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April 20, 2009

Program that gives Eastside students job training, interviews gets grant

The Texas Education Agency has awarded the Austin school district a $250,000 grant to implement dropout reduction and job training program that was developed by a masters student attending the University of Texas School of Social Work.

The program, called the Collaborative Dropout Reduction Pilot Program, helps students at Eastside Memorial High School graduate and find jobs with continuing education, dropout recovery and weekly job training opportunities, according to a UT press release. It will be funded for two years.

Local managers will give presentations at the school letting students know what they are looking for in their employees and students who complete the training are guaranteed interviews.

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Austin's Menchaca Elementary to receive historical marker

The Manchaca / Onion Creek Historical Association has received permission from the Texas Historical Commission to place a historical marker, the metal signs you see by roads throughout the state, at Menchaca Elementary School to mark the history of public education in Manchaca.

About 18 Travis County schools and former schools already have historical markers, including Kealing Jr. High School (site of the old Anderson High School), Austin High School, Becker Elementary School, Blackshear Elementary School, Mathews Elementary School, Pease Elementary School, and the Texas School for the Deaf. (You can look them all up on the Texas Historical Commission’s online atlas.)

Historical association members and a small group of Menchaca parents, teachers and student members began about eight years ago the process of collecting information and applying to the commission for permission to place a historical marker at the school.

Manchaca’s history might be priceless, but the marker is going to cost $1,600. Organizer Ann Trask said that the Menchaca community is collecting donations to help pay for the maker. Checks payable to the Menchaca PTA may be sent to the school, 12120 Manchaca, Manchaca, TX 78652. (Please note on the check memo line that the donation is for the historical marker.)

More on Menchaca/Manchaca’s history after the jump.

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April 16, 2009

Parents at Austin's SAILL charter school ask for help

As I’ve reported before, SAILL, a Northeast Austin charter school dedicated to providing a mainstream education to students with disabilities, is likely to close before the end of this school year. (Yesterday’s SAILL story. Today’s SAILL story.)

Current SAILL superintendent Christina Blair is a former fourth grade teacher who stepped into the superintendent’s role after the founding superintendent was ousted by the board amid concerns about the school’s financial management.

Blair said she has spent tens of thousands of her own money buying school supplies and paying some of the school’s bills in an effort to keep the school open as long as possible.

She also noted that the Texas Education Agency didn’t begin auditing the school until two years after its opening. According to an internal audit, the state paid the school about $1.6 million in the year ending in August 2008 before any enrollment or attendance audit was conducted. The state audit has not yet been released.

I’ve uploaded the 2007 internal audit and 2008 internal audit.

Many SAILL parents would like for the school to stay open, at the very least through the end of the school year. Read their emails for yourself after the jump.

April 15, 2009

Austin charter school prepares to close its doors

A Northeast Austin charter school dedicated to providing a mainstream education to students with disabilities will likely close in the coming weeks, Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe said.

SAILL Charter School, which opened in fall 2007, owes tens of thousands in rent and other expenses and is unlikely to be able to continue operations through the end of this school year, Ratcliffe said.

Before the entire board of directors of the 113-student school resigned earlier this month, board members said that Austin-based nonprofit Technology and Inclusion, the organization holding the school’s charter, left more than $200,000 in state money unaccounted for.

The Texas Education Agency is conducting a financial audit of the school, which currently has about 113 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Texas Education Agency staffers were at the school Tuesday and Wednesday and recommended to superintendent Christina Blair Wednesday that she begin notifying families of the school’s likely closure so they could make other arrangements for their children, Ratcliffe said. However, the Texas Education Agency has not formally ordered the school closed.

“I think the superintendent realized that they’re just out of money,” Ratcliffe said. “It’s highly likely that the school will close in the coming weeks.”

Ratcliffe said the school had recently laid off teachers and, because of limited staff, was not complying with special education requirements. That development is “particularly troubling given the population they’re serving,” she said.

The school’s entire board of directors resigned earlier this month citing the school’s overwhelming management and financial problems and asked the Texas Education Agency to appoint a new board.

Founding superintendent Jamie Judd-Wall, who was also executive director of the nonprofit Technology and Inclusion, led both the school and non-profit until being ousted by the board last year.

SAILL, which stands for Success equals Academic Independence plus Lifelong Learning , places children with disabilities — including autism and other developmental and learning challenges — alongside students who are not disabled. Founders intended that each teacher’s classroom would have as many support staffers for special-needs students as necessary.

In the 2007-08 school year, SAILL had 180 students in kindergarten through eighth grade; about 39 percent of those students were enrolled in special education programs. The school received an academically unacceptable rating under the state accountability system in its first year of operation, based largely on student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Overall, 36 percent of students passed all portions of the 2008 TAKS, compared with 72 percent statewide .

Charter schools receive state money but are subject to fewer state laws than other schools. As of December 2008, 66 school charters have been revoked for academic or financial mismanagement, rescinded or voluntarily surrendered.

Because SAILL is currently operating without a board of directors, it’s unclear what will happen to the school and its charter after the school’s doors are shut.

In similar situations, options would include the charter holding continuing to hold the charter on an inactive status, the school’s board voting to return the charter to the state, or the Texas Education Agency rescinding the charter due to the charter holder’s failure to fulfill the terms of the charter.

(Read our previous coverage of SAILL, including stories on the resignation of SAILL’s board, the board’s resignation letter and a story about the school’s opening in 2007.)

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April 14, 2009

Austin school cafeteria workers to receive long-awaited uniform stipend

Update, 4/15, 2:15 p.m.: District spokeswoman Kathy Anthony said that the uniform stipend settlement agreement has been offered, but has not been formally agreed to by the district and the workers.

Original post:

Austin school district administrators agreed today to pay food service workers annual uniform and equipment stipends of $100 starting this spring, said Chavel Lopez, a representative for Southwest Public Workers’ Union. Southwest Public Workers’ Union represents about 200 district employees, most of them food service workers. Starting next school year, the district will pay the same stipend to food service workers after they have worked for the district for 90 days, Lopez said.

The agreement is subject to board approval, district general counsel Mel Waxler said.

The district’s decision came in response to a grievance filed in November 2007 by six food service workers who claimed that it was unfair of the district to ask the school district’s approximately 750 cafeteria workers — among the district’s lowest-paid employees — to pay for their uniforms and hairnets themselves. The workers estimated that the uniforms — a pair of black pants, a white collared shirt, rubber-soled shoes and a hairnet — cost about $215. (Read the original grievance.)

~~Supplying all food service workers with the items would cost about $160,000 a year, according to worker estimates.~~ Correction: that $160,000 figure came from the workers’ calculations that they each spend about $215 a year on uniforms. The district is offering them $100 a year, for a total cost of about $75,000 this year.

Last year, school district administrators said that workers should pay for the clothes and hairnets because they can wear the items on any number of occasions outside of the hot lunch line.

Lopez said that Southwest Public Workers’ Union now plans to file similar grievance on behalf of district custodians and bus drivers.

Waxler said in response to the union’s plans: “The district and the board will consider the facts of each request as they come forward.”

As we reported last year, several local school districts, including Hays and Eanes, provide food service workers with uniforms, but Austin food service workers receive higher starting wages, $9.50 compared with $8.25 and $9.24, respectively, for last school year and significantly more paid holidays. (See estimates of uniform and equipment costs and information on the benefits other school district provide to food service workers in this previous story.)

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April 13, 2009

Austin teachers' health insurance under debate

The Austin school district currently spends more per employee on health insurance than most other Texas urban districts and than most Central Texas districts except Lake Travis.

At Monday night’s school board meeting, the Austin school board will consider making changes to employee health insurance for the coming year. The changes could reduce premiums for individual coverage and costs to the district. The board is scheduled to vote on health insurance options on April 27.

Here’s some background on the discussion, the process used to select the proposed new insurance plan, possible rate scenarios, and benefits comparison.

The district administration will also recommend that the district explore self-funding insurance and consider joining the Teachers Retirement System of Texas insurance program.

Also on the agenda for Monday night:

-Changes to how teachers who lose their jobs because their schools are closed by the state are treated. The proposed new policy would allow professional employees at campuses faced with possible closure to be placed on the district’s annual voluntary transfer list in the spring before closures are announced; to be given preference over outside hires at district job fairs; and to receive interviews for any posted job for which they are qualified. (Here’s the old policy.)

-A proposal to pay Vanderbilt University professor Joseph Murphy $100,800 to provide “Leadership Development Consultation Services” to AISD, with the option to extend his contract for two additional one-year periods. The fee, which includes Murphy’s expenses and 12 trips to Austin, is based on a cost of $4,200.00 per day for 24 days.

Update, 7:40 p.m.: The school board approved with a 6-1 vote the new policy affecting teachers at schools closed by the state and the contract with Joseph Murphy along with other items also placed on the consent agenda.

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April 10, 2009

Austin school district finds problems with advisory group initiative

Two years ago, the Austin school district established advisory groups in all high schools through the district’s Office of School Redesign. The initiative, supported by outside contractors hired by the district, was supposed to ensure that all student have at least one adult in their school life who knew them well, help students create stronger bonds across social groups, teach life skills, and provide academic advising and college and career counseling.

A report posted on the district’s website this week on how the advisory groups worked last school year calls them “promising,” but notes several problems.

Among those problems:

A considerable percentage of students did not perceive that their advisory or family advocacy groups (the groups are called different things on different campuses) facilitated the development of relationships or created an environment conducive to personal and academic growth: Just over half of students responding to the district survey said an adult at school would notice if he or she was having a problem or in a slump.

Teachers at all schools reported high absenteeism during the advisory period and lack of student participation in the activities.

Many teachers said they were concerned about taking on the role of student advisor because their interest and training were focused on teaching within their content area. In focus groups, they made comments like “I am not a parent, and I am not a counselor. Advisory is asking me to assume a role that is not my responsibility.” And “I am not equipped or trained to be an advisor. If had wanted that, I would have become a counselor, minister, or priest.” (Remember this story?)

Often teachers said that advisory groups were similar to what they had done in the past or were already doing on their own, and that the time would be better spent on teaching students academics. Some teachers said there was little administrative support for the advisory groups. Among the comments: “It is hard to get buy-in from teachers. Advisory came in when we had tremendous upheaval in the school with multiple principals. We have never gotten our feet on the ground with the new principal, much less the things required by the High School Redesign Office. No one really knows what is going on and where priorities are.”

The district researchers believe that the program’s effectiveness “might be improved through relatively minor changes in implementation or the continuance of existing practices.”

How do you think the program could be improved?

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April 8, 2009

Austin's Teachers of the Year from LASA, Bedichek and Dawson named

An Austin school district selection committee composed of administrators, parents, and professional association representatives named the district’s three Teachers of the Year today, selecting them from more than 100 nominees.

The nominees are:

High School Teacher of the Year: LASA science teacher Alicia Ruch-Flynn, top right.

Middle School Teacher of the Year: Bedichek Middle School life skills teacher Diane Mackey, middle right.

Elementary School Teacher of the Year: Dawson Elementary School special education teacher Cindy Stocking, bottom right.

One teacher will be named in May the Austin Teacher of the Year, and will also serve as the district’s nominee for the Texas Teachers of the Year, which “recognizes and rewards teachers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and excellence in teaching.”

Austin’s Teachers of the Year receive bouquets of yellow roses delivered by superintendent Pat Forgione.

State Teachers of the Year receive the opportunity to “serve as traveling ambassadors for public education and they speak for, motivate, and exemplify the contributions of the teaching profession. They set their own schedule of speeches, workshops and presentations, while continuing as classroom teachers.”

March 31, 2009

Austin school board puts plans for privately operated alternative school on hold

The Austin school district has put plans to hire a private company to operate an alternative school for struggling eighth and ninth graders on hold after trustees questioned the necessity of hiring a private company for the project and the root causes for the students’ struggles. Trustees said they also wanted to get input from incoming superintendent Meria Carstarphen, who takes over from current superintendent Pat Forgione, on July 1 .

“The folks that know this problem the best, in Austin at least, are the folks that are in front of me right now,” trustee Robert Schneider, right, told district administrators at the board’s Monday meeting. “I’m interested in hearing ideas on how to do it internally.”

As we reported in Monday’s paper and on Homeroom, with large numbers of Austin seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders lacking the basic skills to be successful in high school, the Austin school district had considered hiring Nashville-based private company Community Education Partners to open an alternative school this fall for about 650 eighth- and ninth-graders. The school would be for students who previously were held back, were promoted without passing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or failed multiple classes. (KVUE picked up the story too.)

Community Education Partners, which has contracted with public-school districts to operate academic and behavior-improvement programs in Houston; Richmond, Va.; Orlando, Fla.; and other cities for more than a decade, has seen student academic performance improve in some schools. But student performance in other schools has shown little improvement and the company has been accused by civil rights advocates of violating students’ constitutional and civil rights.

District administrators said that the district’s annual contract with Community Education Partners could cost about $5 million for an approximately 650-student school.

At Monday night’s school board meeting, trustee Vincent Torres asked administrators for a report on the root causes of the district’s high dropout rates.

“It seems that we have those challenges [with eighth and ninth graders] because we have failed somewhere,” he said. “It’s probably happening significantly earlier than [eighth and ninth grade] it’s just that that’s where it manifests itself.”

Forgione, right, said that hiring Community Education Partners or another private company to operate an alternative school could be a good use of the district’s share of federal stimulus funds.

“Could we not take two years, learn from it, and be ready after two years to build one of our own?” he asked trustees. “If we got special funding, we could move quickly on it,” he added.

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March 30, 2009

Austin school board names new high and middle schools

The Austin school board named three new schools at its Monday night meeting: two high schools that will open in the fall at the former Johnston High School campus and a new southwest Austin middle school.

The board voted unanimously to name the two new high schools that will open at the former Johnston campus Eastside Memorial Green Tech High School and Eastside Memorial Global Tech High School.

The two schools, along with the International High School currently located at the former Johnston campus, would be known as the Eastside Memorial High Schools at the Johnston Campus.

Geneva Oliva, president of the PTSA for Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus, the school currently operating at the former Johnston campus, told trustees that students and parents supported the selection of the Eastside Memorial Green Tech High School and Eastside Memorial Global Tech High School names.

“We commend staff for involving us and honoring our input,” she said.

Trustees also voted unanimously to name a new southwest Austin middle school in honor of Diane Elaine Gorzycki, a late Austin middle school band director and former administrative supervisor of fine arts for the Austin schools.

Gorzycki’s name received 279 nominations in the district’s naming process for the new middle school, more than any other nomination.

“For me, this time around it’s been [a process] of listening to the community and hearing what they would like to have the school named,” trustee Robert Schneider said.

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Austin school board to name three schools tonight

The Austin school board is set to name three schools at its meeting tonight: The two high schools that will open in the fall at the former Johnston High School campus and the new southwest Austin middle school.

After listening to parents and students, district administrators are recommending that the two new high schools that will open at the former Johnston campus (which now houses Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus and International High School) be called something like Eastside Memorial Green Tech High School and Eastside Memorial Global ~~Studies~~ Tech High School. The two schools, along with International, would be known as the “Eastside Memorial High Schools at the Johnston Campus.”

(Correction: I got the proposed name for the global studies school wrong. It’s Eastside Memorial Global Tech High School.)

In preparation for naming the new southwest Austin middle school, the district’s Office of Planning and Community Relations put together this lovely chart showing the gender and ethnicity of schools’ namesakes as well as if the namesakes were Civil War or “early Texas” figures, educators, political leaders or held other roles.

From a quick glance through the list, it looks to me like we’ve got a lot of schools named after white people and after educators.

In any case, the most often nominated name for the new southwest Austin middle school is that of Diane Elaine Gorzycki, right, a late Austin middle school band director.

Gorzycki’s name was nominated by 279 people. Other top nomination-getters include late southwest Austin volunteers Margo Bjeletich and Ross Baldwin.

At a school board meeting last week, school board president Mark Williams stumbled over Gorzycki’s name and jokingly suggested calling the school “The Diane School,” bypassing Gorzycki’s treacherous multitude of consonants entirely.

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Former school board president backs Austin alternative school plan

Former Austin school board president Doyle Valdez, right, is backing a proposal to have the Austin school district hire a for-profit company to open an alternative school in fall 2009 for about 650 eighth and ninth graders who have been previously held back, promoted without passing the TAKS in the past or failed multiple classes.

(We have a story in today’s paper with more information about the plan.)

The Austin school board will discuss the proposal at their meeting tonight. The public portion of the meeting starts at 7 p.m.

Valdez is currently a paid consultant for the company that would operate the school, Community Education Partners, but said that he only signed on after paying for his own visits to the company’s existing schools and seeing evidence from the company showing that its schools helps students who have fallen behind catch up.

“I think this could be a model for AISD to really help our students who have had trouble going from eighth grade to ninth grade,” he said. “Instead of just moving these students to ninth grade, 10th grade and 11th grade, let’s get them ready when they are in ninth grade.”

I also spoke with CEP CEO Randle Richardson last night about criticisms of some of the disciplinary schools the company runs. (Here’s the lawsuit the ACLU filed against the company and the Atlanta school district, for example.)

Richardson pointed out that four of the six claims in the lawsuit were dismissed. Claims involving students’ assignment to the school and the search process for entering the school are still part of the lawsuit. Here’s a written response to the lawsuit Richardson sent me.

And although Superintendent Mike Moses said the district’s CEP program was ineffective and too expensive when Dallas ended its contract with CEP in 2002, Richardson provided me with this letter Moses sent to Dan Branch (now a state representative) in 2002. Moses writes that in the 2001-02 school year, CEP did a good job.

Richardson said that CEP operates 20 schools, half of them disciplinary alternative schools and half academic intervention schools. (Austin is thinking of asking CEP to open an academic intervention school, NOT a disciplinary placement school.)

“What you hear about are our disciplinary programs because they are controversial,” Richardson said.

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March 23, 2009

Martin MS students to show inauguration video

The video shot by Martin Middle School students during the President Barack Obama Jan. 20 inauguration will be shown at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the cafeteria of the campus, at 1601 Haskell St. Admission is free.
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Students from at least three Austin schools — including Austin and LBJ high schools — attended the Washington event. Katrina Hicks, a Martin technology teacher took more than a dozen students from her East Austin campus’ Business Professionals of America Club. In addition to the inauguration, the students’ five-day trip included a visit to the office of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett.

In advance of the trip, Hicks said, “With the support of their school and the love of their families, these students will embark on an amazing trip to Washington, D.C., next week to participate in the presidential inauguration ceremonies for Barack Obama. Martin Middle School is proud to have these 15 students represent their school.”

For more information on the video program, call the school at 414-3243.

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March 13, 2009

Austin schools see 911 hang-up calls spike

The Austin school district’s emergency communications and dispatch center has received a large number of 911 hang-up calls recently. Many of them are from staff members who are trying to check their voicemails and are under the incorrect impression that they need to dial “9” first to reach an outside line, district officials say.

