When William Hite Jr. was named the superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia in 2012, he arrived during a financial crisis that was caused by the end of federal stimulus funds and state budget cuts.

“At the time I arrived here, the Obama stimulus money was expiring and that money had been used to provide salary increases and to add staff,” Hite said during his final interview with The Philadelphia Tribune this week.

“There were significant cuts at the state level, an elimination of about $800 million from public education funding,” he said. “Those two things collided and created a within year revenue shortfall of almost $100 million.

“Over a five-year period, that deficit increased to $1.37 billion. We were operating the school district from paycheck to paycheck, and our pay periods are $44 million,” he added.

Hite said the only way to turn things around was “rightsizing” the school district. District leaders had to borrow hundreds of millions for operating expenses. Programs for students were cut.

In 2013, nearly 4,000 employees were laid off, including school counselors, assistant principals, teachers and support staff. In 2014, 23 district schools permanently closed their doors.

“We had to make a lot of hard decisions, but we eventually gained credibility with the state,” Hite said. The Philadelphia delegation to the state legislature “was working hard on our behalf. The city also took steps by allowing us to use $120 million a year that was connected to taxes.

“We started seeing performance increases and began filling positions that were vacant for many years,” he added. “We were able to create a level of stability. All of these things became the impetus for requesting that the school district return to local control.”

Hite, 60, is leaving his role as superintendent on June 15 after a decade-long tenure, making him the longest-tenured superintendent in the history of the school district, which educates nearly 114,902 students in 216 schools.

During his tenure, Hite and his administration have moved the district to financial stability, doubled the number of higher-performing schools, increased graduation rates, modernized early literacy classrooms in 48 schools and increased the number of students taking advanced placement and dual enrollment courses and earning industry credentials.

Hite opened four new high schools and transformed an existing city high school to Parkway Center City Middle College, Pennsylvania’s only middle college program where students can earn a high school diploma and an associate’s degree upon graduation.

Student arrests have dramatically decreased due to a diversion program for first-time offenders, which is spearheaded by former city police deputy commissioner and school district school safety chief Kevin Bethel.

The district was also able to end a 17-year state takeover in 2018. The School Reform Commission was replaced by the Board of Education, a nine-member school board that is appointed by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.

“I have so many proud moments in the district,” Hite said. “We now have nurses in every school. A lot of people thought we were cutting nurses, but Philadelphia never had nurses in every school building.

“All of our children in K-8 schools have access to music and art,” he said. “When I first got here, we had 22 schools on the persistently dangerous list and now, for the sixth year in a row, we have zero.

“However, I’m most proud of the children who graduate,” he said. “A lot of the children who are graduating this year were third-graders when I arrived in Philadelphia. I enjoy seeing our young people go and be able to pursue their aspirations and more importantly come back and either work here in the city or the school district.”

In addition to his accomplishments in the district, Hite has also had his share of challenges.

There have been environmental concerns and safety issues with school buildings, including lead and mold. Ten schools had to close in the 2019-2020 school year because of asbestos.

In March 2020, Hite was forced to shut down schools for district students due to COVID-19.

As students returned to in-person learning, the school year was beset by problems. The pandemic caused dire shortages of bus drivers, food workers, classroom aides and other vital workers. The district has also seen a rise in mid-year resignations from teachers.

“There are a lot of things that I would do differently,” Hite said. “You have to constantly debrief, analyze and assess the work.

“Everything that we did was with the view toward making sure children have what they need in order to achieve the outcomes we want them to achieve,” he added.

Tony Watlington Sr., who is the superintendent at the Rowan-Salisbury Schools in North Carolina, will take over the reins from Hite as superintendent on June 16.

Hite said he has been working with Watlington since he was appointed to the role in April.

“We’ve been talking weekly,” Hite said. “He’s a great educator and a gentleman who listens first, learns from what he hears and who has made a commitment to the City of Philadelphia.

“He and I went to Harrisburg several weeks ago and I was able to introduce him to legislative leaders at the state level and the same with advocates, the philanthropic community, elected officials and union leaders,” he said.

