The Montgomery ISD board of trustees accredited the obtain of 20 acres of land for Elementary Faculty No. 7 through a Sept. 20 board assembly. The faculty will be manufactured off FM 2854 at the rear of Lake Creek Substantial College and is funded by the district’s $326.9 million bond bundle voters approved in Could.
The board of trustees beforehand licensed the district to move forward with the thanks diligence period for the possible website in July, Community Impression Newspaper reported.
“As we have been heading through the bond enhancement approach … very last fall, we talked about the want to ease Keenan Elementary College as properly as Stewart Elementary College, so this location enables us to accomplish both of those of all those tasks,” claimed Kris Lynn, MISD assistant superintendent of finance and operations, for the duration of the assembly. “We have not modified any attendance boundaries still, but this locale will permit us to pull pupils from Stewart Creek as effectively as from Keenan to enable reduce that overcrowding that all those campuses are dealing with.”
As of a Sept. 20 launch from MISD, the community will receive a study in the coming months to suggest the title and mascot for the new elementary college. A district committee with personnel and mothers and fathers in the Lake Creek High School feeder sample will also satisfy to make a suggestion to board associates later this 12 months.
Lynn mentioned the elementary campus will sit back again off FM 2854, making use of essentially the exact entrance to Lake Creek High Faculty from FM 2854.
“It is way off the street and in the end we foresee will be component of a greater growth, so we like the location, the stability, not currently being on [FM] 2854 or any other important thoroughfare,” Lynn said through the conference.
Lynn reported the May well 2022 bond referendum integrated $15 million for upcoming land purchases, which contains money for the purchase of the 20 acres the board permitted.
Trustees also chosen Stewart Builders to provide as building manager at hazard for two bond-funded initiatives: the district’s proposed career and specialized instruction middle and the agricultural science centre.
In accordance to facts presented during the conference by Lynn, Stewart Builders has created assignments, these kinds of as Katy ISD’s agricultural science middle and a CTE middle addition to Channelview Higher Faculty.
“We are really fired up to operate with Stewart Builders in the layout and building the MISD CTE and ag science facilities,” Board President Matt Fuller said in a Sept. 20 information release from the district. “We definitely want these academic areas to be solid factors of satisfaction for this local community, and we are self-confident that the district will advantage from Stewart Builders’ expertise and motivation to innovation, efficiency and collaboration through all phases of the job.”
For additional bond projects—facility updates at Montgomery Junior Significant, Lincoln Elementary and Montgomery Elementary schools—trustees also authorized deciding on Marshall Design as the development supervisor at possibility Sept. 20. Lynn said the firm has performed get the job done in neighboring districts, such as Conroe and Willis ISDs.
“We believe that Marshall Development will be an superb spouse for our district,” Trustee Trey Kirby said in a Sept. 20 release. “We have been impressed by their observe file of offering shopper initiatives with fantastic high-quality, on time and on price range, and are keen to get begun on these renovations that will consequence in enhanced learning environments for our college students.”
BRADENTON — In a standard meeting Tuesday, the Manatee County Fee unanimously authorized $100,000 funding to Manasota Care Web, a non-profit disaster being pregnant middle. The volume is 2 times the original funding authorised by the board in July of previous 12 months.
Commissioner James Satcher first asked the board to look at a motion to approve a full of $100,000 of funding to supply assist to two nonprofits that provide pregnant ladies in need to have of prenatal treatment. The movement for funding was in concert with Satcher’s then-exertion to garnish board help for a county ordinance that would have banned abortion companies from furnishing solutions in Manatee County.
In July, the board approved Satcher’s motion for the county to supply funding for two non-profit corporations which get the job done to aid women experiencing unplanned or undesirable pregnancies, but not abortion companies. The board accredited $50,000 every to Fix Maternity Properties and Manasota Care Internet. The proposal was accepted by the board in a 5-1 vote.
Even so, Clear up Maternity Residences later on declined the county’s offer of the unrequested funding.