At times, there have been as many as ten 911 hang-up calls a day, said district Emergency Management Coordinator Will O’Neill. Police officers respond to each call, making them unavailable to respond to other perhaps more urgent calls, O’Neill said.

If you accidentally dial 911, stay on the line and let the operator know what happened, O’Neill said.

More helpful AISD voicemail tips:

Logging in to your Voice Mailbox from your Meridian phone

Pick up the handset; you should have dial tone.
Press the Message button. If you do not have a Message button, dial the Voice Mail System access number. (4-1799 for 414 numbers) (1-1799 for 841 numbers) Note: if a 9 is dialed before the sequence (9)1-1799, you have dialed 911.
Enter your five-digit extension at the prompt, followed by the # sign.
Enter your password at the prompt, followed by the # sign.
Hang up when finished.

March 12, 2009

Police to start ticketing school fire lane violators

Starting March 23, Austin school district police officers will start ticketing people who park in fire lanes outside schools. The fine for parking in a fire lane is $35, and increases to $70 if you don’t pay up by the scheduled court hearing date.

School buses can pull up into the fire lanes, but can’t be parked there unattended, school district Emergency Management Coordinator Will O’Neill said.

No parking means no parking, according to a recent AISD-PD newsletter:

Vehicles cannot be parked and left unattended in a fire lane at any time. This includes vehicles left idling while a parent runs in to check out a student, to unload equipment from vehicles, or as a location to park non-emergency vehicles.

O’Neill said that fire lane enforcement was previously the purview of the city fire marshal’s office, which ticketed violators as time allowed. The fire marshal asked AISD-PD to help out with fire lane enforcement, O’Neal said.

March 10, 2009

District seeks ideas on how to spend federal money

The Austin school district is asking educators, parents and local community partners for proposals on how to use its share of federal economic stimulus money.

Starting Thursday, the district will begin asking the public for proposals both in mailings and electronically though the district website, Austin Superintendent Pat Forgione said. The district will give a mailing address for ideas at that time as well, officials said.

Forgione said a review process is also being established to determine which projects should be chosen. Forgione has asked that proposals be submitted by the end of March so the district could be prepared to make hires, if needed, during its May job fair.

“God forbid I get overwhelmed,” he said, estimating from his conversations with other superintendents that his might be one of the first districts in the nation to be asking for stimulus submissions in this way. “This is about gathering ideas for how to improve education in our district. … I figured the risk was greatest if I didn’t give everyone the chance to come to the table.”

Though the exact amount of stimulus money the district will receive is still uncertain, district officials think they could receive as much as $38 million over the next two years for low income schools and special education.

Additional money from the $53.6 billion state stabilization fund — most of which is going to state governors but some of which will be awarded competitively — may be available for other more general projects. Steve West , the Austin school district’ chief financal officer said Austin’s share amount to as much as another $40 million, but it’s still unclear how much will make its way down from the state to the local level.

What money gets spend where, will depend on how much is available, what restrictions it comes with and how it can be integrated with the school district’s budget, Forgione said.

“I think you’ve got to be cautious,” Forgione said when asked about whether money given as part of the two-year stimulus should be spent on recurring expenses, such as new positions. “But we know if we’re going to have a purpose for this whole activity from an educational point of view, we’ve got to balance our short and long term needs.”

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Clayton crowding issue resolved despite possible ballot-stuffing

The Austin school board unanimously approved last night a plan to ease crowding at Clayton Elementary School for the 2009-2010 school year by assigning all new Clayton kindergarten students who do not have siblings at Clayton to Kiker Elementary School for the 2009-2010 school year.

(Other options included moving fifth graders to Kiker and moving all kindergarteners to Kiker. The district expects to open a a new elementary school in southwest Austin in 2010 to provide additional relief to Clayton.)

Prior to the vote, Associate Superintendent for South Elementary Schools Ariel Cloud told the board that there were some irregularities in responses to an online survey on parents’ preferences for easing crowding at Clayton:

Forty-nine percent of responses to the survey came from two IP addresses. Those responses were sent during a period of several hours starting at about 11 p.m, she said.

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March 6, 2009

New accountability system comes too late for Pearce, Reagan

A proposed overhaul of Texas’ school accountability system would not affect schools such as Pearce Middle School and Reagan High School that are facing the possibility of being closed by the state this spring because of repeatedly failing to meet state standards, Statesman reporter Kate Alexander reports.

Under the bill as filed, the key measure of student achievement will be “growth,” or showing that students are progressing toward the grade-level standard, even if they are below it. That progress could be examined over a three-year period.

You can read the full Senate version of the bill .

Kate writes:

The reprieve might not be enough to save two other Austin schools Pearce Middle School in East Austin and Reagan High School in Northeast Austin that are facing possible closure because they have been repeatedly rated academically unacceptable under the current accountability system.

The new system, if approved by the Legislature, would not go into effect until 2011. The existing rules would stay in place until that time.

March 5, 2009

AISD recommends sending new Clayton kinders to Kiker

Austin school district administrators will recommend to the school board Monday that all new Clayton Elementary School kindergarteners without siblings be assigned to Kiker Elementary School for the 2009-2010 school year.

Associate Superintendent of South Elementary Schools Ariel Cloud wrote in a letter to parents yesterday:

Given the difficult task of selecting one of the three options, and reviewing data that indicated there is not a clear consensus within the Clayton community as to which option to support, our goal was to use the data collected to select what we believe to be the most feasible option to respond to this very challenging situation.

The district had considered three options to ease overcrowding at Clayton:

-Assigning all new Clayton kindergarteners to Kiker. Estimated cost: $350,000;

-Assigning all rising Clayton fifth graders to Kiker. Cost: Estimated cost: $150,000; and

-Assigning all new Clayton kindergarteners without siblings at Clayton to Kiker. Estimated cost: $175,000.

There have been some intense discussions about how to ease crowding at Clayton, which currently has 983 students, about 100 more than the school was built to serve.

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March 3, 2009

Austin school board mulls changes to teacher firings

At their meeting last night, the Austin school board seemed to be heading towards changing how teachers at schools that have been closed or restructured by the state are treated.

Current district policy allows the district to fire those teachers. The local teachers’ labor group would like to change that provision.

After Johnston High School was closed by the state last year after repeatedly failing to meet state standards, the human resources department helped them line up interviews at other schools, but didn’t automatically assign them to new positions. In August, former Johnston teachers without new jobs were told they would be placed, at full salary, at other Austin schools as permanent substitutes during the 2008-09 school year. But the administrators said that if the staffers didn’t find new jobs at other Austin schools by March 2, the district would fire them at the end of this school year. As of this week, five are still looking for jobs.

Board member Christine Brister, top right, said she was “not comfortable with how we’re handling this.”

But trustees seemed to wrestle with how to balance giving principals the ability to select their own staff with treating teachers at closed schools fairly.

Among the options: Giving the teachers from the closed school first shot at open positions and extending the time they can remain on the district’s payroll while seeking a new job.

“We need to do something up front before teachers go (to those schools),” trustee Vincent Torres, bottom right, said.

With 70 teachers at Pearce Middle School, which could be closed by the state if test scores don’t improve this year, and another 120 or so at Reagan High School, which could face the same fate next year, it could well be an issue that will come up again soon.

“This is going to get bigger before it gets better,” district human resources director Michael Houser told the board.

March 2, 2009

Former Johnston teachers evaluated

I wrote in today’s paper about how Education Austin is asking the school board to reconsider a policy that allows the district to fire teachers after their campuses have been closed or reorganized under state order.

The policy allows the administration to begin termination proceedings against those teachers immediately. But after Johnston High School was closed by the state last spring, teachers who hadn’t found new positions in Austin school by the start of this school year were told they had until today to interview and be selected for permanent jobs or the district would start termination proceedings against them. As of Friday, five of Johnston’s 88 teachers and other professional employees were still looking for jobs.

I’ve seen some commenters on today’s story suggest that the teachers who lost their jobs were bad teachers.

FYI, here are a few excerpts from some of those teachers’ performance appraisals:

One was teacher rated “exceeds expectations” or “clearly outstanding” by her supervisors in every category on her last performance appraisal at Johnston and was commended for her “excellent job&” in working with “some of the highest at risk students on campus.”

Another teacher, Daryl Rupp, who has since found a new job at Crockett High School, received letters from several parents.

Rupp would get to school by 7 a.m. to “walk the neighborhood and make sure our kids made it to school every day,” wrote PTSA president Geneva Oliva. “I have been involved in AISD for the past 28 years and have yet to meet a teacher as devoted to students and teaching as Mr. Rupp,” she wrote.

Another mother wrote about how Rupp encouraged her daughter, who dropped out of school after having a child, to come back and graduate. “If it was not for Mr. Rupp’s concern for my children, I honestly believe my son and my oldest daughter would have never graduated from high school,” she wrote.

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February 18, 2009

Size of subgroups indicator of NCLB success

We have a story in today’s paper about this study from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Kingsbury Center at the Northwest Evaluation Association study of test scores from 18 elementary schools in different states including Texas.

The oversimplified gist of the study was that individual states’ implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act’s provisions vary significantly, and that makes the accountability system confusing to people and creates the illusion of an actual national accountability system. (The Fordham Institute did a similar study in 2007 on the “false impression of success” created by the No Child Left Behind Act.)

But the study also found that a school’s proportion of English-language learning students and special education students matters a lot in Texas under the federal accountability system:

A strong predictor of a school making AYP under Texas’s system is whether it has enough SWDs or LEP students to qualify as a separate subgroup. Every single school with these subgroups failed to make AYP.

That’s every single school among the 18 the study looked at.

Interestingly, the only Austin elementary school that didn’t meet federal standards in 2008 was Norman Elementary School, where African-American students’ struggled in reading.

District administrators told the school board last month that Norman struggled because of, among other things, poorly planned professional development, a lack of common teacher planning time and of classroom instruction monitoring, and few opportunities for parents to get involved at the school.

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February 11, 2009

More Austin teachers earn advanced certification

Thirty-four Austin teachers earned National Board Certification this year, joining 136 of their colleagues who are already National Board certified.

(Some research studies have found that the that students taught by teachers with the certification make greater gains on achievement tests than students taught by teachers without the advanced certification, but it’s unclear whether the certification process leads to better teachers or if better teachers just happen to be the ones who choose to go through the process.)

The Austin school district has the highest proportion of teachers who are National Board certified statewide, with about three percent of teachers having the certification. Third on the list is Round Rock with about 40 of its approximately 2,880 teachers with National Board certification. Both Austin and Round Rock districts pay teachers with the certification an annual stipend ranging from $1,000-$3,000.

About 40 percent of Austin’s new NB certified teachers are in Title I schools with high proportions of children from low-income families.

~~blue~~ red

But there seems to be a high turnover rate for NB certified teachers in AISD: As of November 2008, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards listed 191 National Board certified teachers in Austin. As of this week, the district had 170 of them.

What happened to those other 21 teachers?

(Update, 2/17: I spoke with Merlinda Rodriguez who coordinates Austin’s NB program. She said the reason the NB lists 191 teachers as of Nov. 2008 and the Austin school district lists 170 as of Feb. 2009 is due to differences in how the two entities count teachers. She said the National Board’s list includes all teachers who indicate that they work for the district, including those who may have retired or moved to another district and not updated the National Board on their employment status.)

See the full list of Austin’s newest National Board Certified teachers after the jump.

February 10, 2009

Second-grader unhappy about juice box size

Sunset Valley Elementary School second-grader Jude Belding is not happy about the size of the juice boxes his school’s cafeteria serves.

“Juice is healthy, we should get more,” he wrote in a letter to the Statesman. “All of the kids think so.”

Check out his pithy letter to the editor.

I talked with Sunset Valley Principal Kim Placker, and she confirmed that Jude had spoken with her about the juice box issue, asked her permission to circulate a petition among his classmates, and also written a letter to the school’s cafeteria manager. Unfortunately, the juice serving sizes are guided by federal school breakfast and lunch program rules and unlikely to be changed any time soon, she said.

Sorry, Jude.

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February 9, 2009

Southwest Austin elementary school moves forward

The Austin school board unanimously voted to move forward with plans for a new southwest Austin elementary school tonight, approving the school’s schematic design as part of the board’s consent agenda.

Getting the school built is a major concern for parents at Clayton Elementary School parents, which is already overcrowded. They’re counting on the opening of the new elementary school in 2010 to ease the school’s overcrowding.

Several of the Clayton parents who spoke to the board tonight suggested that trustees were dragging their feet on the project and putting environmental concerns about development over the aquifer ahead of the educational needs of children living in the neighborhood.

That’s not the case, superintendent Pat Forgione told them. The district is confident that the new school will open on time in August 2010, he said.

What do you think?

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February 6, 2009

Austin parents line up early for school transfers

The Austin school district will start accepting applications from parents who want to transfer their children from one school to another at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, but by 10 a.m. today there were about a dozen parents already camped out at the central office.

I know that people usually camp out overnight, but getting in line almost 24 hours in advance points to a few differences this year:

Thirty schools are partially or completely frozen to transfers this year. Austin High School and O. Henry Middle school will no longer accept “Majority to Minority” transfers. And some highly regarded elementary schools also have some grades closed to transfers.

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Race and the search for a new schools chief

Reporter Laura Heinauer writes in today’s paper that Austin trustees have narrowed down their list of candidates to replace superintendent Pat Forgione, who will retire at the end of June, to three.

And—surprise, surprise—race has become a major issue in the decision, with several board members pushing to put a Hispanic person in the position.

Coincidentally, Houston ISD superintendent Abelardo Saavedra announced Wednesday that he’ll be resigning by spring 2010. Saavedra was Houston’s first Hispanic superintendent, a fact that filled the president of the city’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with pride, according to the Houston Chronicle:

A strong supporter of Saavedra, Murillo said she hopes his successor appreciates diversity. “If that candidate happens to be Hispanic, that would be wonderful,” she said. “But in the end, the superintendent is going to have some really high standards to live up to.”

February 5, 2009

Renovations begin for new schools at Eastside High

About 25 Eastside Memorial and International high school teachers have been told to get ready to pack up and move classrooms in the coming weeks to make way for the renovations that will create two new schools on the former Johnston High School campus that Eastside and International currently share.

There will be three schools at the Johnston campus next school year: the two new schools and International High School. Eastside Memorial juniors and seniors will become students at one of the two new schools, but will likely take classes under a slightly different program than freshmen and sophomores.

The two new schools will use a “project-based learning” model in which students will work on projects in teams, and teachers will teach in pairs. That means that existing classrooms must be enlarged, new electrical and data cables must be installed and other changes made before the start of the next school year.

The good news: With about 750 students total on a high school campus designed to hold 1,800, there’s plenty of space to relocate this year’s classes while the contractors ready rooms for next years’ kids.

The bad news: More work and disruption for teachers and students in the middle of the year, and with TAKS testing approaching.

Kent Ewing, executive director of the district’s office of high school redesign, told me that he’d rather not have to move classrooms around in the middle of the year, but that the district is between a rock and a hard place.

“If you wait until June to start, you’ll never finish,” he said. “There’s no way you could get it done over the summer. … We’ve delayed it as long as we possibly could.”

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February 4, 2009

Policy affects those seeking Austin High transfer

Austin High School and O. Henry Middle School’s change this year to majority hispanic and black campuses could impact several families wanting to transfer to those schools, district officials said. Austin’s school transfer policy allows students at campus with majority black or hispanic populations to transfer into schools with majority white or other populations. Starting this year, Bowie and Anderson are the only high schools still accepting “Majority to Minority” transfers. Last year, 259 students opted to go to Austin High on such transfers. Many of them were from neighborhoods that feed into East Side Memorial and Travis High School. We’re wondering, being that this is the first weekend the district will begin accepting transfer requests for next year, what you think about the policy?

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February 2, 2009

Early dismissal today at McCallum High School

From the Austin school district:

CLASSES DISMISSED EARLY, ATHLETIC EVENTS RESCHEDULED FOR MCCALLUM COACH HONEYCUTT SERVICES

McCallum High School classes will end at 1:10pm today, Monday, February 2, 2009 to allow students, faculty and staff to attend the funeral of Coach Pat Honeycutt. Buses will run according to the 1:10pm dismissal. The funeral will be at 3:30 p.m. today at the Delco Center, 4601 Pecan Brook Drive.

Also, the boys’ Junior Varsity soccer game on Monday has been moved to Tuesday. The JV boys will play at 6 p.m. Tuesday, followed by the Varsity boys at 7:45. The girls’ JV Soccer game on Monday has also been moved to Tuesday. The JV girls will play at 6 p.m., followed by the Varsity girls at 7:45.

The school suggests that people who would like to assist the Honeycutt family in this difficult time send local restaurant gift cards and such to the McCallum High School office. Also, the PTSA is establishing a fund for the education expenses for the Honeycutt children. Donations can be made to:

Coach Pat Honeycutt Memorial Children’s Scholarship Fund

First State Bank - Central Texas

6500 N Mopac

Austin, Texas 78731

Attn: Roxanne

And, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the

Pat Honeycutt Fighting Knight Scholarship Fund

c/o McCalllum High School (Attn: Mary Noack)

5600 Sunshine Dr.

Austin, TX 78756

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January 29, 2009

Local schools want to know what you think

While the Austin school district is working with a management consulting company to figure out how it can be more efficient, the Pflugerville school district is working with the National Education Association to figure out what parents and staff think of its schools.

The Pflugerville survey closes on Jan. 30. You can access the survey at http://www.pflugervilleisd.net/features/keys.cfm.

Austin will hold a live, in-person open house at Martin Middle School on Feb. 19. Or you can just visit http://austinisd.mgtamer.com and submit your comments there. Anonymity guaranteed, they say.

January 28, 2009

Arkansas super search process more open than Texas'

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Texas law allows the Austin school district board of trustees could keep the names of those vying to replace outgoing Superintendent Pat Forgione private until trustees have made their final choice.

Open government advocates (ahem, the Statesman) think the process should be more open, with the board required to at least reveal the names of any candidates it interviews.

Most school board members say making applicants names public before the board selects its finalist(s) would discourage people from applying.

Turns out, Arkansas’ public information laws are a little different from Texas’. And last week, a list of people applying for the Fayetteville school district superintendent’s job was released. Among the candidates is Lago Vista superintendent Barbara Qualls.

The world did not end.

Qualls said she didn’t know before applying that her name would become public early in the process. But she hasn’t withdrawn her name from consideration since the list was released, she said.

And Arkansas School Board Association communications director Suellen Vann said that while Arkansas school districts, particularly small, rural districts, sometimes struggle to find suitable superintendents, “it has nothing to do with the search process itself.” It has more to do with struggles to “attract candidates who want to live in their communities for whatever reasons,” she said.

January 27, 2009

New southwest MS boundaries set

Update, 2:40 p.m.: For those looking for a more detailed map of the new boundaries, the best I can offer at the moment is the suggestion to open this pdf map of the new boundaries and zoom way in on your neighborhood. I’ll see if we can get a more detailed map soon.