“I’m providing him with as much information as I can,” he added. “I wanted to make sure his transition was as smooth as possible.”

Next, Hite will be the CEO and president of the Cincinnati-based educational nonprofit KnowledgeWorks, effective July 1. He will oversee an annual budget of $14 million, a $125 million investment portfolio and a staff of nearly 50.

He has also been named the inaugural superintendent in residence and executive fellow at the Broad Center at Yale University’s School of Business for the 2022-2023 school year.

“I’ll still be in education,” Hite said. “I’ll be helping other colleagues as they look to become superintendents in this work. I’ll also be playing some golf, doing some traveling and seeing my grandkids.”

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for governor, has pledged to make Pennsylvania the first state to join the OneTen initiative and said he would eliminate the four-year degree requirements for thousands of state jobs, if elected.

Shapiro will make his announcement Friday as part of his plan to combat labor shortages by creating jobs, cutting red tape and investing in the workplace.

OneTen, a coalition of 70 major corporations and CEOs, has a goal of placing 1 million African Americans without four-year degrees into good paying jobs that can support families within the next 10 years. It grew out of unrest in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd in May 2020 in Minneapolis.

Last month, speaking at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 5 union hall in Pittsburgh, Shapiro said he would direct the State Board of Education to add career and technical training to school curriculums throughout the state and make sure that unions can train more apprentices.

In addition to eliminating four-year degree requirements for thousands of state jobs, Shapiro’s plan calls for reinvesting in apprenticeships, career and technical education; cutting occupational licensing fees; and ensuring that high school students have access to workforce opportunities.

“As a candidate for governor, I have proposed eliminating four-year degree requirements for thousands of state government jobs so that we can open up those jobs to qualified applicants across the Commonwealth,” Shapiro said. “As governor, I will direct state agencies to remove degree requirements for state jobs that are clearly unnecessary — and I will make Pennsylvania the first state to join the OneTen initiative.”

During a recent event at DiverseForce to promote the OneTen effort in Philadelphia, Kenneth Frazier, chairman of Merck and co-chair of OneTen, said: “By bringing together a coalition of local key leaders, OneTen is removing structural barriers that will change employment practices in the Greater Philadelphia area. Together with DiverseForce and Merck, OneTen will provide Black talent with adequate and equitable career pathways that support a more inclusive economy.”

OneTen has hired DiverseForce in Philadelphia as its lead community partner. Sulaiman W. Rahman, president and CEO of DiverseForce, is a longtime marketing executive in the city.

“Hats off to Attorney General Shapiro for making that kind of commitment to a skills-first approach to hiring, which will remove systemic barriers across all communities, and particularly in marginalized communities,” Rahman said. “It’s important for our public sector to lead by example on this kind of common sense policy.”

For his part, Shapiro said he understands the racial wealth gap faced in Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S.

“As governor, I will join leaders like Ken Frazier and private sector businesses working to hire and promote Black workers, and we will work together to knock down barriers holding people back,” Shapiro said. “The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one of the largest employers in the state, with nearly 80,000 employees. State government has a responsibility to lead by example, and I believe we can and must do more to give workers the opportunity to succeed.”

Shapiro and his running mate for lieutenant governor, State Rep. Austin Davis, won the Democratic primary on May 19. Pennsylvania voters will choose candidates for both offices on Nov. 8.

Among the companies committed to the OneTen initiative are Accenture, American Express, AT&T, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Merck, Target and Walmart.

In Philadelphia, OneTen and DiverseForce said they will seek out institutions like Community College of Philadelphia and other schools, training firms and faith-based groups to provide support and “wrap-around” services such as child care, mental health services, food security and transportation, to further the effort.

Maurice Jones, CEO of OneTen, said the group plans to spend tens of millions of dollars this year to achieve its goals.

Two men were arrested in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday are charged with murder in connection with the South Street shooting that killed three people and wounded 11 on Saturday, District Attorney Larry Krasner said.

