1932
Ofelia
2008
Ofelia Halasa
May 2, 1932 — July 27, 2008
Dr. Ofelia Halasa 1932-2008
Dr. Ofelia Halasa, an administrator in the Cleveland Public School System for thirty-five years, died on Sunday.
Born in Masbate, Philippines, on April 2, 1932, she graduated with a BA in communica-tions from the University of the Philippines before coming to the United States in 1952. She was one of a handful of selected foreign students to study at the University of Wisconsin and later at the University of Oklahoma. At the University of Oklahoma, she met her husband of fifty-two years, Adel Halasa, who is presently a Research and Development Fellow at the Goodyear Rubber & Tire Company in Akron, Ohio. She went on to earn a masters degree in social work from the University of Indiana and a Ph.d in psychology from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland.
Dr. Ofelia Halasa joined the Cleveland Board of Education in the late 1960s during a period of great social change in American public school education. At that time, President Johnson's Title 1 Great Society program was attempting to eliminate poverty and racial injustice in schools. In 1976, she was the Supervisor of Evaluation in the Board's Research and Development department during the 1976 landmark ruling against the Cleveland Public schools by Judge Frank J. Battisti. The judge ordered a comprehensive desegregation program for city schools, which included, alongside the busing of students, made the district responsible for reducing the discrepancies in reading levels between black and other students. In her capacity, Dr. Halasa developed strategies to evaluate the new programs and presented the pioneering work that was taking place in Cleveland at the AERA America Educational Research Association and the NCME National Council on Measurement in Education national conferences.
She was also involved in bringing in federal funding in the millions to the Cleveland public schools. In 1990, under Superintendent Al Tutela, she became the Chief of Research and Analysis at the Cleveland Board of Education. As part of a group of educational professionals who were pro-desegregation but critical of the city's methods, she retired in 1994. Her career spanned a time when few women were entering into the upper echelons of management in education. Dr. Ofelia remained devoted to education and founder of the AOH Foundation for Children, a private foundation that helps disadvantaged children. She died on Sunday, July 27, after an eleven-year battle with cancer.
She is survived by her husband, Adel and her four children, Malu, Marni, Mike and Brianna as well as her four sisters, Lil Dominguez, Yolanda Vinulan, Donatella De Guzman and Tita Calvo.
Visiting hours were from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Billow Fairlawn Chapel, 85 North Miller Road in Akron, 44333; telephone 330-867-4141. Services will be held TODAY at 10 a.m. at St. George Orthodox Church, 3204 Ridgewood Rd in Akron 44321. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the AOH Foundation for Children, P.O. Box 825, Bath, Ohio, 44210, in memory of Ofelia.
Dr. Ofelia Halasa, an administrator in the Cleveland Public School System for thirty-five years, died on Sunday.
Born in Masbate, Philippines, on April 2, 1932, she graduated with a BA in communica-tions from the University of the Philippines before coming to the United States in 1952. She was one of a handful of selected foreign students to study at the University of Wisconsin and later at the University of Oklahoma. At the University of Oklahoma, she met her husband of fifty-two years, Adel Halasa, who is presently a Research and Development Fellow at the Goodyear Rubber & Tire Company in Akron, Ohio. She went on to earn a masters degree in social work from the University of Indiana and a Ph.d in psychology from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland.
Dr. Ofelia Halasa joined the Cleveland Board of Education in the late 1960s during a period of great social change in American public school education. At that time, President Johnson's Title 1 Great Society program was attempting to eliminate poverty and racial injustice in schools. In 1976, she was the Supervisor of Evaluation in the Board's Research and Development department during the 1976 landmark ruling against the Cleveland Public schools by Judge Frank J. Battisti. The judge ordered a comprehensive desegregation program for city schools, which included, alongside the busing of students, made the district responsible for reducing the discrepancies in reading levels between black and other students. In her capacity, Dr. Halasa developed strategies to evaluate the new programs and presented the pioneering work that was taking place in Cleveland at the AERA America Educational Research Association and the NCME National Council on Measurement in Education national conferences.
She was also involved in bringing in federal funding in the millions to the Cleveland public schools. In 1990, under Superintendent Al Tutela, she became the Chief of Research and Analysis at the Cleveland Board of Education. As part of a group of educational professionals who were pro-desegregation but critical of the city's methods, she retired in 1994. Her career spanned a time when few women were entering into the upper echelons of management in education. Dr. Ofelia remained devoted to education and founder of the AOH Foundation for Children, a private foundation that helps disadvantaged children. She died on Sunday, July 27, after an eleven-year battle with cancer.
She is survived by her husband, Adel and her four children, Malu, Marni, Mike and Brianna as well as her four sisters, Lil Dominguez, Yolanda Vinulan, Donatella De Guzman and Tita Calvo.
Visiting hours were from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Billow Fairlawn Chapel, 85 North Miller Road in Akron, 44333; telephone 330-867-4141. Services will be held TODAY at 10 a.m. at St. George Orthodox Church, 3204 Ridgewood Rd in Akron 44321. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the AOH Foundation for Children, P.O. Box 825, Bath, Ohio, 44210, in memory of Ofelia.
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