Also, current 6th and 7th graders at affected middle schools may remain at their current schools next year if they want to.

After hearing impassioned pleas from Southwest Austin parents, the Austin school board voted late Monday night to approve attendance zones for a new southwest Austin middle school that will send some sixth graders from Mills Elementary School to the new middle school and others to Small Middle School.

The vote was 7-1-1, with trustee Robert Schneider voting against the plan and trustee Sam Guzman abstaining. Schneider said he voted against the attendance zone plan because of “significant concerns” about the process and data used to create the plan and because he thought it could overcrowd the new middle school.

Southwest Austin neighborhoods have been wrestling for nearly a year over the issue of where the district should draw attendance boundaries for the middle school scheduled to open for the 2009-10 school year. Parents are concerned over disruption to their children’s lives, commuting time and safety, and maintaining their schools’ cohesiveness.

Mills Elementary School PTA treasurer Traci Anderson drove to the school district’s central office before 4 a.m. Monday to snag one of the 30 public comment slots at Monday night’s meeting. All 30 spots were taken before 9 a.m.

“I have a fifth grader and a second grader,” Anderson said. “This is going to affect me for many years to come.”

The central issue of the attendance zone debate is that although most Clayton, Kiker and Mills elementary school parents would like all graduating fifth graders at their schools to attend the new middle school, satisfying that desire would overcrowd the new middle school and leave some other middle schools under-utilized.

Currently, Clayton students are divided between Bailey and Small middle schools. All Kiker students attend Bailey, and all Mills students attend Small.

A 35-member task force with representatives from affected schools has been working on the attendance zone plans since May.

Under the new attendance zone plan approved Monday night, all Clayton and Kiker students would attend the new middle school, located at FM 1826 and West Slaughter Lane. Some Mills students would attend the new middle school, while others would attend Small.

That proposal would change Bailey from a majority white school to one at which most students are Hispanic or African-American, according to district projections. The district projects that the new middle school would be more than 70 percent white, making it one of the less racially and ethnically diverse schools in the district.

Another proposal supported by some Mills parents and parents from some other affected schools would send all Mills students to the new middle school and split Kiker between the new middle school and Small. Guzman’s motion to have that plan formally presented to the board failed Monday night.

Students from all three elementary schools currently attend Bowie High School. The board is not considering changing high school attendance zones.

The board was also set to vote Monday night on how to relieve overcrowding at Clayton Elementary School, now at about 116 percent of capacity. District administrators have recommended assigning new Clayton kindergartners without siblings to Kiker Elementary for one year, until a new elementary school is slated to open in Southwest Austin. Another option discussed involved opening the new southwest middle school as a 5-6 grade school

The board voted to move forward with opening the new southwest middle school as a 6-8 grade school for the ~~2010-11~~ 2009-10 school year, but put off a decision on how to address overcrowding at Clayton until the administration gathers more community input.

Quotes of the night from the dais:

Trustee Cheryl Bradley, to the crowd of more than 200 parents, many dressed in their elementary schools’ colors, who waved signs, cheered and jeered during the four-hour public board meeting:

“I do admire your passion to advocate for your children.”

Board president Mark WIlliams, on the impossibility of pleasing all constituencies:

“Every decision stinks. Sometimes you have to look at the one that stinks the least.”

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January 20, 2009

Austin parents' classroom visitation rights under debate

Austin school board member Cheryl Bradley has been pushing for the past year and a half for the district to strengthen parents’ rights to visit their children’s classrooms. She says that if the district is going to publicly push for more parents to get involved in their children’s schools, it should make sure that parents are welcomed at every campus.

Currently, district policy says only that parents may visit individual classrooms during instructional time only with the principal’s and teacher’s approval, and only if the parents don’t stay too long or visit too often, i.e., not if their visits’ “duration or frequency interferes with the delivery of instruction or disrupts the normal school environment.”

The new proposed policy, up for discussion at tonight’s board meeting, says up front that the district “encourages parents and guardians to visit their respective student’s campuses and classrooms.” It also says that if a teacher and/or principal don’t want a parent to visit at a particular time, they have to suggest an alternative day/time.

Here’s what Bradley had to say about the old policy and the new proposed ones:

Changing the policy would bring it in line with the district’s public push to get more parents involved in schools.

“Parents and guardians, to me, are the essence of what make up a campus community. And if we’re saying that you can only visit your child’s classroom when the principal and teacher say so, that’s not a community. It doesn’t make you feel welcome.”

Parents: Do you feel welcome at your children’s campus? Have you ever been turned away for a visit?

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January 13, 2009

Thirty Austin schools closed to transfers

Thirty Austin schools will be completely or partial closed to transfer students in the 2009-10 school year because they have or are expected to have enrollments that exceed their capacities or in order to “maintain stability in their tracking patterns.”

Among the schools frozen or partially frozen for the first time are O. Henry Middle School and Highland Park Elementary School.

At another 11 schools, space will be re-evaluated after priority transfers are approved.

Requests for student transfers for the 2009-2010 school year will be accepted starting at 7 a.m. Feb. 7 at the district’s central office on 6th Street.

Factoids of note:

For the first time this year the ethnic majority at Austin High School and O. Henry Middle School has changed from White/Asian to Black/Hispanic.

And transfers to Bailey Middle School, the new southwest Austin middle school and Small Middle School will be limited to priority transfers. After enrollment has stabilized, it a limited number of general transfers might be approved.

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January 7, 2009

Austin English learners TAKS scores improve

Education Week’s report on how schools in Texas and nationwide are serving English language-learning students paints a pretty grim picture of how we’re doing.

As I wrote in today’s paper, about a third of Texas English language-learning (ELL) students and about a quarter of ELLs statewide didn’t make progress in learning English in the 2006-7 school year. (That’s the most recent year that all 50 states and D.C. had data available.)

(Here’s the Texas Education Week report.)

Nationally, English learners in most states lag behind their peers in terms of passing rates on state standardized tests too.

Only Louisiana and Mississippi buck that trend, the Education Week researchers said. Apparently Louisiana and Mississippi English learners do better than English speakers on state math tests.

But, by the glass-half-full theory, at least, here’s a sliver of sunshine from an AISD report I got a copy of yesterday:

AISD ELLs showed gains from 2006-2007 to 2007-2008 in every subject at almost every grade level. For example, the greatest percentage point gains were in reading/ELA at grade 8 (27 percentage points) and mathematics at grade 8 (38 percentage points). Greatest gains also occurred in science at grade 5 (13 percentage points) and in social studies at grades 8 and 10 (17 percentage points each).

On the other hand, Austin English language learners still pass most TAKS (except for the Reading TAKS) at lower rates than English language learners across the state.

The district is in its second year of trying to improve how middle and high school English language-learners, most of whom are placed in general education classes taught in English and receive extra instruction in English in pullout sessions, are instructed.

According to an October 2008 report from district researchers, teachers rated the extra training and support highly, but some said they didn’t have enough time or resources to use new approaches such as encouraging discussion or having students complete projects in small groups.

I talked to district bilingual education/ESL executive director Martha Garcia about the English language-learner education yesterday and she said that the district pays elementary level bilingual education teachers and middle and high school teachers who use a second language in the classroom a $2,500 stipend, and also covers the $150 cost of a teacher’s English as a Second Language certification.

Currently, about five percent of Austin teachers are certified ESL teachers, she said.

Garcia said the district has discussed requiring or encouraging all teachers to be ESL-certified as one way to help English language learners, but has put the idea on hold because of the time and money that would be involved.

What do you think will help local English language-learners learn English along with science, math, social studies and all that other stuff?

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January 5, 2009

East Austin non-profit responds to charter school allegations

Southwest Key director of special projects Layla Fry sent me an email in response to the issues raised by Eugene Sepulveda about the new charter middle school Southwest Key plans to open next school year.

(Sepulveda, who says that he’s no longer at UT and would be better identified as CEO of the Entrepreneurs Foundation, has another post about Southwest Key here.)

Contrary to what Sepulveda suggests, Southwest Key CEO does not receive any money from Southwest Key’s affiliates, Fry writes. She also points out that Southwest Key’s financial information can be downloaded from www.guidestar.org, and the organization’s audit statements and annual reports are published on Southwest Key’s website.

Her full email is below:

In response to a previous entry in your blog about Southwest Key’s charter middle school, please be advised that Southwest Key’s CEO does not receive any money from its subsidiaries or affiliates. Southwest Key has formed several subsidiary social enterprises and none of them are privately owned by Dr. Sanchez or any other individual. Those organizations are solely owned by the nonprofit Southwest Key Programs, Inc. They have no shareholders—no one makes money from these businesses - all revenue goes back to support the nonprofit mission. These subsidiaries pay rent and a management fee to the nonprofit parent company for administrative services, a standard practice of good organizational operations.

Southwest Key’s CEO salary information and financial information are all public and can be downloaded from the 990s at www.guidestar.org, and the organization’s audit statements and annual reports are published on Southwest Key’s website at http://www.swkey.org/financials.html. The Austin Business Journal’s Book of Philanthropy (pub. 2/29/08 - see attached) lists Southwest Key as the 4th largest nonprofit in Austin with an operating budget of $56.8 million. Southwest Key’s CEO compensation is $200,471, which is lower than the other nonprofits of comparable size in Austin and much lower than the social service industry standard.

Southwest Key’s charter school application was unanimously approved by the State Board of Education. It received the highest score of all applicants in the entire state in TEA’s extremely thorough review process.

Southwest Key has been recognized for its transparency and recently received a near perfect score and an official designation of accreditation from the national independent Council on Accreditation (COA: www.coanet.org). COA accreditation attests that an organization meets the highest national standards of best practice and is delivering the best quality services to the community it serves. The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administrative operations and service delivery against national standards of best practice, with a significant emphasis on transparency and ethics. All of Southwest Key’s programs for which COA has a service standard were subject to review as COA reviews and accredits the entire organization, not specific programs. Southwest Key was one of only three nonprofits in Austin to become COA certified.

All of the facts related to Southwest Key’s finances and governance are readily available and posted for public review on Guidestar and the organization’s website, so there is no need to rely on “unconfirmed reports” or intuition about “things not feeling right”.

The reality is that there is a dire need for quality education in East Austin. This neighborhood needs leaders from greater Austin to seek to truly understand the grassroots work going on here and be willing to lend their support to improve the quality of life for those who will be the ultimate beneficiaries - our children.

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Former UT professor questions new East Austin charter school

Former UT Professor Eugene Sepulveda says that something about Southwest Key’s plans to open a charter school in East Austin just doesn’t feel right.

On his Community Matters blog, Sepulveda says he has reservations about how Southwest Key, a nonprofit corporation based in East Austin that operates shelters for immigrant children and other social programs nationwide, operates:

As to charter schools, I’m a big fan of KIPP and the UT School. But, there are unconfirmed reports SW Keys’ CEO pays himself $600k to $800k from various affiliated entities associated with the nonprofit. I notice that a champion who helped him overcome previous community objections is a substantial vendor to Southwest Keys and that the school will pay rent to Southwest Key and share an administrator. Feels like Austin community leaders are being used to accomplish something Southwest Keys was unable to obtain approval for; something doesn’t feel right here. Hope I’m wrong.

Southwest Key CEO Juan Sanchez does in fact lead several for-profit businesses affiliated with Southwest Key, including a cafe, a landscaping business, and a real estate holding company that IRS filings show has done hundreds of thousands of dollars of business with the Southwest Key non-profit. Those businesses aren’t listed on his biographical affidavit included in the charter school’s application to the State Board of Education, but Southwest Key’s educational programs superintendent Nellie Cantu told me last month that the omission was an oversight.

Further clarification about plans for the new charter school from Cantu:

The East Austin College Prep Academy charter school plans to open with 80 6th graders in August 2009, although they have State Board of Education permission to open with up to 125 students.
Right now, the school is focusing on the middle school level, although they do have permission from the State Board of Education to eventually add 9th and 10th grades.

Update, 2:25 p.m.: Although an Austin Partners in Education staff member endorsed the new charter school on APIE letterhead, APIE executive director Kathrin Brewer called today to say that the organization as a whole does not support the new charter school…

Correction, 6:10 p.m.: Sepulveda says that he’s no longer at UT and would be better identified as CEO of the Entrepreneurs Foundation.

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December 30, 2008

El Paso schools chief withdraws from AISD super search

Thanks, but no thanks.

El Paso superintendent Lorenzo Garcia, right, is the only candidate so far who has publicly declared that he might be interested in becoming the superintendent of the Austin school district after current super Pat Forgione, right, retires in spring 2009.

And now he’s the only candidate so far to publicly say that he’s not interested in the job. According to El Paso ISD, Garcia has withdrawn his name from consideration.

Garcia’s announcement comes after the Austin school board narrowed down their list of candidates to a handful. I have no idea whether or not Garcia was among those semi-finalists.

December 29, 2008

Former teacher pleads guilty to child porn charges

A former Travis High School teacher was sentenced to 15 years of probation Monday after pleading guilty to child pornography and improper photography charges.

Under the terms of his probation, Page White, 40, right, must register as a sex offender and avoid contact with children. He has surrendered his teaching license.

White, who taught at Travis for three years and previously worked at Kealing Middle School, had at least 75 images of child pornography on his home computer, many of them involving children under the age of 12, Austin police Detective Joel Pridgeon said in Travis County district court Monday.

Police also found several dozen videos of young women’s behinds on White’s video camera, most of which appeared to have been taken without the women’s knowledge, according to an affidavit for White’s arrest.

The videos included images of women walking around Highland Mall as well as several files titled with the names of female Travis High School students and classes, according to the affidavit.

Police did not find evidence that White sent the videos to others, Pridgeon said.

White was arrested in December 2006, days after he was seen following young women at the mall with a camera.

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December 12, 2008

New southwest Austin middle school boundaries under debate

Southwest Austin parents are super-concerned about the redrawing of attendance zones in to incorporate a new middle school.

The school board is set to discuss the latest proposed attendance boundaries Monday night.

I wrote last month about the issues a 35-member task force with representatives from affected schools has been wrestling with since May, and have also received a number of emails from concerned parents. (The boundary task force’s webpage is at http://www.austinisd.org/inside/2004bond/boundaries/swmiddleschool.phtml.)

The latest plan, set to be presented to the board Monday, would send all all of the middle school students in the Clayton and Kiker elementary school attendance zones and approximately 57% of the middle school students in the Mills elementary school attendance zone into the new middle school’s attendance zone. Smaller changes would be made to the Bailey attendance zone affecting Bailey, Covington and Paredes middle schools.

You can see the full description of the plan here and a map of it here.

The school could open either as a middle school serving grades six through eight or as a middle school serving grades five and six in its first year and grades six through eight in the following years. (More information on the two plans here.)

What do you think of the attendance zone and grade configuration plans?

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December 7, 2008

El Paso school chief applies for AISD super's post

The El Paso TImes reports that El Paso superintendent Lorenzo Garcia has applied for the position of superintendent of the Austin school district, which current Superintendent Pat Forgione plans to retire from in the spring.

Garcia signed a new $272,944.87 contract to lead the 62,100-student district earlier this year, according to the El Paso Times.

AISD isn’t saying who else applied, but the Austin school board did meet Saturday to go over applications forwarded to them by their superintendent search firm.

December 5, 2008

Some teachers get bonuses for work they didn't do

By 2009, Texas is expected to have the largest public school teacher performance pay program in the country. The state is likely to spend about $247 million by 2009 on programs that give teacher bonuses for things like improving students’ scores on standardized tests, attempting advanced teaching certifications, or teaching in hard-to-staff areas.

According to a report on Texas’s teacher performance pay program released this week, 838 teachers who started working at their particular school in fall 2007 got bonuses for improved student performance in the 2006-7 school year, performance that happened before they set foot on campus. (Read today’s story on the report’s other conclusions here.)

The report from Vanderbilt University’s National Center on Performance Incentives says:

Data collected on the actual distribution of TEEG (Texas Educator Excellence Grant) awards indicates that 69 percent of full-time teachers in TEEG schools during the 2006-07 school year received a Part 1 bonus award in the fall 2007. Interestingly, 838 (9.8%) of the 8,528 full-time teachers who were new to a responding TEEG school in the fall 2007 received bonus awards, even though they were not employed at the school in the performance year (2006-07). While awarding a new teacher at the school is permitted in TEEG guidelines, it may be suggestive of an egalitarian view toward performance pay policies in these schools.

I could see it also being suggestive of an attempt to build a sense of teamwork among school staff, but still, it’s an interesting practice.

(You can read the full report here and an earlier story on a preliminary report on the Austin school district’s performance pay program here.)

November 21, 2008

Two new charter schools come to Austin area

The State Board of Education approved Friday the establishment of two new charter schools in the Austin area.

A group associated with Southwest Key, a non-profit organization that operates centers housing unaccompanied minors who enter the country illegally, got permission to open a school serving grades 6-10 at the group’s East Austin headquarters.

And Imagine International Academy Williamson County received a charter to open a K-12 school in Georgetown.

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November 20, 2008

Austin schools chief financial officer to join troubled Dallas school district

Austin school chief financial officer Larry Throm is resigning to become chief financial officer of the Dallas school district, which is mired in a financial morass after the administration discovered an $84 million budget gap earlier this year. In recent weeks, the district has cut spending and laid off hundreds of employees in efforts to close that gap.

Throm, 58, has been with the Austin school district for almost nine years and in school business administration for 38 years. During Throm’s tenure, the Austin school district earned some of the highest debt ratings available to Texas public schools. Throm’s resignation is effective Dec. 19. He expects to start in Dallas in January.

Austin district officials said they are currently searching for an interim chief financial officer until a new permanent chief financial officer is hired.

Embattled Dallas superintendent Michael Hinojosa called Throm a “game-changer” with “excellent credentials and a solid reputation for putting in place effective financial systems and controls in Austin and other districts.”

When I spoke with Throm Thursday, he put it like this:

“I’ve been in this business 38 years, and after 38 years, you’ve learned a little something.”

Throm said that Hinojosa approached him with the job offer, which comes with a $258,000 salary, more than his current $210,000 base pay, earlier this fall.

After the jump, read the district’s written statement.

November 17, 2008

Names for new southwest Austin middle school considered

Two nominations accounted for more than half of the 762 nominations for the name of Austin’s new southwest middle school, slated to open at FM 1826 and Slaughter Lane at the start of the 2009-10 school year. The nominees are…

[drumroll]

Former middle school band director Diane Elaine Gorzycki with 279 nominations and community volunteer and Circle C Ranch resident Margo Bjeletich with 121 votes.

Here are the top ten nominees:

Number of Nominations - Name Nominated

279 - Diane Elaine Gorzycki

121 - Margo Bjeletich

37 - Ross Baldwin

34 - Kevin Smith

25 - Lady Bird Johnson

23 - N. H. Wittner

17 - Danny R Young

13 - Inez Cope Jeffery

12 - Pascal D. Forgione Jr.

10 - Lance Armstrong

(For the full list of suggested names, click here.)