Quadir Dukes-Hill, 24, is charged with the murder of Alexis Quinn, a 24-year-old bystander. Nahjee Whittington, 18, is accused of murdering 22-year-old Kris Minners.

Dukes-Hill and Quinn appear to have fired randomly on Saturday after hearing gunshots down the street, said Joanne Pescatore, the district attorney’s homicide unit chief.

Investigators believe all those involved in the incident are in custody, according to the district attorney’s office.

“I want to thank our partners in law enforcement at the Philadelphia Police Department, the ATF, the U.S. Marshals, and authorities in Virginia for working so intensely and collaboratively to ensure the individuals we allege are responsible for these horrific crimes were swiftly identified and brought into custody without incident,” Krasner said.

Pescatore said U.S. Marshalls received information that Dukes-Hill was in Virginia.

“We also got information and could ascertain the second shooter, Nahjee Whittington, who was also shooting a gun that night,” said Pescatore. “Those males were taken into custody in Virginia. They are fugitives of justice, they will have a hearing, and they will be extradited back here to face charges.”

Two other men were arrested earlier this week in connection with the shooting.

U.S. Marshalls apprehended Rashaan Vereen, 34, on Monday evening, and Philadelphia police arrested Quran Garner, 18, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said on Wednesday.

Garner is charged with aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.

Vereen was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violation of the uniforms firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of justice.

“It does not appear that these groups knew each other. To me, this seems to be that Mr. Whittington and Mr. Dukes-Hill, in response to gunshots happening down the street, just took out their gun and randomly fired. And unfortunately, Alexis Quinn was hit by a shot fired by Mr. Dukes-Hill, and a shot fired by Mr. Whittington hit Mr. Minners,” Pescatore said.

Outlaw said that, while she has advocated for more officers on patrol, people who shoot into crowded areas do not care about the presence of police.

“The sad reality is that when individuals disregard the laws of our society, and they don’t fear the consequences of their actions, they’re more likely to act in ways that are detrimental to others,” Outlaw said. “Our deployment efforts ahead of Saturday’s events weren’t made in a vacuum; knowing that we would have nicer weather and then a number of public events will be taking place throughout the city, it was expected that we would see increased crowd size on South Street. Therefore the decision was made to divert a number of officers from other locations to help address the crowd sizes on South Street and in the general vicinity.”

Mayor Jim Kenney said that easy access to guns continues to be a problem as gun violence continues nationwide.

Although the suspects, in this instance, had legal licenses to carry, Kenney said they should not have had gun permits.

“Neither of those guys should have had guns,” he said. “One of them had a permit to carry. Years ago, to get a license to carry, you had to show cause or reason, whether you were in the business carrying a lot of money around late at night or you were at a security business, or you had some sensible reason for a carry permit. These two individuals’ mindsets and actions indicate that neither should have had a gun. They both were aggressive. They both were more violent. And I think the fact that they had the guns extended that confrontation to the point of actual shooting.”

According to Outlaw, the surviving shooting victims are a 17-year-old boy, two 18-year-old men, two 20-year-old men, three men age 23, 43 and 69, two 17-year-old girls and a 19-year-old woman.

Video footage from South Street last Saturday night has been surfacing on social media — providing snippets of the frenzied evening that led up to a mass shooting in a packed section of Philadelphia.

In the moments before the shooting, three men were brawling on a sidewalk in front of Rita’s Italian Ice. A disturbing video captures the leadup to the gunshots and the prolonged screaming of bystanders.

A different clip from another part of the evening shows a group of teens throwing jabs, occasionally jostling the nearby crowd. That altercation, which has not been tied to the shooting, happens within eyesight of a police vehicle.

In the aftermath, many Philadelphians are asking versions of the same question: Should police have taken more action to manage the crowd?

“If police officers are trying not to blindly arrest everyone and just diffuse the situation, that’s a fair tactic,” said Anthony Erace, interim executive director of the Philadelphia Citizens Police Oversight Commission, in defense of officers staying on the sidelines. “In this case, it didn’t work.”

