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Cleveland Better With Penn
By Peter Downs
I understand there is a controversy regarding Cleveland's Naval policy. Is that true? I want to go on record that after living through Larry Myers last year and the horrible condition he left the school, Mr. Penn is a breath of fresh air. The staff and I are pleased with his no-nonsense attitude toward discipline, his commitment to the educational welfare of our students and his rededication to the Navy magnet concept. He eats lunch with the students, delineates administrative responsibilities, and has strengthened the staff development. I scheduled a TEAC meeting but we had to cancel it because there were no complaints. In other words, we like him - a lot. He displays both leadership character and good judgment. He is concerned that parental complaints may get in the way of his work, but I hope the school board backs him. He hasn't changed anything - just enforces policies that have not been followed for years. For the students that are having difficulty adjusting, maybe Cleveland isn't the place for them. I believe if Mr. Penn stays the course and has the support of the district administration and the school board, we have a good chance of instilling the educational and character-building mission embedded in its mission.
Sheryl Davenport
Preserve the Schools, Change the Policies
By Peter Downs
Creg Williams has clearly demonstrated a passionate commitment to overhauling the SLPS, but he has also demonstrated a lack of appreciation for problems caused by the misguided policies of the past few years, which, if reversed, might resolve some of the problems.
An example is targeting Pruitt and Cleveland for program reductions and possible closure. The district policy of only allowing students to apply for 3 magnet schools on an application has resulted in empty seats in many magnet schools. Were students allowed to apply to more than 3, there would be more applicants to Pruitt. Perhaps it would not be a first, second or third choice, but had students had more opportunities to apply for a greater number of schools, instead of being on waiting lists for schools they had no chance of getting into, more students would be in Pruitt.
Also, after applications are submitted and after the lottery, there is never publicity regarding magnet schools with space, schools that were not filled by the lottery process. There are parents who are desperate to get their children into a magnet school. If parents knew there were openings, they would flock to them.
Concerning Cleveland, which used to have the third highest academic achievement among high schools, the appointment by former uncertificated Supt. William Roberti, of an uncertificated person to serve as principal of Cleveland, contributed mightily to the school's decline.
That Williams replaced Myers with a qualified principal is a hopeful sign. But other policies which have contributed to the school's decline must also be reversed.
Respectfully, Susan Turk
Big Changes On Tap for High Schools and Middle Schools
By Peter Downs
December 13, 2005 -- The St. Louis Board of Education tonight gave the go ahead to Superintendent Creg Williams' plan to revamp high schools and middle schools in St. Louis.
Williams plans to create up to four new small high schools for the next year, and split Vashon into two schools-within-a-school.
Carnahan, Northwest, and Blewett Middle Schools will start a transition to becoming high schools with fewer than 500 students each. Carnahan and Northwest, which have seventh and eighth grades this year, will go to eighth and ninth grades next year, ninth and tenth grades in 2007, and then add one grade a year in each of the following years. Blewett, which has sixth, seventh, and eighth grades this year, will go to seven through nine next year, eight through ten in 2007, and so on.
Each of the new high schools will become home to a specialty program. Carnahan will house the "integrated technology" program. Northwest will house specialty programs in transportation, law, agriculture, and public safety (fire and police). Blewett will become the home of a teaching academy.
A fourth high school, called the Architecture & Design School, will be started if the district can find a location for it. That school will feature programs in architecture, interior design, and construction management.
An alternative high school for students with severe discipline problems will start up this year inside Pruitt School.
Pruitt currently houses a middle school military academy. Williams said he will bring the school board a recommendation in January or February for reorganizing Pruitt and Cleveland, the military high school. He said the MAP scores at both schools are unacceptable, and he said he is "very concerned" with how Pruitt "is run and operated."
Sources at district headquarters say that Pruitt will be merged into Cleveland in the reorganization.
Besides splitting Vashon into two schools next year, both Vashon and Roosevelt would get ninth grade centers. Sources say Vashon's ninth grade center will be at the old Williams School.