The board is scheduled to vote on the school’s name at their Nov. 24 meeting.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools

November 14, 2008

State could cut local pre-kindergarten funding

At a Texas Education Agency hearing yesterday, Austin school superintendent Pat Forgione and other education officials warned that proposed funding changes for Texas pre-kindergarten programs could reward failure and potentially cripple successful classes for 4-year-old children.

The Express-News reports that the Texas Education Agency “wants to create a three-tier funding system, with most of the available funding going to areas that did not get state funding in the past and whose third-grade student test scores fall below the state average.”

Austin currently serves more than 4,600 students in a full-day pre-K programs for economically disadvantaged and English language learning students only, who make up 2/3 of all four-year-olds in the district. (Sanchez Elementary School’s pre-K program is pictured at right.) Thirty percent of the district’s funding comes from a $4.5 million state pre-K expansion grant. The rest of Austin’s pre-K funding, more than $9 million, comes from district funds.

Forgione said:

Loss of the funding would probably mean we would have to cut back on this essential program. That consequence would have a dramatic impact on student achievement throughout our system over the years. We have been working hard to strengthen our early childhood programs. Specifically, we have developed a standards-based pre-K program with a rigorous curriculum to build language development in these early years. Countless studies show that building this language foundation is crucial to later academic success, especially for urban school children who come to school without strong family support and readiness preparation.

We in urban districts need the state’s extra help to support the academic and development needs of these children. Let us remember, as I have been advised, the legislative history for the pre-K grant. This grant was intended to help those districts with large numbers of children who show great academic needs in later grades by giving them an early start.

and:

While AISD and TASB support the notion of additional districts receiving this funding, I question the logic reflected in the draft regulations behind a method that makes funding available by punishing those of us in urban districts who have used the funds to operate successful, research-based programs. At a time when legislators are discussing incentives and rewards for success, these proposed rules would do just the opposite of that and impose a reduction of funds on those of us who are doing well and where the need is greatest. Certainly, there is statewide, and additional funding is necessary for all schools to address that need. But we should not merely shift funding that will severely disadvantage Texas urban centers where the greatest concentration of student pre-K needs are. Again, let us remember and honor the original intention of the pre-K grant which is to support urban districts and schools where the greatest needs for early childhood services are.

Read Forgione’s full comments here and details of the funding proposal here.

November 12, 2008

Nearly one third of Texas 8th graders reach 9th grade having failed TAKS

According to a Texas Education Agency report on grade-level retention, i.e., students being held back, released Friday, about 28 percent of eighth graders statewide failed the reading and math TAKS in the 2006-7 school year. But almost all of those eighth graders—97 percent of them—were promoted to ninth grade anyway.

(TEA also reports that more Texas twelfth graders were held back in 2006 than in the previous year, perhaps because of the requirement that seniors pass the tougher exit-level TAKS in order to graduate.)

In Austin, about 15 percent of eighth graders failed the reading TAKS and about 35 percent failed the math TAKS in 2006-7. (You can find stats for other school districts here.)

Third graders are supposed to pass the reading TAKS in order to be promoted to the next grade. Fifth graders are supposed to pass the reading and math TAKS in order to be promoted to the next grade. Starting in 2007-8, eighth graders are too. But a student who fails his or her reading and math TAKS can still be promoted if the student’s teacher and parents and the school principal all agree that it would be a good idea to promote him or her.

Austin schools are much more likely to promote third and fifth graders who fail the reading or math TAKS than schools statewide, according to 2006-8 TEA data. Promotion rates for TAKS failers are also generally above the state average in a number of other local school districts, including Round Rock, Leander and Pflugerville.

Do you think it’s better to hold back kids who fail the TAKS in earlier grades or to promote them in the hope that they can catch up with their classmates in time? Any idea why some local promotion rates are so much higher than the state average?

Permalink | Comments (76) | Post your comment

November 10, 2008

Support for Austin school district tax rate increase strongest in central city

The strongest support for the Austin school district’s recent tax rate came from Central Austin, as this precinct-by-precinct map of election returns by Statesman graphic artist Bob Calzada shows.

Most of the precincts that strongly opposed the higher tax rate are at the edges of the school district.

November 6, 2008

Students wait while police search for shooting suspects

Reagan High School was among seven North Austin campusees closed today while police search for two men connected to a shooting that injured two people. Instead of attending her third period class, Reagan junior Perla Villegas stood in her apartment complex’s parking lot watching crime scene investigators in action.

Perla said she wasn’t too disappointed about staying home today, particularly since it meant her geometry test would be postponed. Perla said she and her classmates would be able to make up the missed work without any problems.

“I’m okay staying in my house instead of going to school,” said Perla, shrugging.

Reagan; Andrews, Blanton, Harris and Pickle elementary schools; Pearce Middle School and the Clifton Career Development Center were all closed to studentsin the hours after the 4:15 a.m. shooting. Several of the schools have asked staff members to return to campus for the work day.

Pickle fifth grader Erick Gomez walked from his apartment complex across the street from where the shooting happened to Pickle this morning at 6 a.m. When he arrived, the school’s principal told him and other students who showed up early to turn around and go home.

“The principal said go home and be safe,” Erick said.

Erick and a few of his friends spent the morning playing on the grass, comparing scabs and scars, and talking about starting up a ball game.

And Statesman.com commenter Tiffany Semmler writes:

My infant son’s daycare was closed. I called my husband to come and pick him up. My job is also in the vicinity of the shooting. My employer has all the doors locked and entrance is only allowed with a badge or code.

It’s upsetting that we don’t know what the suspects look like. We have several unfamiliar vendors that come to our job to deliver packages and we feel very uneasy to open the door to them.

We just hope that they are caught soon and everyone is safe.

Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, School Safety

November 3, 2008

U.S. students pick Obama in national poll

More than 125,000 students from grades K-12 voted in the 14th annual Weekly Reader election survey. The results: Barack Obama 54.7 percent, John McCain 42.9 percent. The rest of the votes were for other candidates.

The Weekly Reader folks say that the survey has correctly predicted the winner in 12 of the past 13 presidential elections. (The kids were wrong in 1992.)

This year, Obama won Texas, 32 other states and the District of Columbia, garnering 420 electoral votes. McCain won 17 states and 118 electoral votes. CNN has Texas going to McCain.

An unscientific sampling of reader-reported Austin-area schools’ mock election results could lend credence to the Weekly Reader Results:

Martin Middle School: Obama 583, McCain 29

Zilker Elementary School: Obama 393, McCain 42

Creedmoor Elementary School: Obama 610, McCain 118

Whom do you believe: the kids or CNN?

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, Del Valle schools, Elections

October 30, 2008

Do schools events and election day collide?

I’ve been asked to write a story about school districts scheduling events like band performances and football games on election day and how that might affect parents, teachers, coaches and other Texans of voting age.

So:

Are you a parent worried that attending the UIL State Marching Band Contest at the Alamodome Tuesday might keep you from voting?

Or a parent concerned that enjoying the musical stylings of the Fall String Festival at Zilker Park during your lunch break might prevent you from reaching the polls?

If your kid is supposed to play in an 8th grade away football game Tuesday night, is that going to conflict with you doing your civic duty?

If you’re affected by these scheduling dilemnas, go ahead and weigh in in the comment section below, or email me.

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October 29, 2008

Pearce Middle School parent center to get "extreme makeover"

This weekend, the Pearce Middle School Parent Involvement Center will be getting a face lift extreme makeover-style courtesy of several local non-profit groups.

Right now the parent center is basically a bare-bones former classroom, but the nonprofits and the Pearce community are planning to transform it into a more effective family resource center by painting the walls and adding computers, family-friendly furniture, and other changes, Pearce parent support specialist Carl Shelton said.

The nonprofits will be donating time, supplies and love for the Pearce Community, but are going to need help moving furniture, Shelton said.

The Pearce people are looking for at least five “strong people,” and are hoping to find at least one volunteer with a truck that can be used to transport furniture and other supplies. Ty Pennington, right, has not yet volunteered.

The make-over is scheduled from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Lunch will be provided.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact Shelton at (512) 841-5801 or cshelton@austinisd.org.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools

October 24, 2008

Austin middle school mock election a landslide for Obama

From the Austin school district:

More than 84 percent of the students at Martin Middle School in East Austin turned out to cast their ballots in the 2008 Presidential Mock Election.

Among those voting was, Mu Mu, a Burmese refugee from Thailand, right, who cast her first “vote” in America.

The election results at the school showed Democratic nominee Barack Obama with 583 votes and Republican John McCain with 29 votes.

As goes Martin Middle School, so goes the nation?

Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, Elections

October 23, 2008

Austin school superintendent Forgione receives national honor

Austin Superintendent Pat Forgione, right, was selected from a group of 11 urban school superintendents from across the country to receive the Richard R. Green Award for urban education leadership at the Council of the Great City Schools in Houston tonight.

The award is named in honor of the first African-American chancellor of the New York City school system, who had also directed Minneapolis public schools.

From the Austin school district:

Austin School Superintendent Pat Forgione this evening was honored by the Council of Great City Schools as the nation’s Top Urban Educator…

Under Dr. Forgione’s leadership since 1999, the Austin School District has experienced an upward trend in academic achievement and narrowing of achievement gaps between student groups; a return to fiscal stability and a solid bond rating; three successful bond elections; and strengthened community support.

As the recipient of the Green Award, Dr. Forgione will receive a $10,000 college scholarship to present to a high school senior of his choice in the Austin School District or from his high school alma mater.

State Senator Kirk Watson of Austin nominated Dr. Forgione for the honor …

What do you think Forgione should do with the $10,000 college scholarship?

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Exemplary East Austin elementary school teacher reveals "secrets" of success

I wrote in today’s paper about Campbell Elementary School, the Austin school district’s first elementary school in East Austin since 2003 to have received an “A+” under the state accountability system: the “exemplary” rating earned by only 12 percent of schools statewide in 2008.

The story looks at the challenge ahead for the school and the district: keeping the title and replicating Campbell’s success at other schools. Below, Campbell kindergarten teacher Peggy Nichols, who has taught at the school for 17 years, explains the “secrets,” or lack thereof, to Campbell’s success:

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, Kudos!

October 22, 2008

Higher ed commissioner reveals final uniform GPA calculation proposal

Update, Wed., 7 p.m.: Read the GPA calculation proposal Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes released today here.

Update, Wed., 12:20 p.m.: The coordinating board will likely postpone its vote on the uniform GPA proposal until January. The draft proposal linked to below is nearly identical to the final draft Paredes revealed today.

Texas Higher Education Commissioner Raymund Paredes, right, is expected to reveal Wednesday his final version of a GPA calculation method that all Texas high schools will be required to use for college admissions purposes.

This is something of a big deal because of the “top ten percent rule,” the state law that guarantees seniors in the top ten percent of their high school classes admission to a Texas public college or university.

The new GPA calculation method would take effect starting with students who enter ninth grade after May 1, 2009.

A 2007 law requires all Texas public high schools to use the same, as yet unspecified, method of calculating GPA.

Since we first wrote about this issue in June, school district officials statewide have criticized Paredes’ proposal to eliminate weighted grade points for pre-AP and pre-IB classes and exclude fine arts and technical education classes from GPA calculations.

You can read those comments from Eanes superintendent Nola Wellman, Round Rock superintendent Jesus Chavez and others here.

Paredes apparently heard those comments loud and clear.

A draft proposal that a Higher Education Coordinating Board spokeswoman said was still subject to change before Thursday’s meeting gives additional grade points to AP, IB and dual credit classes, as well as a smaller amount of additional grade points for pre-AP classes. Some career and technical education classes would be included in GPA calculations as would a limited number of fine arts classes.

For the full draft proposal, including the list of courses to be included in GPA calculations, click here.

The full board could vote on the final proposal on Thursday, but they could also postpone the vote if they’re so inclined.

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October 16, 2008

Austin school chief celebrates birthday

Happy birthday to Austin school superintendent Pat Forgione, who turns 64 today.

Update, 2:10 p.m.: A district spokeswoman asked how the boss plans to celebrate his birthday says that Forgione, his three sons and his wife Kaye will celebrate tonight as Forgione receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Austin Project.

Oct. 16 is also National Boss’s Day. Coincidence?

Today is also the day on which the Statesman’s editorial board endorsed the school district’s tax rollback election in which voters are being asked to approve raising the district’s tax rate by 3.9 cents, money the district has pledged to spend on teacher raises.

Some teachers aren’t happy that the ballot language for the tax rate election doesn’t specify that the money will be spent on raises. The Statesman’s editorial board writes:

Though the proposition’s language isn’t very clear, we take school trustees and Superintendent Pat Forgione at their word when they pledge to abide by voters’ decision. The district is asking voters to approve well-deserved pay raises for the 12,000 teachers and other full-time employees who have gone without this year. If the ballot initiative passes, teachers and others will get a 3 percent raise for the current school year.

Teacher pay in Austin has not kept pace with inflation. Surrounding districts are giving raises and are aggressively recruiting Austin’s experienced teachers right out of their classrooms. Months ago, we challenged the timing and need to ask voters to increase school district taxes at a time when property values have increased. We urged school officials to come up with a budget that reflected both economic reality and the welfare of schoolchildren. We are satisfied that they accomplished that.

The editorial also explains why they think the district needs to raise tax rates this year even though it is taking in more money because of rising property values. Answer:

The answer is that the Austin district is legally required to send most of its new money ($172.6 million) to the state under Texas’ school financing law. So without a tax rate increase, the owner of a home valued at $233,324 would have a tax bill $252 higher than last year solely because values went up. Of that, the Austin district gets to keep just $35. The state gets the rest — $217.

The details of the district’s budget aren’t yet posted online, but for an overview of the district’s budget click here. Previous years’ budgets can be found here.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, District leaders, School finance

October 14, 2008

Ten of 14 Austin high schools fail to meet No Child Left Behind standards

Fewer Texas schools and districts met academic targets established by the No Child Left Behind Act this year than last because of new federal rules requiring special education students to take more difficult standardized tests.

Statewide, a third of Texas’ 1,189 school districts missed federal academic targets, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The Pflugerville school district was the largest of nine Central Texas districts on that list. Last year, one-tenth of school districts statewide missed federal targets.

The Austin school district as a whole met federal standards, but 17 Austin schools failed to do so. Last year, 18 Austin schools failed to meet federal standards, including nine of the district’s then 13 high schools.

Anderson and Bowie were the only Austin high schools to meet federal standards. LBJ High School and the Liberal Arts and Science Academy were not evaluated this year because both are considered new campuses under the federal system.

The federal standards are based on graduation rates for high schools and districts; attendance rates for elementary schools; and participation and passing rates on reading and math state tests, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills standardized test, for grades three to eight and 10.

To meet federal standards this year, schools and districts had to test at least 95 percent of their students. At least 60 percent of the students had to pass the reading test and at least 50 percent had to pass the mathematics exam. High schools and districts had to achieve graduation rates of 70 percent or better for the Class of 2007. Elementary and middle schools were required to achieve at least a 90 percent attendance rate. Schools and districts can also meet federal standards by demonstrating significant improvements in their performances.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires that all students achieve proficiency in reading and math by 2014.

Here’s the list of Austin schools failing to meet “adequate yearly progress” by federal standards:

Austin H S

Johnston H S

Lanier H S

Mccallum H S

Reagan H S

Travis H S

Crockett H S

Garza Independence H S

Akins H S

International H S

Travis County Juvenile Detention

Fulmore M S

Pearce M S

Covington M S

Paredes M S

Norman E S

Click here for the full list of Central Texas results.

Statewide, more schools and districts missed federal standards this year than last, Texas Education Agency officials said, largely because of new federal rules requiring special education students to take more difficult tests than they had in the past.

From TEA:

AUSTIN - Seventy-five percent of Texas schools and 66 percent of school districts met federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards in 2008, the Texas Education Agency reported today.

The federal evaluations are based on:

* graduation rates for high schools and districts;

* attendance rates for elementary schools;

* participation and passing rates on state tests for grades 3-8 and 10.

This year to earn a label called “Meets AYP,” the schools and districts had to test at least 95 percent of their students and at least 60 percent of the students had to pass the reading/English language arts state exam and at least 50 percent had to pass the mathematics exam. High schools or districts had to achieve a graduation rate of 70 percent or better for the Class of 2007. Elementary and middle schools were required to achieve at least a 90 percent attendance rate. Schools and districts can also meet AYP by demonstrating significant performance improvement.

The tests used to determine the federal evaluations are the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), which 90 percent of the students in these grades take, and three new variations of TAKS that are used for students with disabilities.

One new exam called the TAKS-Alternate (TAKS-Alt), which is given to students who have significant cognitive disabilities, was included in the AYP calculations last year. Used in the calculations for the first time this year are TAKS (Accommodated) and TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M).

TAKS (Accommodated) is an on-grade level TAKS that contains some modifications, such as the elimination of field test items. Most students with disabilities who need some testing modifications take TAKS (Accommodated). TAKS-M, which is also an on-grade level test, has additional modifications such as fewer items and fewer answer choices.

“School districts have responded to the new federal requirements by significantly increasing the number of students with disabilities assessed on grade level. However, it will take districts some time to fully address the increasing expectations of these new state assessments for students with disabilities,” said Commissioner of Education Robert Scott.

The new tests caused fewer schools and districts to earn a “Meets AYP” label for 2008. This year, 75 percent or 6,122 schools met AYP, compared to 80 percent or 6,447 campuses in 2007. Sixty-six percent or 816 districts earned a “Meets AYP” evaluation today, compared to 1,069 districts or 87 percent in 2007.

Check back later today, or read tomorrow’s paper, for more information on and analysis of Central Texas schools’ AYP results this year.

Permalink | Comments (78) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, No Child Left Behind, TAKS, Texas Education Agency news

October 13, 2008

Austin school board approves two-school model for former Johnston HS

The Austin school board voted 6-1 at its meeting Monday night to house two separate high schools at the former Johnston High School, now know as Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus, in East Austin. Trustee Robert Schneider cast the dissenting vote.

The district will pay the New Technology Fund $900,000 over four years for curriculum, materials, professional development, administrative guidance, and other services and products.

The two schools, both of which will use the project-based learning method now in place at Akins New Tech High School, come with a price tag of $1.3 million for startup costs. About $750,000 will come from money in this year’s budget and from bond funds.

District officials have said that the remaining $562,000 will be paid with private donations or by amending the district’s budget. The two new schools are expected to cost a total of $2.7 million in the next four years. The district expects grants and private donations to cover part of that cost.

Both schools are scheduled to open in August 2009. District officials have proposed that one school focus on Mexican and Latin American issues and one on math, science and engineering. Johnston was closed by the state in June for repeatedly failing to meet state standards on dropout rates and state tests.