The item returned to Tuesday’s consent agenda with a revision requested by Satcher in which the board was asked to shift to approve the put together total—$50,000 initially accredited to Manasota Care Web moreover the $50,000 accepted but declined to Solve Maternity Properties.
Although the board did in the long run approve the adjust, the vote arrived soon after a rather lengthy debate which incorporated commissioner considerations around the place the funding would be sourced, and the process—or deficiency of process—involved.
The approved funding is now established to come from county reserves as opposed to the Children’s Products and services Tax Fund. The latter would have essential much more stringent processes and necessities for this sort of funding.
In his opinions, Satcher explained to his fellow board customers, “Permit me just be very clear, I am hopeful for, and count on a 7- vote.”
Satcher described his placement that the permitted funds have been by now established apart with the intention to be specified as a whole of $100,000. With Remedy Maternity Households declining, it was Satcher’s situation that the full funding must be easily permitted by the board to default in entirety to Manasota Treatment Web.
But some of the other commissioners expressed doubt about the approach and precedent these a movement might set.
Commissioner George Kruse agreed with the authentic premise of approving funding to nonprofit companies that deliver products and services to pregnant women of all ages. Nonetheless, Kruse expressed annoyance over the deficiency of system or discussion prior to Tuesday’s looking for acceptance to supply all the funding to Manasota Care Web. The commissioner also referenced an software excellent that was submitted by the firm to the Children’s Services Advisory Committee for an extra $250,000 in funding from the county.
“This is a slippery slope that everybody up on this board, we are likely to regret,” claimed Kruse, detailing that every commissioner on the board could have an firm or trigger that they really feel strongly warrants county funding. Kruse argued that should really the board approve the funding overall from the fee reserves, in time it will turn into tough to deny very similar long term commissioner requests.
“It is disingenuous to say that just one cause is considerably less important to a specific commissioner,” Kruse argued. “We will need to take care of this procedure just before this receives out of hand.”
Commissioner Reggie Bellamy felt equally regarding a deficiency of system. Bellamy went a stage further more asking the board no matter if they would react in the same way to him really should he make a motion for the county to present funding to youth results in he is passionate about.
Soon after the board’s vote, Bellamy analyzed the concern he had elevated earlier in the discussion.
“I would like to make a motion for $100,000 to be taken out of the basic fund of the fee to go towards the assist of Juneteenth Celebration with the Rosalyn Education Student Products and services and Instructional Consultants Consortium Inc,” Bellamy said, “as nicely as support for the Unidos Heritage Celebration to be split equally. That is my motion,” Bellamy concluded.
Nevertheless his motion was effectively identified as to concern, it unsuccessful to move in a 4-3 vote with only Commissioners Bellamy, Kruse, and Servia supporting.
Soon after it was apparent his movement would not receive the support of the board, Bellamy explained, “And my position has been established.”
The Poplar Bluff R-I School District authorised retirements, resignations and new hirings during the closed session of their Feb. 17 conference.
Certified personnel and supplemental obligation employees retiring had been Debbie Allen, psychological examiner at the Central Workplace Unique Solutions Department Patrick Carda, actual physical instruction instructor at ONeal and Oak Grove elementary educational facilities and Tennessee Dazey, distinctive education instructor at Poplar Bluff Center School. Resignations ended up Gabrielle Bullock, trainer at Oak Grove Elementary Amy Courtney, instructor at ONeal Elementary Luann Elledge, Elementary Counseling Department head and screening coordinator for the R-I district Katlin Mansfield, teacher at PBMS and Frankie Moe, primary abilities teacher at the Technological Job Center. All retirements and resignations are successful at the finish of the 2021-2022 yr other than for Moes, which is effective June 30.
Those people hired as qualified personnel or supplemental responsibility personnel were being Kristie Robinson as principal of Oak Grove Elementary, Regina Blalock as distinctive instruction instructor at PBMS, Hope Conover as ACT mentor at Poplar Bluff High School, Hilary Lawson as teacher at PBMS, Cassie LeGrand as teacher at PBMS, Ashley Prolonged Griffin at mathematics teacher at PBHS, Amy Mitchell as instructor at Eugene Subject Elementary, Krista Muphy as teacher at PBMS, Audrey Olivas-Zuniga as exclusive training teacher at ONeal Elementary, David Prater as social scientific studies instructor at PBHS and Erica Vaughn agricultural training trainer and FFA sponsor at PBHS. Employments are effective at the beginning of the 2022-2023 college calendar year.
