District Administration - January 2012 - (Page 30)

Kansas City Plots Next Steps Michigan’s new Education Achievement System, a statewide school district of academically troubled schools, his interim successor, Stephen Green, faced plenty of challenges: the loss of three top deputies who joined Covington in Michigan, a board that some blamed for driving away Covington with its micromanagement— although evidence later surfaced that he had planned to leave anyway—and academic woes that are expected to prompt the state of Missouri to remove the district’s accreditation starting Jan. 1. The stripped accreditation provides families the ability, at least in theory, to transfer students to neighboring districts, although the details of how they would be transported and how many of them those districts would be required to accept are still to be worked out. Green does not expect a large exodus of students after Jan. 1. “We will see some,” he says. “People have inquired with various districts to understand what the potential is.” Green says the loss of accreditation hasn’t changed the district’s overall strategies, but it has brought focus and priority to academic achievement. They have reprioritized with academics, and have not taken a different direction, he says. 30 Months to Improve further decisions had been made as of early December. She stated in published reports that it was “sad and frustrating” and that disparate groups in the community needed to come together. The state, in turn, is presenting an accountability plan to the federal government as to how it intends to work with unaccredited districts to improve academic performance. Mayor Sylvester “Sly” James proposed in early December to take over the schools by appointing a CEO to run the district who would then appoint other top deputies—but Nicastro quickly thereafter told the state board that she needed more time to think through the options and for the community to continue to work out differences. DESE spokeswoman Michele Clark says Nicastro has been meeting with civic, education, business and faith-based groups, as well as local legislators and the district’s board and staff. Clark says that isfy here,” James wrote. “I did not ask for this responsibility, but I will not shy away from it if this group, a cross section of our entire community, believes it is in the best interest of our children. My objective is to raise student achievement in the KCMSD.” Turnaround Plan Airick Leonard West, Kansas City school board president, is optimistic about gaining consensus around a turnaround plan. “We’re not facing any unique challenges,” West says, just typical urbandistrict challenges like the effects of poverty and the needs of English-language learners; Kansas City’s students are 63 percent African-American, 25 percent Hispanic, and 80 percent low-income. “What we’re talking about, frankly, on most days has just as much to do with what’s happening out in the community as what’s happening in our buildings.” Missouri DESE has 14 standards for The move by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) gives the district two and a half years—until July 1, 2014—to meet the academic standards laid down or be officially dissolved as an entity, with the state taking over Kansas City’s school system. Beyond that, a state board meeting in early December yielded little that was new in terms of details except that five possibilities are being considered: maintaining the status quo, shifting to mayoral control, immediately dissolving the district, establishing an advisory board to work with the existing school board, or creating a special administrative board with governance powers to replace the school board. Missouri’s education commissioner, Chris Nicastro, expressed regret that no 30 January 2012 “People have inquired with various districts to understand what the potential is.” —Stephen Green, interim superintendent, Kansas City Public Schools the status quo, mayoral control and a special administrative board seem likely possibilities to the commissioner, although the latter two would require a change in state law. Questions have arisen about whether an advisory board would have enough impact, and immediately dissolving the district is not even considered worthy of discussing or even thinking about, she reports. The mayor laid out seven proposals in a Dec. 1 letter to Nicastro, but he focused on mayoral takeover. “Let me be clear: I have no personal agenda to sat- judging districts’ fitness for accreditation, of which they must meet six, says Margie Vandeven, assistant commissioner. Kansas City meets only three of those standards: advanced-course enrollment, career and technical education course enrollment, and CTE post-highschool placement. Green, who describes his relationship with the school board as “wholesome and healthy to date,” says the district’s strategic plan is focused on the 14 standards, and his administration has divided the 11 not being met into District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2012

District Administration - January 2012
Contents
Letters
News Update
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Finding the Perfect Fit
Kansas City Plots Next Steps
Seeking Savings in Special Ed
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Equipping Teachers to Infuse Technology
Flipped Classrooms Gaining Ground
Buying in Bulk
Online Identity Management
Going Mobile
Student Counsel
Online Edge
New Books
New Products
Product Focus
Professional Opinion

District Administration - January 2012