Read more about the new plans for the old Johnston here.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools

October 10, 2008

Education boss warns that pizza parties break law

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott reminded school superintendents in a Sunday letter that rewarding students who passed the TAKS publicly by giving them cash, pizza parties or field trips could violate federal privacy laws:

While I understand that such motivational efforts are based upon a genuine concern for students, honoring students who meet the passing standard on the test may unintentionally identify students who did not meet the standard, negatively impacting them. Students’ educational records, including performance on state assessments, are confidential records that must be protected in accordance with both state and federal laws (Texas Education Code, §30.030(b); Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. §1232g). Districts and campuses that use the results of student performance on state assessments in such a way as to disclose the identities of particular students or to identify which students met the passing standard on the state assessments and which did not could be violating these laws.

Consistent with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, a district may in some circumstances publicly recognize students who achieve the commended level of performance on assessments. However, the district must comply with the process to identify commended performance as an academic honor within the federal definition of “directory information,” including an opportunity for parents to opt out of that disclosure.

To avoid any possible violation of laws protecting the confidentiality of students’ educational records or appearance of impropriety, the Texas Education Agency encourages districts to develop and adopt local policies that specifically address this issue. Such action would be in the best interests of school districts, campuses, and the students of Texas. If you have any questions about the information contained in this letter, please contact Montgomery Meitler in the Legal Services Division at 512-463-9720.

This isn’t a new policy. Former education commissioner Jim Nelsonreminded schools about it back in 2001.

Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said today that federal student privacy law applies equally to students who pass the TAKS and those who don’t

“It’s not just that you’ve identified who failed the test,” she said. “It’s equally a violation if you publicize who passed the test. But the reality is that parents don’t generally complain if you publicize that (students) passed the test.”

I know that many Austin schools give prizes for attendance and celebrate students who receive “commended” TAKS awards at assemblies. But I haven’t heard of any school-wide pizza parties to which only TAKS passers are invited. Have you? If so, leave a comment, or give me a call at 445-3620.

Permalink | Comments (51) | Post your comment

October 9, 2008

Graphic LBJ High School T-shirt disturbs some

A T-shirt designed to commemorate the Oct. 31 LBJ High School vs. Reagan High School football game and to raise money for LBJ’s Science Olympiad team has led at least one Austin resident to raise questions of taste.

The front of the shirt reads “LBJ VS REAGAN / October 31, 2008.”

The back of the shirt, shown at right, features a snarling, purple LBJ Jaguar clutching a blood-stained scythe in one hand and the severed head of a Reagan Raider in the other. At the jaguar’s feet, blood pools around the Raider’s body, illustrated with striking details like a cross-section of the cowboy’s severed spinal cord and a particularly beseeching expression on his face.

LBJ Principal Patrick Patterson said that LBJ’s Science Olympiad team’s sponsor, a “young, very energetic, very creative” teacher, came up with the idea to sell Halloween-themed T-shirts for the school’s heated rivalry with Reagan to raise money for LBJ’s team, which was one of two Austin high school teams to make it to regionals last year. (The other was the LASA academy team.)

Patterson approved the design and over the past two weeks about 220 people have pre-ordered the shirts at $15 for a short-sleeve model and $18 for long sleeve. No one complained about the design, Patterson said, until someone anonymously e-mailed local TV news station KXAN claiming that Patterson promised a “horrible death” to anyone who attended the Oct. 31 football game.

For the record, Patterson, a 25-year veteran of the district who purchased two shirts for himself, says he has no intention of killing anyone.

“They’re a little young and creative, and if we crossed the line, I apologize,” Patterson said of the shirts. “I don’t mean to be offensive to anyone.”

“They’re popular shirts, it’s a heated rivalry, and we were just trying to drum up some campus spirit,” he added. “It looks like we drummed up a little more than we bargained for.”

District officials announced after 6:30 p.m. that Patterson has since decided the school will redesign the shirt.

UPDATE: A district spokesman said in a voicemail left Thursday night that LBJ principal Patrick Patterson “agreed that it was best that the shirt be redesigned to be more lighthearted.”

Permalink | Comments (71) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools

October 8, 2008

Austin schools to withhold federal ratings until state release

The Austin school district has postponed the release of its schools’ ratings under the federal accountability system until the Texas Education Agency straightens out a test processing issue and releases results for the entire state.

Austin district spokeswoman Roxanne Evans said that the district wanted to make sure Austin’s information is correct before releasing it publicly. (Leander announced its federal ratings Tuesday.)

As a story in today’s paper reports, the TEA had planned to release the statewide results today, but announced Tuesday afternoon that they were postponing that release until the afternoon of Oct. 14:

The public release of the preliminary 2008 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results has been delayed until the afternoon of Oct. 14, due to a processing issue with a small number of students tested on the reading and mathematics TAKS-Modified (TAKS-M) tests in grades 4 and 7 only.

The TAKS-M results for these students were accurately reported to districts in May; however, the final student data file provided to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in June did not include these results. The delayed release will ensure that TEA has sufficient time to process updated information from the test contractor that will include the results of all students tested on TAKS-M in spring 2008.

It is anticipated that the AYP status for only a few districts and campuses will be affected.

Due to the revised release schedule, the deadline for submitting an AYP appeal has been extended from Oct. 17 to Oct. 24 for all districts.

Photo courtesy of COCOEN daily photos.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, No Child Left Behind, Texas Education Agency news

October 6, 2008

Austin middle school teacher says schools are asking the wrong questions

Garcia Middle School teacher Patience Blythe, a three-year veteran of the Austin schools, shares her experience as a guest blogger on On The Inside, a blog mostly about a juvenile detention documentary.

Blythe writes about sitting in her seventh grade advisory group, which is supposed to help forge a stronger relationship between teachers and their students. She writes about the challenges of helping her students reach their education goals, including graduation and college.

She writes that none of the black students in the group, and hardly any of the Hispanic students, live with both of their biological parents. Half of the students say that neither of their parents graduated high school. All say that they’ve seen drugs in their homes or neighborhoods. Click here to read the whole entry (it’s well worth your time), which reads in part:

I asked the question: “If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be and why?”

…

…one girl… said, “I would want to meet my mama.”

The other kids said, “How you not know who yo mama is?”

She said, “I don’t know who she is. I ain’t never met her befo’”.

I asked her: “Do you know where she is?”

She said “Yes”.

I asked, “Are you adopted?”

She said, “I ain’t adopted! I live with my sister.”

Blythe writes:

You see, the problem is that we keep asking kids whether they want to go to college or not. When we do, 100% of them raise their hands. But the reality is that 60% of my children will drop out of high school. Out of 600 kids at our school, 360 will drop out.

We’re asking the wrong questions. We’re asking questions for which we know the answers. We’re asking the easy questions. How will they get there? What’s more: how can we help them get there.

Photo courtesy of Oberazzi.

Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, Teachers

October 1, 2008

Discoverer of "nature-deficit disorder" speaks in Austin tonight

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, is speaking tonight at a program sponsored by the Westcave Preserve.

To grossly overgeneralize, Louv writes about the idea that children don’t spend enough time playing outside these days and that “broken bond” between children and nature could be making kids fatter, more depressed, and subject to a host of other “disturbing childhood trends:”

KLRU’s AustinNOW filmed this segment with Louv in the Westcave Preserve:

What do you think of his diagnosis of “nature-deficit disorder” in American children? How do you get your kids to turn off the TV or put down that book and go outside?

September 29, 2008

Austin schools chief undergoes appendectomy

From the Austin school district:

Austin School Superintendent Pat Forgione is resting comfortably today in an Austin hospital, after undergoing a laparoscopic procedure Sunday afternoon to have his appendix removed.

Dr. Forgione checked himself into the hospital earlier Sunday, after incurring discomfort.

Following his release from the hospital, later today or Tuesday, doctors say Dr. Forgione will need about one week’s rest and recuperation at home.

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September 26, 2008

State extends drop-out enrollment deadline because of Ike

The Texas Education Agency has extended the deadline by which schools must re-enroll dropouts or risk having them negatively affect the school’s accountability rating. As we reported Thursday, the deadline was originally Sept. 26.

But in letter dated Thursday, TEA said that they’re extending the deadline to Friday, October 24 statewide because of Hurricane Ike, “to accommodate both the closing of some districts and the enrollment of students displaced as a result of the hurricane into other Texas public schools throughout the state.”

Coincidentally, the extension will also help districts throughout Texas who are trying harder than ever this year to re-enroll dropouts because of a new, more inclusive definition of what exactly a drop-out is.

If Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, right, had not given school districts a pass this past school year on using the new definition, many districts, including Round Rock, Leander, and Bastrop, would have received unacceptable ratings.

The commissioner has said he won’t give anyone a pass on the dropout rate standard this current school year. So some districts are scouring the streets for dropouts this year, or, as TEA puts it increasing “their community-wide efforts this year to ensure parents and students are aware of the importance of returning to school at the beginning of the year.”

Lake Travis hits the small screen

Alert television viewers of last week’s UT-Rice football game might have seen some ads for the Lake Travis school district in between tackles.

Lake Travis school spokesman Marco Alvarado says that the 30-second spots were originally supposed to be broadcast during the Lake Travis HS vs. Westlake HS football game on Sept. 4th under an agreement with FSN. FSN goofed, and the Lake Travis spots didn’t air that day, so FSN offered to run the Lake Travis spots during Saturday’s game between UT and Rice. The spots were broadcast on FSN at no cost to Lake Travis ISD, Alvarado said.

The Lake Travis View reported that the school district spent $6,000 to have Fox 7 produce the commercials.

The district will use the ads at job fairs and provide DVDs of them to local real estate agents, city offices and others, Alvarado said.

The business journal writes:

September 25, 2008

Reagan alumni unite to help their alma mater

A group of Reagan High School alumni have come together to support their old high school, which the state accountability system says isn’t doing so well these days.

Reagan has received an unacceptable rating, the state’s lowest, for three years based on passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and dropout rates. The campus could be closed by the state if it doesn’t meet standards, or make significant progress, in 2009.

The alumni are working with Allen Weeks and the St. John Community School Alliance, which was formed to serve Webb Middle School, Reagan High School and Brown and Pickle elementary schools.

Some of the projects they’re working on are gathering donations for Reagan’s school store, improving attendance, and forming a spirit line to cheer on the Reagan football team.

Learn more about their efforts at http://www.notwithouthonor.com.

(At right, the 2008 Reagan High School marching band.)

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September 24, 2008

Two schools join Austin's performance pay plan

Webb Middle School and Jordan Elementary School have joined the district’s strategic compensation pilot program, a plan that rewards staff based on their meeting certain self-developed goals and on their student’ state standardized test performance. Money can also be earned working at a “high needs” school, serving as a mentor or participating in other professional development activities. There are now 11 schools in the program, up from nine last year. This summer, the district awarded about $1 million to participants who met their goals. More bonus checks will be sent out later this school year.

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September 22, 2008

AISD proposes two new schools in place of Eastside High School

After Austin’s Johnston High School was closed by the state in June for failing to meet state performance goals on standardized tests and dropout rates, Austin school district officials announced a two-step plan for the campus.

Step one: Open a new high school on the Johnston campus in time for the start of the 2008-09 school year.

Step two: Replace that new school with two smaller schools with distinct curricula, staff and administrations.

Tonight, district administrators will propose creating two high schools in the “New Tech” model, which emphasizes technology use and learning through working on projects and in teams rather than through lectures.

In the New Tech model, “classes are delivered in a way in which students are going to be interested,” said Patti Everitt in the district’s Office of Redesign. “That becomes the heart and soul of what we’re doing differently.”

Under the proposal, based on meetings, surveys and focus groups of parents, teachers and students, one school would focus on global studies. The other would focus on science, math and engineering.

Austin High School already houses a global studies school in which students learn about China and Latin America. But teachers at Eatside’s proposed global studies school would use projects rather than lectures to teach and would focus entirely on Mexico and Latin America, Everitt said.

In district focus groups, students, parents, teachers and students all said they wanted the new schools to offer vocational training and other options for students not planning on attending college.

Everitt said both the science, math and engineering school and the global studies school could offer career-focused paths, possibly in areas such as culinary arts, the arts, and government.

The two-school proposal comes with a price tag of $1.3 million to cover startup costs in the current school year, Everitt said. About $750,000 of those costs are already included in the current budget or covered by existing bond funds. The remaining $562,000 would be funded through private or corporate donations or by amending the district’s current budget, she said.

Currently, the Asia Society, which has funded 12 global studies schools across the country, has said they’ll contribute 150,000 over four years to fund a global studies school. The district also plans to apply for state funding for the science and engineering school, Everitt said.

Everitt said that the the Asia Society funding made a global studies school an attractive option, “but the first thing that we looked at was instruction.”

“We wanted to make sure were were going to meet the needs of kids at Eastside Memorial,” she said.

The district will hold a community meeting on the plans for Eastside on Oct. 1. The board is scheduled to make a final decision on what the two new schools will look like on Oct. 13.

Check Wednesday’s paper for trustee and community reaction to the plans for Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus.

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September 18, 2008

Alabama city leaders to learn at AISD's knees

The Birmingham Business Journal reports that the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce’s will visit Austin next week to learn how to improve urban education, and about image, downtown redevelopment, transit and technology transfer, among other things.

The group will hear from Superintendent Pat Forgione who helped turn the school system around in the past decade. Forgione opened an office of accountability and created a mentorship program with faculty members and administrators assigned to students. The mentorship holds the faculty member accountable for a student’s absence or poor grades.

Birmingham Interim School Superintendent Barbara Allen, School Board Member W.J. Maye and the rest of the trip participants will visit Travis High School, an inner city school in Austin.

(Alabama cheerleader photo from Diamondduste.)

Any tips for our visiting Alabamians?

September 15, 2008

You Oughta Be in Pictures Monday: Austin teachers wins Dallas Cowboys-autographed car

From the Texas Department of Transportation:

Julia Payne, a teaching assistant at Clint Small Middle School in southwest Austin, was the winner of a new Ford Hybrid Escape in the “Drive Clean Across Texas” sweepstakes, sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Dallas Cowboys. That’s Dallas Cowboys Safety Roy Williams autographing the steering wheel of Payne’s new ride, above.

According to the Department of Transportation’s press release, Payne did her part to improve air quality in Texas by combining trips in her fuel-efficient Honda Civic.

For the sake of Texas’s air quality, she might want to stick with the Civic for highway driving, at least. The Ford Hybrid Escape gets a 2009 EPA-estimated 34 mpg city/31 highway in forward wheel drive. The 2009 Civic sedan gets 25 mpg city/36 mpg highway.

The Civic Hybrid gets 40 mpg city/45 mpg highway. If only Honda sponsored the sweepstakes.

September 12, 2008

Media asked to stay out of AISD school shelters

From AISD:

As Austin School District facilities are now being used to shelter Hurricane Ike evacuees, reporters are asked to be mindful of the stress these unusual circumstances have placed on evacuees and shelter staffs alike. Therefore, to help ensure that shelter operations proceed smoothly:

The interiors of all AISD shelters are off-limits to media.

Shelter personnel, including security officers, have been instructed to decline all requests to interview guests inside the gymnasiums that are being used as shelters.

Exterior shots (so-called “B” Roll) of AISD shelter facilities should be taped expeditiously, so that news crews do not linger around shelter facilities. These school shelters are located in neighborhoods that are already crowded with buses and emergency services vehicles.

Live shots will be permitted only from the Delco Center, where ample parking is available. The center is located in northeast Austin at 4601 Pecan Brook Drive.

AISD thanks the news media for their understanding and cooperation.

ACT college testing postponed

FROM AISD:

The ACT college test corporation has postponed testing scheduled for Saturday, September 13, at Texas school districts affected by Hurricane Ike.

In Austin ISD, tests were scheduled to be given at Anderson, Akins, Lanier, Reagan, and Travis high schools.

ACT indicated that it will contact those students who were registered for the test with rescheduling information later this Fall.

September 11, 2008

All Austin public school to close early Friday

UPDATE 7:59 A.M.

Classes for students at Westlake High School and Hill Country Middle School will be CANCELLED today, Friday, Sept. 12. due to hurricane sheltering responsibilities at those campuses. Staff should still report to work.

At this time school is NOT affected at West Ridge Middle School or any of the elementary campuses in Eanes ISD.

EARLIER

All Austin public schools will be closed early Friday in anticipation of heavy vehicle traffic on major roads from Hurricane Ike evacuees.

The dismissal schedule for Austin ISD is as follows:

Noon — Elementary schools. There will be no after-school care for students. Also LBJ High School and the Liberal Arts & Science Academy

1 p.m. — Middle schools, including Kealing magnet students who ride Capital Metro buses.

2 p.m. — High xchools (except LBJ and the Liberal Arts & Science Academy) Because of unique transportation issues, LBJ High School and LASA will dismiss at Noon instead of 2 p.m.

“This is a precautionary step to remove students and buses from the roadways as early as possible. We are expecting a great deal of traffic from evacuees on local roads and highways. The safety of students is our first consideration.” Superintendent Pat Forgione said in a written statement.

The Leander school district, which expects to host 3,500 - 4,000 evacuees at seven secondary campuses, will release students two hours early on Friday. Leander says that only Leander school district employees and Red Cross trained and approved volunteers may assist at the shelters and that any donations (including food) should be taken to the Salvation Army, Goodwill or other organizations, not to the schools.

Other local school closures/early dismissals include:

Bastrop (Early dismissal Friday. Pre-Kindergarten though Grade 4 will release at 11:30 a.m. Grades 5 though 12 will release at 12:30 p.m. All athletic events and activities from Friday through Sunday canceled, including after-school programs, ACT administration, community education classes, and all facility usage rental agreements, including church services.)

Leander (National Merit Scholar Camp and other events canceled)

Comal (Thursday and Friday closure, Church Hill Middle School and Morningside and Freiheit Elementary Schools only)

Drippings Springs, like most other districts, has rescheduled its Friday night varsity football game. All other planned Dripping Springs school activities including the Dripping Springs Middle School Meet the Teacher Night will go as scheduled and the district plans to keep schools open on Friday with normal release times.

Eanes (School is scheduled as usual for Friday. Check district website for updates. Three secondary schools to serve as hurricane evacuation shelters for residents being bused from Galveston. Saturday Robofest and ACT exam administration will take place as usual. After‐hours events at both middle schools have been canceled, including Friday’s Hill Country dance.)

Elgin (Thursday and Friday closure)

Hays (Early closure Friday. High schools will be released at 12:30 p.m and middle schools will be released at 1:45 p.m. Elementary schools will be released at the regular time, 2:40 p.m. All buses will run according to this early release schedule. Athletic events rescheduled.)

Lake Travis (Plans to hold classes as usual. Check district website for updates. However,both Saturday School and the ACT test scheduled for Saturday have been canceled.)

Manor (Early dismissal Friday. All buses will run two hours early. Friday afternoon pre-K canceled. All other after-school events Friday through Sunday canceled.)

Pflugerville (All campuses will release students two hours early on Friday. The schedule is as follows: high schools will be released at 2:15 p.m., middle schools will be released at 1:35 p.m., and elementary schools will be released at 12:50 p.m. All buses will run according to this early release schedule.)

