Angel of Greenwood

Three years of work by English-Language Arts (ELA) teachers were trashed by extremists on the school board at their January 13, 2025, meeting.

 
BACKGROUND

After ELA teachers identified gaps during an in-depth program review in 2019-2020, they followed a rigorous selection process to identify potential novels that would help fill those gaps. Members of the community and school board were invited to review and provide feedback on the final options. They actually went through this whole process twice for the 9th grade text because they weren't completely satisfied with the first novel they landed on. They ultimately selected Angel of Greenwood and presented it to the board for approval and acquisition. 

Angel of Greenwood is a historical fiction novel by Randi Pink that tells the story of a love between two teenagers, Angel Hill and Isaiah Wilson, set in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, just before the devastating Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921; as the racial tensions escalate, their relationship deepens, forcing them to confront the realities of their segregated society and the horrific violence that erupts around them. The story takes place in Greenwood, a thriving Black community in Tulsa, also known as "Black Wall Street". 

HELPFUL LINKS

THE MEETING

Despite an hour of public comments in support of Angel of Greenwood and a reminder from the superintendent that PR's ELA teachers led our students to place #1 in the state on Keystone exam scores (they know what they're doing, and they're good at their jobs), the school board rejected teachers' request to add Angel as a 9th grade core text. Watch the discussion.

Board extremists have wasted hundreds of hours of teachers' and administrators' time and effort. They've spent 2+ years going in circles and demanding more and more from ELA teachers and administrators with regard to implementation of the novel. Every board demand was met, but Christina Brussalis tried to revise history, falsely claiming board requests were not answered. Asst. Superintendent Mike Pasquinelli refuted her claims with professionalism and set the record straight.

VOTED NO: Christina Brussalis, Lisa Hillman, Phil Morrissette, Mike Weithorn, Marc Casciani
ABSTAINED: Leslie Miller ABSTAINED. 


DYSFUNCTION AND UNDERMINING EDUCATORS

If Pine-Richland had an appropriately functioning school board, the initial Angel presentation would likely have been followed by discussion and a vote of approval at the next meeting. Instead, we watched a year of stalling and time-consuming, in-the-weeds demands. Angel was left off meeting agendas without explanation. When it was discussed, Christina Brussalis and Lisa Hillman would spend excessive time asking questions about curricular minutia that required administrators and teachers to repeat themselves over and over again. We lost count of the number times Drs. Miller, Pasquinelli and Justus had to explain the difference between curriculum, resources, and learning goals.

THE QUESTION OF WHY

Why did the board drag this out by delaying a vote? Why waste everyone’s time with new demands? Did they ever seriously consider Angel, or were they opposed to it from the beginning? Perhaps they didn't want students to read a novel about a disturbing period of American history written by a Black author. Or maybe they didn’t want to have to go on the record as opposing it. We can only guess because these board members haven’t told us what they're thinking. In fact, the only complaint we've heard them make about Angel is a claim that it's not challenging enough. (Board members know better than our teachers, apparently.) 


RELATED NEWS COVERAGE:  
School Library Journal  |  Pittsburgh Magazine  |  Post-Gazette Editorial  |  Trib Live  |  Post-Gazette  | Trib Live 2  |  Trib Live 3 | WTAE | Birmingham Times