Philadelphia saw a record number of fatal shootings in 2021, and the tally is nearing 200 this year. People trying to address the crisis say the scene on Saturday wasn’t out of the ordinary.

“South Street is a spot where the Black community has always come to … it’s like a party,” said Ant Brown, a Philly native, youth mentor and musical artist.

He says there are often fights there, usually between young people with beefs that have been passed on from older family members and peers.

“The lack of security, the lack of police presence could be a reason that people were acting a little bit extra and everything,” he said.

But shoot-outs happen almost daily in neighborhoods outside Center City, Brown pointed out, and preventing violence has a lot more to do with addressing young peoples’ trauma and anger than it does with the police.

“I don’t think anything could have happened to stop what happened at South Street that particular night,” he said. “This is a multi-generational problem that we have.”

Students at Furness High School in South Philadelphia said the brawling that happened on South Street before the incident is related to the culture of violence among their peers.

“Seeing the news, I wasn’t very surprised,” said Sheilliam, 16. “I’ve been in situations like that, when I saw people right in front of me fighting … with weapons.”

They said fighting can easily escalate to shootings if parties involved aren’t willing to work it out peacefully.

“Nowadays with teenagers, mental health is pretty bad, you know, so they’re just really easily irritated by others,” said Sylvain, 15. “So they’re like emotional, so they fight each other.”

“When people start throwing punches, you can’t really end it unless you get yourself hurt,” said Kim, 16. “That’s usually how it is.

There are some programs in Philadelphia that teach teens how to be their own mediators and resolve conflicts before they lead to violence.

But when fights do break out — especially in an already chaotic environment — police officers may be the first or only ones able to respond.

Police watch groups and strategy experts say there were steps that the Philadelphia Police Department could have taken in advance of Saturday to make it more difficult for such a large crowd to gather.

The PPD did not immediately provide comment on their strategy Saturday night. In light of the incident, they’ve stated that they will put certain traffic control measures and closures in place in areas of the city that could draw crowds, and they’ll increase officer presence at large events.

PPD Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a Sunday press conference that she is in need of more resources, and that the force is stretched thin addressing shootings and other quality of life issues throughout the city. The department is facing a workforce shortage, and there have been calls at the city and state level to hire more officers.

At the same time, many Philadelphians have criticized the notion that more police is the answer. Some research suggests that it’s not effective for reducing gun crime.

At the beginning of what activists and law enforcement fear will be a violent summer, and with multiple large events on the horizon, some Philadelphians are calling for a coordinated approach to the factors driving the crisis. There’s also a push for the Philadelphia Police Department to take a more active role and follow best practices, such as crowd control and conflict de-escalation, to keep the streets safe.

‘Keep that crowd moving’Whether the police decide to intervene in any physical altercation depends on several factors, law enforcement sources say. These include the number of officers on site compared to attendees, whether attendees are armed, and whether bystanders are in danger.

“People made decisions based on the information they had at the time and not the information that we now have on Monday morning,” said Joe Sullivan, who served the Philadelphia Police Department for more than three decades before leaving his post as deputy commissioner in 2020. “But we definitely have to use a different tactic going forward.”

Those tactics, per Sullivan, could include:

maintaining steady car traffic on South Street between Broad and 2nd Street

keeping the parking lanes filled with parked cars and putting police officers at each section

adding police vehicles or bicycles as necessary

having a high-ranking officer onsite to give clear instruction

“You instruct those officers [that] their basic function is to make sure there are no fights, no disturbances, and to keep that crowd moving,” Sullivan said.

He added that right now there’s “a lot of ambiguity within the rank and file of the department,” and said he thought the officers on site Saturday night were outnumbered and taken by surprise.

“If you have officers pre-positioned and obviously organized, well supervised, well briefed — they understand their mission, they understand what is expected of them,” he said.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police recommendations on crowd control suggest thorough briefing for officers in situations that have the potential to become violent. That involves guidance on minimizing physical contact with crowds, maintaining a “courteous and neutral” demeanor, avoiding mass arrests, and working with local businesses and community partners to establish safety plans.