Round Rock (Early release for all schools on Friday. Elementary schools will be released at 12:45 p.m., middle schools will be released at 1:30 p.m. and high schools will be released at 2 p.m. Breakfast and lunch at all schools will be available to students before school is dismissed.)

San Marcos (Plans to hold classes as usual on Friday. Check district website for updates.)

You can also check the Texas Education Agency’s list of school closures and the Region XIII Service Center’s list.

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Hays school custodian saves choking student

Jim Cullen with the Hays Free Press reports that a custodian at Wallace Middle School in the Hays school district saved the life of seventh grader Crystal Campos after she choked on a piece of food:

Custodian Elena Garcia was the first adult to recognize what was happening and while attempting to help Crystal cough, called to co-worker Vincente Martinez for assistance. Though never having received training as such for the critical situation, Martinez knew what was happening-and what to do about it.

In a second, he too could see how serious it was. Crystal’s face and lips were turning blue from the lack of oxygen and she was unable to cough enough to clear her throat. Admitting that among the many thoughts that flashed through his mind in a split second was the fact that school workers are strongly discouraged from physical contact with students, Martinez nonetheless acted. The fact of the cautionary policy was lost in an instant of common sense-and concern for the young girl before him.

With no more preparation for the emergency than having seen it on TV and on posters in places he’s worked during his life, Martinez came around behind Crystal, placed his arms around her, clenched his hands below her sternum and gave her a sharp squeeze.

During the Austin school board’s budget discussions last month, some trustees spent a lot of time discussing pay raises for custodians, cafeteria monitors and other support employees, saying that those employees were essential players in a child’s education.

What do you think about Martinez’s actions? What kind of roles do support staff workers like him play in your child’s school day?

(Photo courtesy of Satmandu.)

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September 9, 2008

Early dismissal today at Jordan Elementary School in Austin due to utility problems

Austin school district officials announced today that classes are being dismissed at Jordan Elementary School, and parents are urged to pick up their children as soon as possible. Disruption of water and gas service is forcing the school, located at 6711 Johnny Morris Road, to close early.

School district officials said they have every expectation that classes for Jordan Elementary students will resume on schedule, on Wednesday, September 10. Parents are encouraged to check the district’s website and the Austin news medial for updates.

Campus administrators and district food service officials are making plans to feed all Jordan students until they can be picked up by their parents.

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Former Johnston High School teachers will file grievance against district, union says

At the Austin school board meeting Monday night, an official from Education Austin, the labor organization that represents 4,000-plus teachers and other employees, said that the organization will file a grievance on behalf of former Johnston High School teachers who have not been hired by other Austin campuses.

Johnston High School was closed by the state in the spring after repeatedly failing to meet state standards on standardized tests and graduation rates. It reopened this fall as Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus with a mostly new staff.

Under state law, at least 75 percent of the Eastside High School had to be new to the campus. The Austin school district promised to find jobs for all former Johnston teachers who wanted to stay in the district’s employ. Most of those teachers were hired at other campuses, but about a dozen have not found permanent jobs at other campuses. Instead, they’re working as full-time substitutes or other paid positions in the Austin school district.

Education Austin officials have pushed in recent weeks for principals to be forced to hire the remaining Johnston teachers. At Monday night’s board meeting, an Education Austin vice president told the board that the district should put the remaining Johnston teachers back in the classroom permanently “if anything, as a goodwill gesture for them staying” and suggested that not doing so would send a negative message to teachers at other schools facing state sanctions.

I left a voicemail for Education Austin head Louis Malfaro Monday evening, but haven’t heard back from him yet.

We’ll follow up with Malfaro and the Austin school district folks Tuesday to find out more about this story.

September 8, 2008

YouTube Inspiration from Forgione

Austin Superintendent Pat Forgione isn’t known for being especially web savvy, but recently he jumped on the YouTube band wagon and sent his staff an inspirational video of a young student in the Dallas Independent School District asking the staff there a simple question: “Do you believe in me?”

The video features a charismatic young man speaking at a convocation ceremony before school starts, who challenges the Dallas School District staff to believe in him.

“Let me ask you a question Dallas ISD,” the boy says. “Do you believe in my classmates, do you believe every single one of us can graduate? You better because next week we’re all showing up in your school.”

Forgione sent the e-mail to district employees in Austin with the message: “Take five minutes to watch this video (the link is below). It’s both inspiring and challenging. Once you see it, I’m sure you’ll share it and talk about it with your colleagues.”

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September 4, 2008

Austin's LBJ High School band to perform courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation

A Austin TV station has a nice story about how the Make a Wish foundation helped an LBJ High School drum major live his and his bandmates’ dream come true.

KEYE reports that 17-year-old Alex Gramann quit the school band and went through chemotherapy after discovering a cancerous tumor inside his rib cage last year:

But now, he’s is in full remission. And Gramann was just recently granted one wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

After his band missed state competitions, Gramann decided to use his one wish to make all 160 band mate’s dreams come true.

On November 3, the LBJ band will play at state in San Antonio at the Alamodome.

“Just marching onto the field, performing the show and hearing the crowd go ‘Ahhh!’, just that sound and the lights and the emotion. I’m getting shivers just talking about it,” Gramann said.

August 31, 2008

A Centex mother explains how she keeps her daughters healthy: Video

While reporting this story on how fit local kids are, I spoke with Del Valle mother Gloria Leal earlier in August on the last day of a summer fitness program for kids at El Buen Samaritano in South Austin.

As some state education officials spent their summers working on ongoing efforts to keep all Texas schoolchildren healthy, Gloria Leal spent her summer trying to keep her daughters off the couch, away from the television, and healthy.

Though the Del Valle school district, where Leal’s daughters Estfany and Guadalupe attend school, has one of the highest percentages of overweight students in the Austin area, as measured by body mass indices, Leal tries hard to keep her family healthy, partly because she has health problems that keep her from exercising.

“Somehow, they got the idea they would sit in front of the TV all summer,” Leal said in Spanish of her daughters.

By July, Leal had set Estfany, 9, and Guadalupe, 7, straight.

Leal enrolled the girls in the free Born to Run summer recreation program at El Buen Samaritano in South Austin that is part of El Buen’s Combating Childhood Obesity through Exercise and Nutrition Initiative.

The seven-week program, created by RunTex Carrozza Foundation and funded by the, the Tofer Family Foundation the Dell Foundation, the Dell Family Foundation, gave Estfany, Guadalupe, and 98 other children ages 6 to 12, a chance to run around outside, get introduced to healthy snack foods, and learn other healthy habits, like eating a nutritional breakfast.

Leal said she has always tried to cook with plenty of fresh vegetables and without lots of oil. And while she might make a dinner of cheese quesadillas, at El Buen Samaritano’s fitness program, her daughters tried a different tortilla-based snack: peanut butter and honey on a rolled up tortilla. It wasn’t a combination Leal or her daughters had tried before.

“At first I thought it was nasty,” Estfany said, wrinkling her nose. “But it was good.”

Now Estfany and her younger sister sometimes ask their mother to make peanut butter and honey quasi-quesadillas for them at home, Leal said.

During the school year, the girls get some physical activity at school, though Leal doesn’t recall receiving a copy of the personalized Fitnessgram fitness evaluation the school district is supposed to send to each student’s parents.

This summer, the drive into Austin day to take the girls to the Born to Run program seems to have paid off by helping keep the girls on a healthy track, Leal said.

“They’re getting up early. They’re a little more active,” she said of the girls as Estfany raced across the field to hug her.

August 29, 2008

Austin schools push fitness: School-by-school fitness results to be released

This weekend, we’ll be running a story about how Austin schools did on a series of fitness tests the state required all school districts to administer this year.

Austin has been an early adopter of many fitness efforts: The district has been administering the tests to some students for several years now, but this past year was the first time that all students in grade three on up had to take the tests.

But compared to other big Texas school districts, Austin falls in the bottom half in terms of fitness, according to state test results. (If you’re not in the Austin schools, check Sunday’s Statesman to see how your district did.)

What’s your school—or your kid’s school—doing to help kids get healthy? Does the state testing help, or is it just one more standardized test to take, albeit one that doesn’t require a No. 2 pencil?

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August 28, 2008

Former Mayor Todd and others to raise money for Eastside Memorial

A private fundraising effort aimed at raising money for the new Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston Campus, formerly Johnston High School, will be headed by former Austin Mayor Bruce Todd, according to a statement released by the Elizabeth Christian & Associates media relations firm today.

Johnston was closed in June after failing to meet minimum state academic and graduation standards for five consecutive years. The East Austin campus was reopened as Eastside Memorial; classes started Monday.

School district officials plan to make an announcement about the fundraising effort Tuesday. The district’s statement said the effort would have a “significant impact on students” at the school.

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August 27, 2008

Paper-bag book cover instructions and suggestions

Readers came up with some helpful suggestions in response to today’s story on the Austin school district’s $29,400 book cover contract.

wakefieldfamily suggests buying fabric covers on sale at Walgreens or Target in September and reusing them each year.

Teacher fruGal says she gave her students an assignment to cover their books with a cover designed in conjunction with a topic to be studied during the year.

Weston Sythoff, communications guy for the Capital Area Workforce Board, notes that at least one non-profit has donated book covers to the district “to help offset the shortage while spreading awareness,” in this case, of careers in energy development. The workforce board donated 5,000 of the covers pictured above to the district.

Do you have any other book cover advice to share?

If you need inspiration, or a little help, here’s an illustrated guide to paper-bag book covers. Think there’s a tie in to the TEKS there?

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August 25, 2008

First day of school jitters, snafus, and whatchamacallits

Today’s the first day of school everywhere in Statesman-land except Pflugerville and Round Rock.

Rejoice or mourn, the choice is yours.

Statesman photographer Larry Kolvoord talked to 4-year-old Madison Briones, right, this morning at Sanchez Elementary. Madison was heartbroken after learning that she wouldn’t be able to attend pre-kindergarten classes on the first day because of a paperwork glitch.

‘Everybody is going to school besides me,’ she cried to her mom.

Did you experience any first day of school issues? Have any words of advice to offer Madison?

Updated, 5 p.m.: Leander school district spokesman Dick Ellis says that the district welcomed 27,528 students to school today without a hitch. The district opened four new campuses today too.

“It was perfect,” he said. “A really good first day.”

Check out the sights and sounds of Leander’s first day of school.

Updated, 8/26, for the curious: A Sanchez assistant principal told the Statesman that Madison got her paperwork straightened out and will be in class Wednesday morning.

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August 21, 2008

Central Texas back to school calendar

August 25 - First day of classes for following school districts: Austin, Bastrop, Del Valle, Dripping Springs, Eanes, Georgetown, Hays, Lake Travis, Leander, Manor, San Marcos and Wimberley. Also first day of classes at Austin Community College, and St. Edward’s and Southwestern universities.

August 26 - First day of classes for Lago Vista, Pflugerville and Round Rock ISDs. August 27 - First day of classes for Texas State University and the University of Texas.

September 1 - The following school districts are closed for the Labor Day holiday: Austin, Bastrop, Del Valle, Dripping Springs, Eanes, Georgetown, Hays, Lago Vista, Lake Travis, Leander, Manor, Pflugerville, Round Rock, San Marcos and Wimberley. It’s also a holiday at Austin Community College, St. Edward’s University, Southwestern University, Texas State University and the University of Texas.

September 2 - First day of classes at Huston-Tillotson University.

September 10 - First day of classes at Concordia University.

Check your local district’s website for first-day details, like Austin’s school bus stop locator, and other events.

If you’re lucky enough to live in Wimberley, for example, your kids can get vaccinations and free haircuts — two of any child’s favorite activities — at the Back to School Fiesta on Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the United Methodist Church of Wimberley.

(Cal Warlick cartoon at right)

August 19, 2008

All-girls schools, classes come to more Texas towns

As staff at Austin’s Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, the district’s first and only single-gender school, prepare for their second year, several other Texas school districts are launching all-girls schools and classes.

Lubbock’s School for Young Women Leaders and San Antonio’s Young Women’s Leadership Academy open this month with enrollments of 75 sixth and 75 seventh graders. Like the Ann Richards school, the schools will add a grade each year to include grades 6 through 12 by 2013.

The Austin, San Antonio, and Lubbock schools are partially funded by the Foundation for the Education of Young Women are, respectively, the second, third and fourth public all-girls schools in Texas. (Dallas’s Irma Rangel Leadership School, which opened in 2004, was the first.)

The foundation plans to help start two more girls schools in Texas. Houston’s next. The final school district is TBD.

And the Houston Chronicle reports that the New Caney school district will provide gender segregated classes in four core subject areas including social studies, math, science and English, this fall.

The Ann Richards school, whose end-of-the-year awards ceremony in June is pictured at right, had a successful first year. But among the challenges the school faces in the coming year are helping new students get over their “homesickness” for their neighborhood schools and friends, and attracting high school students.

How do you think Ann Richards and other girls schools can help new students settle in? How can they entice high school-age students to stay?

August 8, 2008

Permanent principal appointment for new Johnston postponed

The Austin school board has postponed hiring a permanent principal for the high school that will open on the campus of the former Johnston High School in East Austin at the start of this school year.

On Monday, the school board is expected to appoint current interim principal David Kernwein, right, a veteran district administrator, the “permanent” interim principal for the 2008-9 school year.

The district apparently got plenty of applicants for the permanent principal job before they decided to postpone hiring one. I sent the district a public information request for all the applications for the Johnston job (excluding private information like Social Security numbers and the like) and was told there were 255 pages’ worth.

The district plans to open a four-year largely traditional high school on the Johnston campus this year. Next year, they plan to supplant that school with two new high schools, possibly an early college high school and a technology-focused high school.

Patti Everitt from the Austin school district’s department of high school redesign says that the district plans to post ads for permanent permanent principals for the two new schools as soon as they know for sure what the models for the new schools will be. They plan to hire the new principals January in order to give them time to prepare for the 2009-10 school year, she said.

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August 6, 2008

Lockhart school district to cut bus routes to save on fuel bills

School districts nationwide are reacting to rising gas prices by cutting back on buses for extracurricular activities, switching to four-day weeks, and, in the districts including the Lockhart district in Caldwell County, only allowing students who live at least two miles away from school to ride the bus.

Cliff Gardner, Lockhart’s superintendent for maintenance and operations, told the Lockhart Post Register that as many as 200 students could be affected by eliminating the bus routes. But he said students who have to cross busy roads to get to school could still ride the bus.

Even as the Austin school board considers holding an election to raise taxes and dipping into its savings to pay for this year’s budget, I haven’t heard trustees discuss cutting bus routes.

How far do you think school districts should go to cut their fuel budgets?

August 5, 2008

Former Manor schools superintendent named sole super finalist for Austin charter school

TexasISD.com reports that former Manor schools superintendent Mark Diaz, right, has been named the lone finalist for the position of superintendent of Cedars International Academy, a charter school for grades K-7 in North Austin.

Diaz resigned from the Manor post he had held for three years in January with two years left on his contract in return for a $160,964 payment, according to a board-approved voluntary exit agreement.

Diaz had a somewhat tumultuous tenure in Manor.

Board members and district staff had praised the leadership team Diaz assembled and some student performance improvements under his watch.

However, Diaz’s personality alienated some members of the school board and community. In 2005, he was placed on a four-day paid leave of absence after sending an e-mail in which he referred to African-American elementary, middle and high school students as “black boys.” Diaz said at the time that his comment had been misconstrued and that there was a larger conflict between him and some board members over districtwide reforms.

A message left at Diaz’s Cedars office earlier this afternoon was not immediately returned.

August 4, 2008

Showdown over school taxes could come Wednesday

Austin school trustees have scheduled another meeting Wednesday to discuss setting a maximum rate at which they will consider setting property taxes for the coming year’s budget. This is in addition to a meeting set for tonight.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, one day after a board subcommittee is expected to hold an impasse hearing on teacher salaries and benefits, issues on which the administration and Education Austin, a group that represents over 4,000 Austin teachers and staff, cannot agree.

Education Austin is proposing 5 percent raises each year for two years and increased benefits. That would require an 8-cent increase to the current $1.04 property tax rate in the coming year, whereas the Austin superintendent is recommending the board consider a 3.65-cent rate increase with 3 percent raises. The Austin Chamber of Commerce on Monday said it would support up to a 4-cent tax rate increase as long as raises weren’t given in excess of 3.8 percent.

All of those recommendations would require approval from voters through an election in the fall, something not all board members have said they would support. The board’s meeting to set a maximum tax rate will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Carruth Administration Board Auditorium, 1111 W. Sixth St.

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Austin middle school principal takes teacher search to the airwaves

Pearce Middle School principal James Troutman knows how to seize the moment.

On Friday, Austin school district officials held a press conference to discuss the state accountability ratings. Superintendent Pat Forgione asked Troutman to take the mic to discuss Pearce’s rating. (The school was rated unacceptable for the fourth straight year, but saw significant gains in most TAKS passing rates this year.)

Troutman answered the question posed, and then, taking advantage of the bank of television news cameras in the room, neatly segued into his pitch: Pearce is looking to hire an experienced science teacher ASAP, and the Austin school district is willing to make it worth that teacher’s while.

The reenacted pitch:

(With three weeks to go before the first day of school, the Austin school district is also looking to hire nine special education teachers, 13 bilingual teachers, and a vocational agriculture teacher, among other positions.)

August 1, 2008

More Texas schools receive top ratings under state accountability system

More schools statewide received top ratings under the state’s school accountability system this year than last, according to preliminary ratings released today.

The annual ratings — exemplary, the highest rating; recognized; academically acceptable; and academically unacceptable — are given to campuses and districts based on student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills as well as graduation and dropout rates. Friday’s results were preliminary; campuses and school districts can appeal the ratings. Final ratings will be release in October.

Statewide, about 46 percent of schools were exemplary or recognized this year, compared with about 37 percent last year. And 2.6 percent of schools were unacceptable this year, compared with 3.4 percent last year. Schools that are repeatedly rated unacceptable are subject to sanctions ranging from hiring private tutors to closure.

The state accountability system is distinct from the federal accountability system established under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The federal ratings are expected to be released later this month.

In Austin, 15 campuses were rated exemplary, up from seven last year; 19 Austin schools earned recognized ratings this year, up from 18 last year. This year’s ratings move the district closer to its goal of having more recognized or exemplary campuses by 2010.

UPDATED:

For a searchable statewide database of public and charter school campuses and their ratings, click here.

For a PDF list of Austin schools and their ratings, click here.

However, more Austin schools were rated unacceptable this year than last. Eleven Austin schools were rated unacceptable, including Pearce and Garcia middle schools and Reagan, Crockett and Johnston high schools. Last year, Austin had nine schools that were rated unacceptable.

State Education Commissioner Robert Scott ordered Johnston closed in June after it failed to meet state standards for the fifth year in a row. The Austin school district plans to open a traditional high school with a new, yet-to-be determined name, a new, yet-to-be-determined principal and mostly new staff members on the Johnston campus in the coming school year.

