first full day in office, Mr. Kamras visited Bellevue Elementary when students arrived and Huguenot High as students were being dismissed.

His schedule called for him to go to Chimborazo, Holton, Swansboro and Broad Rock elementary schools, Martin Luther King Jr. and Binford middle schools and Thomas Jefferson High School by this week’s end.

He also plans to launch “RPS Direct”, a weekly communication to be sent directly to the public, and hold a Twitter town hall. He also plans to meet with each member of Richmond’s Virginia Assembly delegation and have four advisory cabinets, one each for high school students; parents and caregivers; teachers; and principals.

Mr. Kamras also plans to have an outside firm conduct an “equity audit” of all RPS functions, and to launch a campaign to recruit teachers to serve in the city’s highest poverty schools. Two task forces will be created to develop recommendations for restorative justice practices in schools and for providing teacher development on trauma informed care.

He also said he, his family and the School Board will walk the Richmond Slave Trail, visit the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia and The Valentine’s exhibit “Nuestras Historias: Latinos in Richmond.”

He also plans a system of recognition for outstanding students, educators and support staff each month.

“As a native Richmonder and a graduate of RPS, I feel confident that this plan represents a great first step in the work we need to do together on behalf of our schools,” said School Board Chairwoman Dawn Page. “The key to building the school district that we all want is to engage the community while striving for excellence and ensuring equity for students.”

Mr. Kamras also will be replacing the present RPS cabinet members so that he can bring in his own administrators, sources told the Free Press.

His swearing in last week at the School Board office in City Hall was packed with more than 90 people, including board members, city and schools officials and area residents.

Flanked by his son, Ezra 8, and Akiva, 6, who he said will be attending city schools, Mr. Kamras placed his hand on his late grandfather’s Torah that was being held by his wife, Miwa, and took the oath of office from Richmond Circuit Court Clerk Edward F. Jewett.

In late November, he was unanimously selected by the School Board to lead RPS and given a contract with a base salary of $250,000 annually through June 30, 2021. He is the highest paid superintendent in the Richmond area.

In 10-minute remarks, his first words to the families of RPS students were, “Thank you for entrusting me with the extraordinary honor of serving your children.” He delivered those words in both English and Spanish.

Mr. Kamras also used an African proverb to illustrate his approach to accomplishing his goals in education: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

He thanked Ms. Page and the interim Superintendent Thomas E. “Tommy” Kranz for their support and guidance during his transition from Washington to Richmond. He also expressed excited anticipation in working with the School Board, staff and Mayor Levar M. Stoney.

“I really believe Mr. Kamras is the guy who can turn the tide in Richmond Public Schools,” Mayor Stoney told the Free Press after the ceremony. “I love his enthusiasm. He is innovative. And I love the fact that he is for 100 percent equity.”

Mr. Kamras said he supports the mayor’s proposed meals tax increase to support school construction funding.

“I know the city has significant challenges on the financial front, but the meals tax will help us get the ball rolling,” he said. “If we have a great school system that’s attracting families from all over the country, that means there will be a lot more people eating in Richmond restaurants.”