Labeled staff retirements had been Kimberly Geringer, computer system technician in the IT office Bobby Joe Miller, maintenance worker in the maintenance department and Mary Annette Wells, paraprofessional at ONeal Elementary. Resignations ended up Olivia Crites, paraprofessional at the kindergarten middle Michelle Crutchfield, distinctive products and services clerk at Central Business Rebecca Edwards, companion aide at ONeal Elementary Donna Fisher, custodian at the Early Childhood Center Iris Johnson, professional medical assistant at PBMS Jentsy Philpot, health-related assistant at PBMS Katherine Ray, secretary at TCC and Dontriniece Wright, companion aide at Oak Grove Elementary. Retirements and resignations are effective at the conclude of the 2021-2022 faculty yr.
Categorized staff employments had been Michael Burson as paraprofessional at PBMS, Krystle Daves as health and fitness aide at PBHS, Stephanie Griffin as administrative office environment assistant at Central Workplace, Walter Jackson as custodian at Poplar Bluff Junior Superior, Nicole Seabrooks as health care assistant for the district, Megan Tanner as companion aide at ONeal Elementary and Marty Wallace as bus driver in the Transportation Division.
The board permitted the employment of Lillie Pettypool, Brittany Brasser, Payton Spradley, Autumn Wawak, Clarissa Lee, Kayla Sanderson, Demi Knowledge, Chryl Cole, Yasmine McGuire, Trever Lewis and Emalee Dobbs as substitute instructors.
The board also accredited deal renewals for administrators and principals in the 2022-2023 school calendar year.
The Kentucky Board of Education held its Dec. 1 regular meeting on the campus of the Kentucky School for the Deaf.
The Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD) had the opportunity to host the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) on its campus for the board’s regular meeting on Dec. 1. As part of a packed schedule, the board approved a regulation relating to the use of corporal punishment.
A 1982 Kentucky statute permits the use of corporal punishment by teachers for the purpose of maintaining classroom discipline. In 2019, the legislature passed KRS 158.4416, which requires KDE to provide resources related to, and requires districts to adopt, trauma-informed discipline policies. Trauma-informed discipline policies seek to balance accountability with an understanding of traumatic behavior.
“There is a persistent rub between our work related to trauma-informed discipline and the permissive statute KRS 503.110,” said Matthew Courtney, policy advisor in KDE’s Office of Continuous Improvement and Support (OCIS).
Based on the KBE’s authority to promulgate regulations related to student discipline and student welfare, he said KDE saw fit to bring forward the regulation to place guardrails around corporal punishment and what it looks like in Kentucky.
Courtney clarified it is the stance of KDE that corporal punishment is not a trauma-informed discipline resolution, and should not be used in Kentucky public schools. KDE has actively fought to prohibit corporal punishment for about 30 years.
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry suggests that corporal punishment at school may be harmful to students and may increase problematic behaviors, may hurt a student’s ability to self-regulate and make it harder for them to develop trusting and secure relationships with adults. Many other national advocacy organizations have taken a similar stance.
Since corporal punishment cannot be viewed through a trauma-informed lens, KDE applied a harm reduction approach in drafting the new corporal punishment regulation.
“This should not be seen in any way as an endorsement of corporal punishment from the department or the board,” said Courtney. “This is the next step in what has been a 30-year mission to end corporal punishment in Kentucky.”
The regulation defines corporal punishment as the deliberate infliction of physical pain by any means upon the whole or any part of a student’s body as a penalty or punishment for misbehavior. It also seeks to exempt from corporal punishment students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP), 504 plan and those who are classified as homeless or are in foster care.