Pearce, which earned an unacceptable rating for the fourth straight year is currently entering the second year of a campus overhaul which included a new principal and many new teachers. Though student performance improved significantly in the past year, Pearce still missed state standards in areas including the percentage of seventh graders passing the writing TAKS and the percentage of eighth graders passing the science TAKS, according to preliminary results.

In the coming school year, the district will funnel more resources to Pearce, including four master teachers who will receive $12,000 stipends on top of their base salary, additional teachers and teacher assistants, more teacher training, and hiring private tutors for Pearce students.

Austin’s LBJ High School was rated acceptable this year, the first year that the comprehensive high school’s performance was judged separately from the performance of the magnet Liberal Arts and Science Academy on the LBJ campus. The magnet school received an exemplary rating this year.

UPDATED:

The Austin school district put out this comparison of 2007 and 2008 school ratings that shows the percentages of schools in each categories, which schools moved up and which moved down.

Permalink | Comments (27) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, No Child Left Behind, TAKS, Texas Education Agency news

July 31, 2008

Austin teachers plan to put performance pay money to good use

At a press conference Wednesday on the bonuses some Austin teachers are receiving for meeting certain performance goals, one district official told me that teachers are putting their checks, which range from $1,000 to $3,000, to good use. (Read our story here and the payout list here.)

One teacher plans to use the cash to pay for her upcoming wedding. Another will use the cash to outfit a new baby’s nursery. And another plans to use her bonus during a planned trip to Vegas. (For shopping, not gambling, the district official noted.)

Another popular planned use: Buying school supplies for their classrooms. How’s that for reinvesting in education?

Here’s Austin school district Superintendent Pat Forgione and Menchaca Elementary School Principal John Rocha explaining the performance pay program at Wednesday’s press conference:

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July 30, 2008

Austin teacher performance pay results: Naming names

Reporter Laura Heinauer and I and our editors had lengthy discussions over whether or not to identify the teachers and principals who received bonuses in the first payout of the Austin school district’s pilot strategic compensation plan.

District officials did, too.

Back in June, David Lussier, the district’s strategic compensation director, told me that administrators would release the list of employees receiving bonuses and the amounts of the bonuses. At a meeting with the Statesman’s editorial board Monday, Laura and I both heard Lussier and Superintendent Pat Forgione pledge to email us the list on Tuesday. (Lussier says he did answer “yes” to one of our questions but said it was not to giving us the list.)

Laura emailed the district a formal public information request and placed numerous phone calls to district officials Tuesday. Lussier said he didn’t want to release the list until the district’s press conference at noon today.

Apparently, someone in the central office had a change of heart. We received a copy of the list just before 7 p.m. Tuesday.

All this is to explain the process that led to our posting the list. And lest you think that we’re burying the lede here, it’s worth pointing out that rewarding and retaining good teachers — rather than combing through a list of who got paid what — is the point of this whole performance pay thing.

Without further ado: The List.

Below the jump, you’ll find our reasons for publishing The List.

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July 29, 2008

With Austin teachers' performance pay bonuses nearly in the mail, similar performance pay plan hits snag

With the Austin school district set to mail out nearly $1 million in payments to Austin teachers and principals under the district’s pilot strategic compensation program this week, district and teacher union officials in Denver are struggling to reach agreement on their own performance pay plan.

Normally, we wouldn’t pay all that much attention to Denver. (Sorry, Colorado.) But in this case, Denver matters because Austin’s performance pay plan is in some ways modeled on Denver’s, particularly in its involvement of the teachers’ union in creating the program.

According to Education Week, Denver union and district leaders are “engaged in a protracted battle over proposed changes to the system.”

To grossly overgeneralize, the Denver folks are arguing over whether it’s better to give all teachers more money or try to funnel the cash with laser-like precision to teachers at struggling schools or in harder-to-staff areas like math and science. It’s an discussion the folks who set up Austin’s performance pay program have had, too. Easy-going people that they are, the Austin people reached this compromise.

An early study of of Denver’s teacher performance pay program found that teachers who opted into the program raised student test scores only slightly compared with their peers who did not take part in the pay plan.

And an early study of Austin’s own program found that some teachers would’ve rather seen the performance pay cash on professional development and school supplies.

(Photo courtesy of TW Collins.)

Some schools cut sports programs to save money: Not Texas

The New York Times writes that school districts across the country are cutting back on sports spending to save money faced with rising salary, health care, and utility costs:

[In Mount Vernon, N.Y.] Student athletes in maroon and gold uniforms filled their water coolers with more than $19,000 in donations last weekend by standing on street corners here to ask friends, neighbors and strangers alike to help revive the school district’s $1.1 million athletic program, which was eliminated last month in budget cuts.

On Long Island, a group of parents started a charitable corporation, Wantagh S O S (Save Our Students), to collect money for nearly 100 sports teams and extracurricular clubs that were dropped from the school district’s budget last month …

And come fall, middle school students in Dearborn, Mich., will have to settle for fewer games after every team’s season was cut by a quarter, or about two weeks, to save $130,000 annually on busing and coaching…

It’s not a trend I see happening around here any time soon.

Earlier this summer, after Austin school district staff went through their budget presentation to the school board, one of the first questions from trustees was about increasing the number of athletic trainers at high schools.

And after months of pleading poverty in protest of paying the $2.4 million it owed the state under the school finance system, the Wimberley school board voted to spend about $450,000 on a new football field. (The old field is pictured in an August 2007 photo at right.)

It begs the question: Given a limited pool of money, at what point, if ever, should a district scale back sports programs to fund other needs?

Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, School finance, Wimberley schools

July 22, 2008

Former local superintendent, principal resigns from new job

Hector Montenegro, right, a former San Marcos district superintendent, Austin area superintendent and Johnston High School principal, resigned Monday from his position as superintendent of the Arlington school district less than six months after taking the job.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Montenegro’s resignation comes during an internal investigation into whether Montenegro broke state law by accepting honorariums from educational nonprofits that did business with the district:

In April, school district attorneys advised Montenegro to not accept honorariums from two groups that do business with the district, Advancement Via Individual Determination Foundation and the HOPE Foundation of Indiana. But e-mail records and attorneys’ letters released Monday under the Texas Public Information Act show that he continued seeking speaking engagements with HOPE.

July 7, 2008

You Oughta Be in Pictures Monday: Austin young poets head to national competition

From Austin school district spokeswoman Roxanne Evans:

Two students from the Austin school district will be part of a four-student poetry team that will compete in the 2008 Brave New Voices Under-21 Poetry Slam Nationals in Washington, D.C. next week.

LBJ High School student Ruby Willmann, shown above performing at an April poetry slam in Austin, and Reagan High School student Shanitra Harris, show below performing at an April poetry slam in Austin, will be part of the team that also includes students from the Round Rock and Killeen school districts.

This is the fourth year in a row a Reagan High School student will compete and the second year Harris has qualified to be a member of the Central Texas team to compete nationally. The students advanced in local contests sponsored by the Austin-based Texas Youth Word Collective to reach the national competition

The young poets will compete against more than 200 other young poets from the United States, Canada and Europe in venues including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and the Lincoln Theater.

The Texas Youth Word Collective youth literacy project is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Texas Commission on the Arts.

June 30, 2008

You Oughta Be in Pictures Monday: San Juan Diego Catholic High School in Austin

This week’s You Oughta Be in Pictures Monday features artwork by David Baker, who graduated from San Juan Diego Catholic High School in Austin in June. (The school featured Baker’s artwork on a greeting card, which is how I got my greasy paws on it.)

At San Juan Diego, which was founded in 2002, students spend spend five days a month working as clerks or in other capacities at local businesses or non-profits. It’s one of a group of about 20 corporate work-study Catholic high schools nationwide focused on serving students from low-income families and modeled on Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago.

As part of the school’s corporate work-study program, Baker worked at the law offices of Clark, Thomas & Winters and at Dell, Inc.

Baker’s artwork presents a contemporary rendering of St. Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican who reported seeing the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe and having her image imprinted on his cloak in 1531. In Baker’s work, “the saint is professionally dressed like the students of San Juan Diego Catholic High School” and bears the school’s seal on his chest, according to the explanation on the card’s reverse.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, Kudos!, Photos, Private schools

June 24, 2008

Austin school district's alphabet soup contest

The Austin school district’s Office of Planning and Community Relations has released a new and improved glossary of acronyms and jargon. It’s 52 pages chock full of TLAs* and such.

A sample:

AIP - Accelerated Instruction Plan

ALAS - Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents

MDCP - Medically Dependent Children Program

VAC - Vocational Adjustment Class, Vocational Adjustment Coordinator

And a bonus round. The first one to email me with correct/amusing definitions for these TLAs wins a fabulous prize:

MCP

PRS

TAT

*TLA

WBL

YRE

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June 23, 2008

You Oughta Be in Pictures Monday: Austin history competition winners

O. Henry Middle School parent Judith Bryant tells us that three students at Austin’s O. Henry Middle School excelled at a state-wide history competition and advanced to a national competition. The students produced independent projects on subjects including the development of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the World War II Battle of Luzon and Big Bend National Park. Pretty cool stuff, no?

According to the Texas State Historical Association, Fulmore Middle School student Kevin Brenner (in Mary Anne Wilkinson’s class) also won at the national level for his website Until She Spoke: The Haitian Revolution of 1804.

Bryant writes

Seventh grade Pre-AP History students at O. Henry Middle School recently participated in a local, regional and state-wide Texas History Day competition…[choosing] any event in history as their subject, as long as it related to the 2008 National History Day theme of “Conflict and Compromise.” After the state-wide Texas History Day competition, which was held at the Bob Bullock Museum and the University of Texas on May 3, three O. Henry students qualified to compete at the national level.

Kevin Espinoza, center, son of Annette and Carlos Espinoza, placed second in the state in the Individual Documentary category. His film, “The Wright Amendment: How Conflict and Compromise Helped the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex,” examined the original controversy surrounding the proposed closing of the Dallas Love Field airport and the compromise amendment, proposed by then Speaker Wright, that allowed Southwest Airlines to continue operating out of Love Field after DFW airport was built. As part of his research, Kevin interviewed Speaker Wright personally, as well as others involved, and used that footage in his documentary.

Will Bryant, right, son of Judith and Bill Bryant, placed second in the state in the Historical Research Paper category for his paper “The Battle of Luzon: Deadly Conflict; Deadlier Compromise.” His paper examined the World War II conflict in the Philippines on the island of Luzon and the ultimate surrender of thousands of American troops to the Japanese, which resulted in events arguably worse than the conflict, such as the infamous Bataan death march. The paper also chronicled the personal ordeal of Captain Adolph H. Giesecke, Will’s great, great uncle, who lived through these events and then died in Japan as a POW. As part of his research, Will interviewed Captain Giesecke’s son, Dr. Adolph Giesecke, Jr., as well as other family members. His paper has also been chosen by the Texas State Historical Association to be published in the 2008-2009 Texas Historian.

Trent Butler, left, son of Laura and Allen Butler, placed second in the state in the Individual Performance category, writing and performing a one-man play entitled “The Birth of Big Bend National Park.” Trent’s play required him to act in several different roles: a rancher, a state representative, a Civilian Conservation Corps worker and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Each character explained what he needed from the land that became Big Bend National Park, revealing conflict and compromise in the process. A highlight of Trent’s research was interviewing nine former Civilian Conservation Corps workers at the 75th CCC reunion held at Bastrop State Park in March.

O. Henry’s participation in the history day competitions was organized by O. Henry History teacher Duane Devereaux, who worked countless hours preparing the students for each level of competition. As a result of his efforts, a record twelve O. Henry students made it to the state competition, with three advancing to compete at the National History Day Competition at the University of Maryland in June.

June 20, 2008

East Austin non-profit continues Johnston-area charter school efforts

As we wrote last week, Southwest Key, an East Austin-based nonprofit that operates shelters for immigrant children and other programs, is considering partnering with Responsive Education Solutions to open a college prep charter school for ninth-grade students near the school formerly known as Johnston High in the fall. They’d need about 80 students to open the school.

Layla Fry, Southwest Key director of special projects, tell us that the non-profit has had a “very positive response from the Johnston community” so far and will host one final meeting with Johnston parents and students to gauge interest on June 21 at 10 a.m. at their headquarters, 6002 Jain Lane. (Southwest Key CEO Juan Sanchez stands in front of the organization’s Jain Lane building at right.)

Johnston was closed by state education commissioner Robert Scott this month for low performance. The Austin school district will open a new high school serving grades 9 to 12 on the Johnston campus for the 2008-09 school year. ~~School leaders have~~ Johnston principal Celina Estrada-Thomas, who has since resigned, has said the new school will not be dramatically different from the former school. ETA: Patti Everitt from the district’s office of high school redesign tells us that there will actually be dramatic changes at the new high school next year, including new instructional programs, significant changes in staffing and administration, and incentives offered to staff. The district hopes to open two new high schools on the Johnston campus in the 2009-10 school year.

Responsive Education Solutions, based in a Dallas suburb, runs the state’s largest chain of taxpayer-funded charter schools. It used to be known as Eagle Academies of Texas. In 2007, all 17 of its charter schools, including its Premier High School of Austin on Ben White Blvd., were rated academically acceptable.

But in 2004, an investigation by Statesman reporter Jason Embry found that Eagle Academies paid millions of dollars to for-profit companies founded or run by former Eagle Academies execs. (Read his story here.)

You can see how the South Austin charter school that Responsive Education Solutions already runs is doing by visiting the Texas Education Agency website.

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Congress could eliminate questionable reading education program

Reading First, a controversial federal program created by the No Child Left Behind Act of 200, distributed over $900 million during a five-year period to improve reading instruction in low-performing schools. The program would be eliminated under a 2009 spending measure approved Thursday by a House Appropriations subcommittee.

Austin is the only local school district receiving funding under the program.

Here’s how Appropriations Committee Chair Dave Obey, D-WI, explained the decision to cut the Reading First program yesterday:

The bill does not continue funding for the Reading First program, which has been plagued with mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and cronyism as documented by the Department of Education Inspector General. Moreover, a scientifically rigorous study released by Department of Education in May 2008 found that the program has had no discernable impact on student reading performance.

He was talking about a May 2008 study that found that the language skills of children in schools receiving Reading First funding generally didn’t improve significantly more than children in schools not receiving the funding.

He was also talking about reports and audits like those from the Office of the Inspector General that suggested officials and contractors who helped implement the program may have benefited financially from it.

But all is not lost. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings says there are plenty of other federal funding sources school districts can use to improve literacy instruction in elementary schools.

Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, Literacy, Texas Education Agency news

June 19, 2008

Austin school board solicits names for the new Johnston

The Statesman has already asked for your suggestions for a new name for the high school formerly known as Johnston.

Now, the Austin school district is formally asking for your input for the high school that will open on the Johnston campus on Aug. 25. Here are the rules:

Facilities may be named for individuals, places such as landmarks or neighborhoods, or for other reasons as determined by the Board.
The name must not already be in use by another district school or facility.
If a facility is named for an individual, the following shall apply:
The individual may be living or dead.
The individual must be recognized by the general public and widely respected.
The individual must embody exemplary qualities that can serve as a model of excellence.
Petitions shall not be considered by the Board as a criterion for consideration.

Nominators are encouraged to provide a succinct description of the nominees’ contributions, why they are important, and any pertinent history that should be considered. While no fixed standard is imposed, supporting documents of nomore than five pages should be sufficient.

Board policy prohibits the selling of names for any district facility; however, donations may be considered in the naming of district facilities.

Nominations may be mailed to:

        Office of Planning and Community Relations

        Austin Independent School District

        1111 West Sixth Street

        Austin, TX 78703-5399

Or, nominations may be submitted online at the district’s website: http://www.austinisd.org.

The deadline to submit nominations is July 20. Trustees will select the school’s name on Aug. 11, and the new high school will open for the 2008-09 school year on Aug. 25.

The district plans to open a high school for students in grades 9 through 12 at the Johnston campus for the 2008-09 school year.

By the start of the 2009-10 school year, the district plans to supplant that new high school by opening two new high schools — possibly a technology-centered high school and a separate high school that allows students to earn college credits — on the Johnston campus.

We asked district spokesman Andy Welch which of the two new high schools would receive the name selected by the board in August. Welch said the board hadn’t yet decided.

The board will select a name for the second high school to be located on the Johnston campus in the coming year, following district policy in selecting that name, too.

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Deadline to apply for principal jobs at Reagan and Johnston high schools nears

If you want to be principal of Austin’s new Johnston High School or old Reagan High School you’d better hurry up and apply.

The deadline for tossing your name in the hat is Friday.

You can read the help wanted ad for Reagan here and the new Johnston here.

The pay range for both jobs is $104,000 to $110,000, plus $30,000 in incentive pay tied to performance. (For comparison purposes, the district is also looking for a new principal for Lanier High School, promising a salary range of $100,000-110,000 plus the $30,000 bonus.)

What do you want to see in principals at Johnston, Reagan and Lanier?

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June 18, 2008

Johnston High repurposing plan approved

Two weeks after ordering the Austin school district to close Johnston High School, state Education Commissioner Robert Scott has signed off on the district’s future plans for the campus. The district is holding a press conference this afternoon to discuss details. The following is taken from a district press release:

Officials will announce this afternoon that Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott has, today, approved the Austin School District’s Repurposing Proposal that will open a new high school for the Eastside, serving Grades 9-12, to be housed at the former Johnston High School campus.

The formal announcement by School Board President Mark Williams, Trustee Sam Guzman, Superintendent Pat Forgione, Senator Kirk Watson, and others, will be made at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, in the library of the new high school facility, located at 1012 Arthur Stiles Road.

With the Commissioner’s approval of the Repurposing Proposal, the District will proceed immediately to recruit students for the first day of class, which is Monday, August 25. Community participation to name the new school will also begin. Based on community input, the AISD Board of Trustees is scheduled to name the new high school campus on Monday, August 11.

For previous coverage of the closing of Johnston, visit the Statesman’s Education Page.

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Austin school administrator shares lessons learned from Johnston high closure

At a school board meeting earlier this week, AISD associate superintendent Glenn Nolly (pictured in a 1996 photo at right) shared a few lessons learned from the state closure of Johnston High School:

It’s important for students to feel a personal connection to — to have a relationship with — their teachers.
You can’t learn if you’re not in school. Track student attendance daily.
Not all students do well in a traditional, comprehensive high school model. Try other high school designs that might work better for students with complicated home lives and responsibilities outside of school.

Nolly, a former Reagan High School principal, shared his lessons learned at the board’s request while discussing a plan for Reagan. Reagan is where Johnston was last year in the state’s accountability system.

Anything else you’d add to this list that might help students at Reagan or schools in similar positions?

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June 17, 2008

Austin school superintendent offers preview of possible rollback election

At Monday night’s Austin school board meeting, Superintendent Pat Forgione introduced us to some new vocabulary: “education investment election.” It means rollback election, which means an election to raise school district property taxes above the current $1.04 per $100 of assessed value.