Vashon and Roosevelt both are overcrowded, having about 20% more students than they were built to hold. Both schools also might start operating on two shifts next year.
A "New Perspective Academy" for about 120 high risk students, many of them overaged, will be carved out within Roosevelt. Student would attend classes in the New Perspective Academy from 7:30 am to 12:17 pm, and then go out for service or work-study experiences in the afternoon.
Beginning in January, seniors at Vashon will be able to take dual-credit courses at UMSL and Forest Park Community College. Dual-credit courses are courses that fulfill a high school credit and get the student a college credit. Williams said the district has negotiated a reduced tuition rate with UMSL and hopes to do the same with the community college.
School board members Robert Archibald, James Buford, and Ron Jackson all questioned the cost of the plan, but ultimately voted for it. Williams said the plan is largely budget neutral, except that he is asking for $500,000 to start-up the alternative high school this year. Jackson said King Tri-A, the old alternative high school, was too expensive and the district cannot afford to spend that much on alternative education.
School board member Bill Purdy said, "I'm on board with small high schools. This is the right way to go." ____________________________
Williams Pulls Controversial Proposals
Superintendent Creg Williams pulled two controversial proposals from the school board agenda just before they were to come up for a vote.
One proposal would have authorized Williams to establish a nonprofit corporation to operate charter schools in the district. Eight of the 11 speakers during the public comment period had criticized the proposal, and noted that the suddenness with which it was sprung on public violated the board' recently issued "covenant" with the community. The large crowd repeatedly cheered the speakers, making clear their opposition to the surprise charter school proposal.
Williams also pulled a proposal to give a 3% raise to the building maintenance contractor, Sodexho. That proposal had come under fire on radio and television as an unwarranted increase to a company that was performing poorly. KSDK ran a news story questioning the raise on Monday night.
Williams Plays Holly Hills
By Peter Downs
[The following article was submitted by a teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous.]
Creg Williams played to 25 or so members of the Holly Hills Neighborhood Association on Monday, and read from the same script school board president Darnetta Clinkscale is using for her reelection campaign.
When the current board took office, they found a $90 million deficit, Williams said. Nevermind that he wasn't around then, and that Missouri Auditor Claire McCaskill said it wasn't true, and blasted the board for claiming it. It is part of the script.
Williams blamed site based management for the fall in middle school test scores in recent years. Elementary school test scores rose under site based management, but he doesn't mention that. He also wants us to forget that the fall in middle school test scores the last two years happened after the school board abolished site based management. We certainly don't want facts to get in the way of a fine theory.
In Williams' theory, every site-based managed school made up its own curriculum, and that confused students who moved from school to school, so that is why middle school test scores fell (it's a mystery why elementary school scores went up). The standardized curriculum now in place will fix all that, he said.
Williams is new. He probably does not know that there was a standardized curriculum, aligned with state standards, until the current board abolished the curriculum office in 2003. I still have old curriculum guides in my office. And, although Williams crows about the gains in elementary school test scores last year, he probably does not know that there have been gains every year for at least six years.
OK, maybe he does not know much about St. Louis schools or what has happened in the past, but he recites a script well. He is very slick.
Two parents of children at Kennard brought up the future of gifted programs. Williams said he has no plans to close Kennard or cut gifted programs. What about the cuts at McKinley? Oh that, that was because their enrollment dropped, he said. No one asked him if the higher standard for admission into gifted programs, and the cutback in testing last, had anything to do with limiting enrollment.
A Kennard teacher asked why Kennard lost a teacher. Didn't Kennard's enrollment also drop, Williams asked. The teacher said, "no," then Williams said it was probably because he had had to equalize positions across the district. That's equity.
Weren't magnet school funds already cut this year, the teacher asked. Well, maybe a little, Williams said, but it is all about to turn around. Williams said he had spoken to developers putting new housing in the city, and they expect to bring 2,000 new students into the school district..
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