There is a crucial window of time when officers should be scoping the scene and using body cameras, drones, or other methods of intel to check in with each other, said Thaddeus Johnson, assistant professor of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University.

“You can feel the energy of the crowd. You can tell by certain events,” he said. “Once these things pop off, it seems to go downhill and all you’re trying to do is simply separate people.”

Johnson was a ranking law enforcement officer in Memphis before entering the academic sphere. He’s now a research fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan organization promoting a “fair and effective” justice system.

He says in his years on the force, he often worked the busy nightlife scene on Beale Street downtown. He emphasized the need to have officers patrolling on foot and bike, to keep a commanding officer on scene, to create perimeters where necessary, and to ensure that there are routes for first responders to enter if needed.

“We barricaded alleyways, those entry points that people try to sneak onto the streets … sneak weapons, sneak contraband into the area,” he said. “We didn’t have officers out there making arrests … it has to be coordinated.”

‘A very dangerous place’The question of how to manage a crowd and when to break up a physical altercation has become especially fraught in the years since the George Floyd demonstrations, and there’s a heightened concern around use-of-force protocols.

Former PPD deputy commissioner Sullivan said the dramatic increase in guns on the street has affected this kind of decision-making.

“Every encounter between police and citizens has the potential to escalate into violence,” he said. “It is a very contentious atmosphere and a very dangerous time to be a police officer and, unfortunately, a dangerous time to be a member of the public.”

The International Association of Chiefs of Police guidelines do state use of force can be used if crowds don’t heed verbal warnings, with options including multiple simultaneous arrests and the use of chemical agents and batons to force crowd movement

Criminologist Thaddeus Johnson said those more aggressive moves risk a riot. He said officers in Memphis found a way to walk that line of maintaining order without escalating the situation. The City of Memphis has been upfront about its police reform efforts.

“It wasn’t like you have officers walking around patting people down,” he said. “Like, if you see a group of juveniles … Don’t go up confrontational. Go up and speak to them. Engage them … And if they don’t comply, then you go up. That continuum of force, what have you, in order to get the job accomplished.”

Deescalation training can help officers learn this approach, Johnson said, but it hasn’t been widely adopted. According to a 2021 report from the Council on Criminal Justice, this education teaches officers how to remain calm, communicate well and “employ critical thinking skills to pivot to other tactics in response to changing dynamics.”

Only 16 states require de-escalation training as of 2017, according to the report. A review of the nation’s 100 largest agencies found that as of early February 2021, 56 required officers to employ de-escalation techniques before using force. The Philadelphia Police Department does have some de-escalation education in place.

There are mixed views in Philadelphia’s Black communities about whether an expanded or more active police presence would reduce gun crime, with many believing a state of lawlessness has allowed violence to thrive. Others feel the city already spends too much on law enforcement and not enough on social services that could direct shooters or potential shooters onto healthier life paths.

“At the end of the day, the police can only do so much because the community don’t respect them,” gun violence prevention advocate Ant Brown said.

Instead, Brown is calling on the City of Philadelphia to create a state of emergency around gun violence, a move that Mayor Jim Kenney declined to make in 2021. He also wants to see improvements to the educational system, better access to mental health care for kids coping with gun violence, and more support for parents in trauma-affected households.

“We wasn’t raised and groomed for how to handle situations, so we handle them with anger and frustration,” he said. “Arresting somebody is not the answer. I’m not saying that nobody should be locked up. I’m just saying let’s put together a plan that starts healing a wound instead of just patching it up and throwing on a band-aid.”

Akayla Brown, the 19-year-old founder of youth nonprofit Dimplez 4 Dayz, said it all comes down to convincing teens that they don’t need to be involved in violence just because their peers are. And afterschool programs that promote self-worth are a big part of that.

“If you make it clear to youth that that’s not it, they’ll start passing the message,” she said. “Right now this generation, because of all the music and the rappers, the cool thing is to have a gun, unfortunately.”