If a district chooses to allow corporal punishment, the regulation requires schools to get written consent from a student’s legal guardian within the first five days of the school year if the guardian wishes to allow corporal punishment to be used as a behavior intervention for their child. Before administering corporal punishment, the school must receive an additional verbal consent from the student’s parent or guardian.
The corporal punishment must be administered by a principal or assistant principal and must be in the presence of at least one additional certified staff member who is of the same gender as the student. Each corporal punishment incident must be recorded in the student information system.
After administering corporal punishment, the student must receive a minimum of 30 minutes of counseling provided by the school guidance counselor, school social worker, school psychologist or other qualified mental health professionals by the end of the next school day.
Each local school board must adopt a policy that either prohibits or allows use of corporal punishment. There currently are 156 districts in Kentucky that explicitly prohibit the use of corporal punishment in their district policy manuals. Four school districts have permissive policies and 11 have no clear corporal punishment policy.
“I’m on record as saying I consider this a barbaric practice,” said Education Commissioner Jason E. Glass. “I’m embarrassed that it exists anywhere in the state of Kentucky.”
KBE Chair Lu S. Young said she received several comments encouraging the approval of the regulation
“We do know that there is an effort afoot to engage the General Assembly in a conversation about revising the statute in such a way to ban corporal punishment entirely,” said Young. “In the absence of such a statute, I applaud this work.”
Now that the regulation is approved by the KBE, it will be filed with the Legislative Research Commission on or before Dec. 15. Depending on various steps in the legislative review process, the regulation will likely become effective near July 2022.
Early literacy initiatives
KDE Chief Academic Officer Micki Ray discussed Kentucky’s early literacy initiatives and ways KDE’s Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) is working to support local schools and districts in addressing students’ literacy needs.
According to Ray, between 2015-2019, approximately 118,000 Kentucky students in 3rd grade performed below proficient on the K-PREP reading assessment. In 2019, a total of 47.3{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} of Kentucky’s 3rd-grade students did not meet proficiency on the K-PREP reading assessment.
Ray said this issue goes beyond assessment scores. Students who are proficient in reading by the 3rd grade are more likely to have continued academic success; less likely to have problems with attendance, dropout rate and juvenile crime; more likely to feel higher self-esteem and feelings of adequacy; and more likely to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Ray discussed early literacy initiatives, including the Read to Achieve (RTA) grant. The RTA grant is a two-year, renewable grant that, per KRS 158.792, was “created to help teachers and library media specialists improve the reading skills of struggling readers in the primary program.” Applications are currently being taken for the next round of Read To Achieve grants.
At its Sept. 30 meeting, the Reading Diagnostic and Intervention Grant Steering Committee approved the grant size and range of awards and the request for applications (RFA) notice as specified in KRS 158.794 and 704 KAR 3:408. Since the time the RFA was released, KDE has received questions and concerns about the current RFA. Some of those questions were from potential applicants through the RFA question-and-answer process. Other concerns have been sent more informally through the KBE’s public comment documents.
KDE is committed to the success of RTA programs to assist struggling readers throughout the state. KDE does have the option of amending the RFA and extending the deadline to apply. At the close of the RTA question period, KDE anticipates amending the RFA to provide clarity and address some concerns. As it has done to date, KDE must continue to comply with statutory requirements regarding RTA grants, regulatory requirements of the KBE and state procurement requirements for RFAs.
Since this involves an active RFA, KDE is unable to provide details of exactly how the RFA may be amended. However, KDE is committed to the successful implementation of reading intervention programs for struggling readers throughout the Commonwealth.
