The Newark schools superintendent met Friday with the group of students who are in their fourth day camping out in district offices to protest her job performance and a new standardized test.
But the sit-in did not end immediately after their hour-long meeting with Cami Anderson, the state-appointed superintendent in New Jersey's largest school district, which has become a flash-point in a bigger debate over how to improve poorly performing urban schools.
The protesters -- eight Newark students and two Rutgers University students -- want Anderson to step down. They are also protesting a new standardized test that students across the state are to be given starting next month.
Kevin Sedano, a 16-year-old high school junior who is part of the group, confirmed that they met with Anderson on Friday. He said the group was working on a statement and would provide more details Friday afternoon.
School district spokeswoman Brittany Chord Parmley described the meeting, which also involved two other high-ranking school district officials as "a promising step toward an ongoing constructive dialogue" that included talk about the students' concerns.
The district has about 40,000 students and Parmley said that Anderson has not been in her office during the sit-in because she has been visiting the district's schools.
Some parents and teacher union-backed groups have also been speaking out about changes Anderson has brought to Newark's schools in the name of reform.
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At the start of the school year in September, they objected to a new student assignment system that changes which schools students are sent to. At the time, Anderson said that there would be objections until all of the city's schools are high-performing.
Most of the schools are not high-performing, though Anderson says the number that are has been growing.
The superintendent's critics, including Mayor Ras Baraka, say that she has not been accessible and that the state is making decisions about the city's schools without input from the people who live in Newark.
Many also object to the growth of charter schools in the city, saying they divert money and some of the best students away from the traditional school system.
New Jersey Education Commissioner David Hespe told NJ.com Thursday that the state is in the "final stages" of making a decision on whether to renew Anderson's contract, but said the state is "very pleased" with her performance.
It's not the first time the student group has protested Anderson. Last spring, the students and about 60 others protested outside a school board meeting and changed "Hey hey, ho ho, Cami Anderson has got to go."
