Schools on state's list
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 1, 2015 3:05 AM
pmoore@newsargus.com
Just weeks after Wayne County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore started his job July 1, the state budget passed and with it came a shift in requirements for schools, leaving the district with 11 low-performing schools instead of the four officials had anticipated would be on the list.
The schools categorized as low-performing included Brogden middle and primary schools, Carver Heights Elementary, Dillard Middle, Eastern Wayne Elementary, Goldsboro High, Mount Olive Middle, School Street and North Drive elementary schools and Southern Wayne and Spring Creek high schools. Prior to the rule change, the distinction would have only been held by the four Federal Title I priority schools, Brogden Middle, Carver Heights, Dillard and Goldsboro.
In response, Dunsmore has reassigned experts at the central office to work with administrators in the schools.
And the efforts will not stop with those 11 schools, he said.
"These practices are something we need to take across all 33 schools," he said. "We just can't ignore them or they're going to be on the list next year. So it is something that has to be countywide. We have to pay closer attention and just do a better job."
Districts are now tasked with putting plans in place of how to get the schools out of low-performing status. The looming consequences if the status doesn't change and performance scores don't increase -- turnaround, transformation, restart or closure -- are sending everyone into a tailspin.
No one wants to close a school, remove a principal or face reducing up to 50 percent of the staff, Dunsmore said.
Which is why there's no time to waste, he says. He has already been meeting with principals, developing school improvement plans and working on ways to increase scores and to move schools out of low-performing status.
"Then we have to turn (the plans) over to the state board that reviews them with DPI (state Department of Public Instruction)," Dunsmore said. "They'll make any suggestions to change that.
"I think bottom line, we need to see movement. That's why we're getting people out in those schools. The priority schools, because it's a federal distinction, we have less flexibility. We have to look at the four options, which is the turnaround, the restart, a transformation or actually closing the school."
Some of the frustration comes from the lateness of the announcement, officials said. If districts had been given some lead time over the summer, preparations and plans could have been under way.
"The state's notoriously a little slow in getting the data results out to us," Dunsmore said. "It seems like we're always behind in what we're trying to do.
"We've got great principals here. We have met with everybody on those lists. We're working on those plans. Yeah, people are concerned. They should be. We're all concerned. We want our children to excel, but we also know we can do it better."
The superintendent shied away from suggesting that staff morale is low, taking a more positive stance on the current climate.
"I think there's more a sense of urgency to really put every amount of resources we have into getting this fixed. I have met with all these principals. Those 11 came in prepared -- 'This is what we need to do. This is where we have got problems. This is where we need help,'" he said. "So from that standpoint, it's exciting. People are re-energized to really focus on our kids."
The district had 30 days to have an individual plan for each school, which the school board recently approved. And because the state's announcement came too late to implement before the school year, there was a slight reprieve, said Dr. David Lewis, assistant superintendent for accountability/informaton technology services.
"This is essentially a planning year for those four schools and then whatever model or plan is to be put in place has to begin with the 2016-17 school year," he said. "I think it's also interesting to note that with the priority schools they will be labeled as such for three consecutive years, starting with 2016-17, and so even if someone were to have tremendous success this year with more growth and better proficiency, you're going to be in that pool for three years until we can demonstrate consistently that we've worked our way out of that."
There is much work to be done, the men said, compounded by the mountains of assessments and tests mandated for school systems.
Dunsmore said he believes there is too much testing and the amount of information and "volume of expectations" creates stress. There is also the challenge that students learn at different paces.
"It's hard to manage with ever-increasing class sizes, ever-increasing curriculum material and less and less help and support, so that's why we really are trying to get every ounce of support we have out into the schools to help," he said. "But I think from a broader point, Dr. Lewis and I, Ms. (Tamara) Ishee (assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction) with the curriculum folks, have really been looking. Where we really, really need to focus is on that preschool and our early elementary grades. We need to do a better job right out of the gate, ensuring these kids are on grade level.
"We didn't get in this predicament overnight. We need to get some plans and processes in place that we are doing a better job, because I'm not going to shirk the fact that we have schools that are not doing as good as we should. We do need to do better."
Dunsmore said instead of being discouraged by the test scores, it "also forces us to look in the mirror -- what we have been doing obviously hasn't been working."
Rather than pointing fingers or attaching blame, he is much more interested in rolling up his sleeves and working toward solutions.
"I heard that from the principals coming through the door, that they felt there was a disconnect with us up here (in central office)," he said. "They want that support and they want us to know that they're out there busting their tails and you know, quite frankly, we need to be out there with them."