(Previous coverage of a possible rollback election here and here.)

In a preview of what could be a campaign to sell such an election to voters, Forgione said the rollback election would raise funds to support teacher raises, rising employee health insurance costs and library books.

Forgione also reminded the board that the final decision on whether to hold a rollback election was up to them. He asked them to consider whether they wanted to move forward with plans for the election sooner rather than later.

“If we’re not going (to hold a rollback election), we could lock this up real quickly,” he said of the budget process.

Residents will have a chance to weigh in at a public meeting June 23.

Also on Forgione’s horizon: finding about $8.2 million in budget cuts over the next two years to avoid dipping into the district’s “savings account” to pay operating expenses.

Citizen’s budget task force co-chair Ramon DeJesus seized on the possibility of a rollback election as a chance to bring more accountability to district spending by evaluating the efficacy of the district’s multitude of programs and cutting those that aren’t working.

“We continue to add things, but we never explain to our teachers, our students, what’s come off (the list of programs),” he said.

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June 16, 2008

Austin school superintendent proposes election on tax increase

Austin superintendent Pat Forgione is expected to propose a $855.6 million operating budget to trustees, who will adopt a final version of the budget in August, according to a copy of a presentation he’s slated to give the board at their meeting tonight.

Under state law, the school district must ask voters for permission to increase its operations property tax rate above the current $1.04 per $100 of assessed value. The proposed budget would call for a operations rate of $1.0765, although trustees could approve a rate as high as $1.17. Any rollback election would be held in November.

(Read our previous coverage of a possible rollback election here.)

The basics

Current 2007-08 tax rate: $1.163 per $100 of assessed value (includes $1.04 for maintenance and operations, $.123 for debt repayment)

Proposed 2008-09 tax rate: $1.2145 per $100 of assessed value (includes an estimated $1.0765 for maintenance and operations, $.138 for debt repayment)

Impact: The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 after exemptions, would receive a 2008-09 tax bill for $2,429, a $103 increase. Property values in Austin increased 12 percent on average from 2007 to 2008, which means that most property owners will see higher tax bills even if the tax rate remains the same.

Key points: $54 million owed to the state under Texas school finance law; $13.3 million for a 3 percent salary increase for all employees; $3.5 million for increased employee health insurance costs; $2.2 million for higher utility and fuel costs.

Trustees tonight are also scheduled to discuss a plan to help Reagan High School, which has struggled to meet state standards on dropouts and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Austin schools, School finance

Attorney general clarifies ruling on school background checks

In a story that ran today, the Statesman reported that the Austin school district and teachers’ groups opposed a ruling by the state attorney general’s office that said the district must release information on criminal histories discovered after criminal background checks were conducted on teachers and other employees earlier this year.

The Texas Office of the Attorney General on Friday partially overruled its previous ruling, saying that criminal history information obtained directly from state and federal clearinghouse reports is not subject to disclosure. State officials said documents created by the district that contain such information should be redacted.

The copy of the letter from state officials that the Statesman received does not show specific examples of the type of information that will be released.

The Statesman has requested a campus by campus breakdown of what crimes were revealed in background checks and the outcomes of those cases. The Statesman has also asked how many of those arrested are teachers and whether anyone has been fired as a result of the background checks. The Statesman did not ask for names or other identifying information.

As of Feb. 28, before the fingerprinting process was complete, 310 employees were identified as having “criminal backgrounds,” according to district records. Those records did not show whether the arrests found resulted in convictions, or what the arrests were for.

The San Antonio Express news reported Sunday that the San Antonio school district have released the number of employees that had been charged with a crime, the employees’ positions and their charges. The paper said the Northside and North East school districts had not released any information on the outcome of their background checks.

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June 13, 2008

Non-profit floats concept of charter school for Johnston students

Southwest Key, an East Austin-based nonprofit that operates shelters for immigrant children, is considering partnering with Responsive Education Solutions to open a college prep charter school for 9th grade students near Johnston High School in Fall 2008. They’d need about 80 students to make the school happen.

(Johnston was closed by state education commissioner Robert Scott this month for low performance. The campus will operate much as it did during the past school year when students return in August 2008. The Austin school district hopes to open two new high schools on the Johnston campus by 2009. )

At Premier High School of Austin, 38 percent of the school’s 200-some students passed all TAKS tests taken, compared to 18 percent of Johnston students, Eight of Premier High School’s 11 teachers have less than five years of experience. About half of Johnston’s 60 teachers have less than five years of experience. (Those numbers are all for the 2006-07 school year.)

Southwest Key will hold informational meetings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at their headquarters, 6002 Jain Lane, to see if there’s enough interest to justify opening a school. For more information about the event, please visit www.swkey.org.

What do you think of Southwest Key’s plans?

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June 12, 2008

Pushback on performance pay for teachers: Just part of the process?

We wrote in a story in today’s paper that many teachers in the district’s performance pay plan thought some parts of the plan were good but believed, in general, that the money could be better spent on teaching materials or more instructional specialists.

A report by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University evaluating Texas’s performance pay statewide says pretty much the same thing:

Some elements of that plan, which is slightly different from Austin’s, are okay. But teachers said they would rather see the money spent on stuff like better teacher materials or professional development.

(The Vanderbilt University researchers produced the report under a contract from the Texas Education Agency.)

What do you think of merit pay? Are the teachers’ criticisms raising some valid points?

UPDATE, 6/12/08: I goofed. In the story in Thursday’s Statesman, I incorrectly characterized the Austin school district’s involvement in state performance pay plans for teachers and how the district determines which schools are considered “highest needs.”

The Austin school district receives or has received funding from several state teacher performance pay programs including District Awards for Teacher Excellence (DATE) and Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) and the Governor’s Educator Excellence Grant (GEEG). (I had said they didn’t get state funding.) And, in addition to the other factors mentioned in the story, a school’s proportion of special education students also affects a its designation as a highest needs campus. (I had said the highest needs designation was based on just the proportion of poor and English language learning students.)

The changes should be reflected in the online story soon. My apologies for the errors.

In an interview Thursday, program director David Lussier added several thoughts about the story, including:

-Staff can receive a stipend for pursuing one piece of National Board Certification, a 10-part process that can take three years to complete. Teachers didn’t specially tell district researchers that the $400 stipend for successfully completing that one piece of National Board Certification wasn’t worth it. Most of the teachers who discussed the National Board program just said they’d heard it was time consuming, especially considering the work involved in participating in other elements of the performance pay plan.

-The district would like to call the program a “Strategic Compensation Initiative Pilot program” as opposed to a “performance pay play” or “merit pay.”

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June 11, 2008

Suggestions for new Johnston High School name sought

The Austin school district will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Johnston High School, 1012 Arthur Stiles Road, to listen to community suggestions on how to go about choosing a new name for the campus and on the campus’ future.

“We will only discuss the process for the new name, not change the name at tomorrow’s meeting, or even begin the process to change the name,” spokeswoman Roxanne Evans said.

The district has asked state education Commissioner Robert Scott for permission to open two separate high schools at the campus in the 2009-10 school year, and details of the plan are still being hammered out.

What do you think the “new” Johnston(s) should be called?

(You can read some of our previous Johnston coverage here, here and below.)

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June 9, 2008

Austin district fighting to withhold fingerprint results; teachers' group weighs in

The Austin school district, where teachers were found to have criminal histories after the district conducted nationwide fingerprint checks earlier this year, is contesting a ruling by the Texas Office of the Attorney General that says district officials must comply with an open records request from the American-Statesman for statistical information on what the checks found.

Lawmakers recently passed a law requiring all school districts to perform national criminal background checks on educators and some other employees. Those who supported the measure said it would have prevented the hiring of a former janitor in the Liberty Hill school district who pleaded guilty to the 2006 attempted sexual assault of a child. The janitor, Christopher Nearn, had a 2003 conviction for burglary in Arkansas.

Other Austin media outlets also have asked for information on what Austin’s background checks turned up, including the KVUE and KXAN television stations.

In our request, the American-Statesman asked for documents showing a school-by-school breakdown of what crimes teachers and other employees had been arrested for or accused of and the outcomes of those cases. We did not ask for names of individuals or other identifying information.

Under the Texas Public Information Act, government agencies must respond to written requests for documents within 10 working days or ask the state attorney general for permission to withhold the information from the public.

The attorney general’s office has ruled that Austin officials must release at least some documents that provide the requested information. However the district’s attorneys are now asking for a “clarification and/or amendment or correction” from the Open Records Committee.

The district argues that releasing the requested information would violate employee’s privacy rights and is not in the public interest. The district says state law suggests that they should not release information about the nature of the arrests and whether charges were filed.

In a letter to the attorney general’s office, school district attorney Leslie McCollom said:

“Indeed, the inevitable result of disclosing the names of employees who have some criminal history reported by [the Texas Department of Public Safety] with no information about the nature of that history, is unfettered public speculation as to what criminal history each person might have.”

The Association of Texas Professional Educators, a non-profit that represents 112,000 educators in the state’s public schools, agrees. In a June 6 letter to the attorney general’s office regarding the state’s ruling, the group writes:

The ruling “has the potential to harm thousands of Texas educators, some of whom may have been arrested for an alleged misdemeanor (with no resulting conviction) or received deferred adjudication decades ago. Countless educators could find themselves facing undeserved and unnecessary public scrutiny if this important issue is left unconsidered.”

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You Oughta Be in Pictures Monday: Austin math whizzes

Rene LeBlanc from the Pentathlon Institute writes to tell us that a team of students from Clayton Elementary School in Southwest Austin won the National Team award in the National Mathematics Pentathlon Tournament. The Clayton team was the first from Texas to bring home the award.

Austin student Eryn Dickerman (above) also received the Delbert Detwiler award for participating in the Math Pentathlon for eight years in a row. Dickerman is the third person in the state of Texas to receive the award.

According to the Mathematics Pentathlon website, “Mathematics Pentathlon is a program of interactive problem-solving games, supportive curricular and instructional activities, and assessment tools for ALL students in grades K-7. This motivational program strengthens basic math concepts and skills, aligns with National and State Mathematics Standards, and stimulates creative thinking while developing problem-solving skills.” Over 1,000 Texas students and about 200 schools nationwide participate in the Math Pentathlon tournaments.

Here are the math pentathletes in action:

June 6, 2008

Johnston High School's Final Graduation

“08 - The last of the great”

Gabriela Camarilla had scribbled the words across her Columbia blue graduation cap in red paint, a final tribute to her fallen alma mater.

“The school is being renamed and reopened as something new, so Johnston High School is no more, but it will always continue on in the hearts of the students who went there,” she said.

Camarilla began to cry as she mourned the moments that will never be for the troubled school, which was closed down Wednesday for failing to meet state accountability standards for a fifth consecutive year.

“It’s very upsetting, because I wanted to be able to come back in 10 years for our reunion, but we can’t,” she said.

Fellow Johnston graduate Kristin Dominguez sympathized with the underclassmen who will not receive a diploma from the school.

“My sister is a junior, and she wanted to graduate from Johnston because most of the people from my family have graduated from Johnston, but now she can’t,” she said.

Dominguez, who will attend Stephen F. Austin University in the fall and major in psychology, said the graduation is very emotional for the seniors.

“Graduation means a lot to Johnston students because it has always been our way of beating the odds of what everyone else thought of us,” she said. “But now it’s sad because we’re the last class.”

In the moments before the ceremony, students said they would remember the friendships they developed, the teachers who invested in their education, the challenges they overcame, and the school pride they would always carry with them.

“I will always remember going to class and just being at the school,” said Jaimee Shaw, who will attend the University of North Texas and major in pre-med.

“The teachers, they really loved the school and they cared about our education,” said Chris Maxwell, who played football and will attend Blinn College in the fall. “They worked with us and helped us as much as they could because they wanted to see us be successful and go on to different places.”

“We were like a small family, and the unity we had was strong,” Dominguez said.

Johnston Principal Celina Estrada-Thomas, who will take over the reigns at Bastrop High School in the fall, encouraged students to hold up their heads despite what has happened with the school.

“Things may not have turned out the way you wanted to, but it wasn’t for lack of fight or lack of determination,” she said to the graduates as family and friends cheered them on.

And so the 2008 graduating class of Albert Sydney Johnston High School celebrated the unique spirit that exemplified east side pride.

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Plan for "new" Johnston High School released

The Austin school district has released plans for the opening of a new school at the Johnston High School campus in East Austin.

The state, which has rated Johnston “academically unacceptable” for the past four years based on passing rates on state achievement tests and dropout rates, ordered the campus closed Wednesday for failing to meet standards for the fifth year. Austin school district officials hope to persuade state officials to let them open a new and improved high school at the East Austin campus formerly known as Johnston High School.

The plan for the “new” Johnston seems to be to create two separate high schools at the East Austin campus, one school focused on project-based technology-focused education ala the New Tech High model and one Early College High School.

You can read the plan for yourself here. What do you think of AISD’s plan for Johnston?

(Read more Johnston coverage here and here.)

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June 5, 2008

Austin school district officials informed of Johnston "repurposing" Wednesday

Yesterday, Fox 7 News KTBC reported that state Education Commissioner Robert Scott told Austin school district officials of his decision to allow the district to “repurpose” Johnston High School on Friday, based on an interview with Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe.

That would have meant that the district sat on the decision for four days before telling teachers, students, parents and the school’s principal about the commissioner’s order late Wednesday afternoon.

Turns out, that’s not the case.

Ratcliffe told us in a voicemail today that she misspoke when speaking with Fox. The commissioner told district officials about the order on Wednesday, soon before the news went out to the Johnston staff, she said.

UPDATE from school district spokeswoman extraordinaire Roxanne Evans:

The timing of the announcement was by agreement with TEA. The Superintendent wanted the announcement to come the same day as the decision; he was emphatic that it be announced yesterday.

However. he wanted ample time after he was told to notify board members. And, because of the previously scheduled pizza party at 1:15 [to celebrate the improvements students made on state standardized tests during the school year], he did not want the students to be grieving the close of the campus instead of celebrating their gains on the test. Thus, 4 p.m. seemed the best possible time for the announcement. It was with agreement with TEA.

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June 4, 2008

Johnston closing, but Pearce MS to stay open

As they were ordering the closure of Johnston High School, state officials noted that Pearce Middle School, in Northeast Austin, has failed to meet state standards, based on early results from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, for the fourth year.

Pearce will remain open, but district administrators have been ordered to bring in private help for students. According to a statement released today:

Although there is evidence of academic improvement at Pearce Middle School, based upon the 2008 TAKS, [state Education Commissioner Robert] Scott also advised district officials the campus would again be rated Academically Unacceptable this year.

While the campus will remain open, under current leadership, the Commissioner ordered the district to contract for professional services to help improve student achievement in under-performing subject areas at Pearce, as well as provide for additional professional development.

The district was also directed to secure private tutorial or instructional services to assist Pearce students.

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Johnston will close, state officials announce

State Education Commissioner Robert Scott has decided to close East Austin’s Johnston High School, district officials have announced.

The state has rated Johnston “academically unacceptable” for the past four years, based on passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and dropout rates. The state threatened to close the campus or put it under alternative management if it failed to hit state targets this year.

District officials, in a statement released today, said Johnston will be closed and reopened to serve a different mission but will remain under the district’s control. An excerpt from the district’s announcement:

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott today notified the Austin School District that he is ordering the closure of Johnston High School, effective with the 2008-2009 school year.

Commissioner Scott also provided the Austin School District with the opportunity to submit a plan to repurpose the facility with the start of the 2008-2009 school year, which begins August 25. The District’s proposed repurposing plan for Johnston must meet specific criteria established in Commissioner’s rules, and must be approved by the Texas Education Agency.

District to Propose Repurposing Plan

Superintendent Pat Forgione said a plan for the repurposed campus would be presented to the Austin School Board on Monday evening, June 9, and if approved, would be forwarded immediately to TEA for review.

District officials scheduled a meeting for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, at Johnston, to discuss with the community the goals of the application to repurpose the campus. An additional meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, June 12, at 6:00 p.m., to update the community with additional details of the proposed repurposing.

“I very much appreciate all the thought and consideration that Commissioner Scott and the staff of TEA have provided for Johnston students and this school community,” Dr. Forgione said. “I also appreciate everything that Senator Kirk Watson has done to help us move towards a new vision for public education in East Austin.

“The repurposing plan that we will present to Austin School Trustees on Monday evening will allow us to move toward the new vision of the first-rate education that we want students to receive at the Johnston campus,” Dr. Forgione said, “pending the final decision of the Commissioner.”

Response to Commissioner Scott’s Decision

Senator Watson said of the Commissioner’s announcement, “This is good news for the students at Johnston. Commissioner Scott has worked with us over the last year, and now has provided us with an opportunity to repurpose Johnston High School, ensuring that we will have a high school that serves East Austin. This decision allows the Johnston community to continue planning for a new vision for the education of our students.”

“The Board of Trustees is fully committed to working closely with the Johnston community, and the Texas Education Agency, to make this repurposing plan a success for our students,” Board President Mark Williams said. “Commissioner Scott has worked closely with District officials and Senator Watson for a number of months, to help us reach the best course of action for Johnston students, and I look forward his continued involvement in the months ahead.”

“I want to be the first to invite Commissioner Scott to visit the newly-repurposed Johnston High School in the fall,” said District 2 Trustee Sam Guzman, who represents the campus. “The Commissioner has demonstrated how deeply he cares about the Johnston community. I know that this was a difficult decision for him to reach. The Board of Trustees and the Johnston community are committed to achieving greater things for our students.”

Commissioner’s Rationale

Despite some impressive gains on the 2008 Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills tests, Commissioner Scott advised Austin School officials that TEA staff had determined that Johnston would again be rated Academically Unacceptable when state accountability ratings are issued on August 1.

“The closure of Johnston High School will be a challenge for the community that it serves, but my greatest concern is for each student’s education. State law requires that the students assigned to Johnston be provided a more effective learning environment,” Commissioner Scott said.

To meet repurposing requirements, the Johnston facility must house a completely different instructional program and bear a new name.

Additionally, at least 50 percent of the students previously served at Johnston must be reassigned to other campuses; and the campus administrator and at least 75 percent of the instructional staff must also be reassigned.

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June 2, 2008

College scholarship hoax: Looking for a few good African-American men?

A few weeks ago, a Statesman editor forwarded an email with information about the “Call me MISTER” program through which African-American men planning to become teachers can receive full scholarships at several historically black colleges and universities.

Sounds like a good deal, right?

Turns out it’s too good to be true.

According to this memo from Call Me Mister program director Winston E. Holton, “an erroneous e-mail, rife with inaccuracies and misinformation about the Call Me MISTER Program, is making its way around the country. Said e-mail makes such false claims as ‘South Carolina HBCUs offer FREE TUITION’; and our program is for ‘African American MALES ONLY,’ neither of which is true.”

Still, the program does provide a loan forgiveness program and academic and social support systems. You can learn more about the Call Me Mister program (which stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role models, in case you were wondering) at www.callmemister.clemson.edu.