From The Board Room

By Carla Branch
alexandrianews.org

Last night, the Alexandria School Board received a final report on the 2010 Virginia General Assembly session, got an update on plans for improving T. C. Williams High School; approved the 2010-11 academic calendar and passed a modified open enrollment policy for elementary schools.

After several months of discussion and public input, the Board passed a modified open enrollment policy, which caps class sizes at the elementary schools and allows students to be moved from their neighborhood school to a contiguous school when class sizes exceed the cap. “We hope that this will be a temporary policy that will allow us to handle our increasing student population until we can construct new elementary schools,” said Board Chair Yvonne Folkerts.

The policy caps kindergarten classes at 20, first and second grade classes at 22 and third through fifth grade classes at 24, except at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy where the classes are smaller by design.

T. C. Turn-Around Plans

On April 7, Alexandria City Public School Superintendent Morton Sherman and a number of members of the senior staff traveled to Richmond to meet with Virginia Department of Education officials about requirements for schools that have been designated Persistently Lowest Achieving. “I must say that the staff gave us as much information as they have about this new designation, which everyone is still learning about,” Sherman told the Board. “What I can tell you is that we must select a plan and notify the State of that choice by April 26. I can also tell you that I am moving forward with the transformational model and I will give you more details about that at our work session next week.

“While we must select a model by April 26, we must complete our application packet by the end of May and funds will be available by mid-June. We still don’t know how much money there will be and, to some extent, that depends on what models the different schools in our category choose. For example, there appears to be less money for implementing the transformational model than some of the others but if everyone chooses the transformational model, that might mean more funds for everyone,” Sherman said.

An LEA implementing a transformation model must:

(1) Replace the principal who led the school prior to commencement of the transformation model;

(2) Use rigorous, transparent, and equitable evaluation systems for teachers and principals that:

• Take into account data on student growth as a significant factor as well as other factors, such as multiple observation-based assessments of performance and ongoing collections of professional practice reflective of student achievement and increased high school graduation rates

• Are designed and developed with teacher and principal involvement;

(3) Identify and reward school leaders, teachers, and other staff who, in implementing this model, have increased student achievement and high school graduation rates and identify and remove those who, after ample opportunities have been provided for them to improve their professional practice, have not done so;

(4) Provide staff ongoing, high-quality, job-embedded professional development that is aligned with the school’s comprehensive instructional program and designed with school staff to ensure they are equipped to facilitate effective teaching and learning and have the capacity to successfully implement school reform strategies; and

(5) Implement such strategies as financial incentives, increased opportunities for promotion and career growth, and more flexible work conditions that are designed to recruit, place, and retain staff with the skills necessary to meet the needs of the students in a transformation model.

“We must select a private partner with experience in turning around schools to help us implement the plan we choose,” Sherman said. “While the State has selected several vendors, they indicated a willingness to consider other groups that we might like to work with so long as they meet the qualifications that the State has outlined. We have had some preliminary conversations with Linda Darling Hammond at Stanford and might like to continue to work with Ron Ferguson from Harvard and with Lucy West who has been helping us with our coaching model.”

Before the April 15, work session, the T. C. visioning group will meet. “That meeting is scheduled for April 13, and while that effort began before we got this new designation from the federal and state governments, the two efforts should come together,” Sherman said.

The work session is open to the public and will be held in the T. C. cafeteria at 7:30 p.m. on April 15.

Legislative Update

ACPS Legislative Liaison Lilla Wise gave the Board an overview of the 2010 Virginia Generlal Assembly session. “It could have been much worse than it was,” she said. “Our legislative delegation worked very hard to protect Alexandria and did as good a job as could be expected considering some of the things that were proposed.”

The General Assembly made significant changes in the Virginia Retirement System. “Basically, as of July 1, there will be two Virginia Retirement systems,” Wise said. “There will be one system for everybody who is currently employed and another for those who are hired after July 1, 2010. New hires can be required to pay up to five percent of the employee’s share of the VRS contribution and their retirement eligibility will be different. Current employees may retire after 30 years of employment at age 50. New hires must have a combination of length of service and age that adds up to 90.”

There were several bills on charter schools. “While the State Department of Education will offer technical assistance to charter school applicants, decisions about granting charters will be left to local Boards of Education,” Wise said. “Therefore, if a group wants to submit a charter school application, they can first go to the State for technical assistance in preparing that application. If a Board rejects that application, they must provide written reasons for rejecting it. The charter school applicant can go back to the State for further technical assistance in addressing the reasons for rejection and may reapply to the local Board. However, it is still up to that Board to decide whether to approve the application or not.”

Board Member Arthur Peabody asked about a firearms safety curriculum. “I see that the General Assembly is allowing school divisions to provide firearms safety instruction to elementary school students,” he said. “I have to ask what they are thinking?”

Wise explained. “Apparently there are several rural jurisdictions where children hunt with their parents. These jurisdictions now have permission to develop a firearms safety curriculum and teach it. Originally, the bill said that schools should use the National Rifle Association curriculum. At least that got changed,” she said.

The 2010-11 Academic Calendar

Next year, school will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and end on June 21. There will be 183 instructional days with 13 early release days, nine teacher work/professional development days and four snow days.  At the Board’s request, Sherman eliminated two of the four half days for elementary and middle school students at the end of the year.

“We would like to have eliminated all of the half days but this is a good compromise,” Folkerts said. “We have asked the superintendent to analyze and report on how the extended school day was used and we expect a similar analysis of how these half days at the end of the year are used. If instruction is continuing, that’s fine. However, many of us suspect that, at least in the past, this has not been the case.”