In other business, the board:
Presented the Kevin M. Noland and Mary Ann Miller Award for Outstanding Public Service to Kentucky Schools to Reeca Carver, state advisor for the Family Career and Community Leaders of America at KDE;
Heard updates from AdvanceKentucky Executive Director Anthony Mires and KDE’s Ray;
Heard an update from KDE Associate Commissioner Robin Kinney on the KDE Employment Report;
Heard from KDE Associate Commissioner Kinney and Division Director Karen Wirth on the audit update and expense reports;
Heard an overview of the recommendations of the School Facilities Task Force;
Heard a report from the Council on Postsecondary Education;
Heard a report from Deputy Secretary of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Mary Pat Regan;
Heard Glass present the commissioner’s report;
Approved consent agenda items:
New District Facility Plans;
Amended District Facility Plans;
2020-2021 school year Local District Working Budgets and Local District Tax Rates Levied;
702 KAR 1:115, Annual In-Service Training of District Board Members;
Amendments to 704 KAR 19:002, Alternative Education Programs;
Request to withdrawal emergency regulations 702 KAR 1.191E and 702 KAR 7.125E;
704 KAR 3:395, Extended School Services;
Heard a year in review update from 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Donnie Piercey;
Listened to a presentation from Kentucky School for the Deaf Principal Toyah Robey and KSD students;
Approved the recipient of the 2021 Kevin C. Brown Strategic Priority Award;
Approved KBE’s legislative priorities;
Approved the federal Carl D. Perkins Consolidated Annual Report;
Approved emergency regulation 702 KAR 1:191E, District Quarantine Leave, which allows any fully vaccinated district employee that is quarantined by a licensed treating physician, physician’s assistance, advanced practice registered nurse, local health department, Department for Public Health or local school district to be eligible for paid leave;
Approved certification of 702 KAR 7:140, School Calendar, to prevent expiration; and
Heard a litigation report from KDE General Counsel Todd Allen.
MASSILLON – The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission is expected to contribute $15 million to help Massillon City Schools construct two new elementary schools.
The OFCC meet last week and approved the state’s share of $15,219,211 for the project, Superintendent Paul Salvino said. The state Controlling Board is expected to approve the release of the funds next month.
The agreement with the OFCC is the result of many back and forth meetings with the commission.
For some time, district officials have been working with the OFCC to secure funding to build new schools to replace the district’s aging elementary schools.
Under the plan, the district will contribute $29,807,375 to construct two pre-kindergarten through third grades schools — one on the city’s west side and the other on the east side of town.
‘We have the money in hand for the project.’
District officials have long wanted to address the aging elementary schools.
Whittier Elementary is 82 years old. Franklin is 66 years old and Gorrell was built 65 years ago.
The buildings have space issues, are not energy efficient, and are not equipped to handle growing technology, officials say.
The district has sunk millions into maintenance, from replacing boilers to repairing the plumbing and heating systems.
Salvino and his team have had numerous conversations with the OFCC during the past three years. When the pandemic hit, those talks were put on hold.
This year, talks picked back up.
Even before Salvino took the helm at his alma mater, district officials have been working with the OFCC to address district facilities.
In 2014, the state approved funding for the construction of new schools, but voters rejected the plan twice. Both of those plans included bond issues. This time around, the district isn’t asking taxpayers to foot the bill.
“We have the money in hand for the project,” Salvino said.
Last year, the Board of Education created a capital project fund with $25 million the district had set aside during the past few years to pay for building new elementary schools or renovating the existing elementary buildings and Washington High School. If these funds are not spent by October 2029, they will need to be returned to the district’s general fund.
Salvino said the funding was the result of tough decisions made by former board members who decided to close district elementary schools and consolidate them into three schools reducing operational costs and energy consumption.
“I know the community was upset but it didn’t pay to operate all of the school buildings with the way enrollment was,” he said. “There was a savings the district started to see just as we anticipate we will see when we go from three (elementary) schools to two,” he said.
Salvino also credits the district’s transparent spending and “superb management” of district dollars.
What are the next steps?
State funding is based on a number of factors set by the OFCC. They consider the district’s existing facilities and enrollment.
During the past three years, the funding the state was willing to put up for the project fluctuated.
Officials considered renovating the district’s elementary schools, but the costs were too high.
When the state funding was lower than anticipated, Salvino asked if the district could resubmit enrollment figures. The new evaluation showed the district was seeing a slight increase in student population prompting a review of the funding.
Finally, the two sides came to a financial agreement.
“We had a great ongoing collaborative relationship with the OFCC,” Salvino said. “We are excited to be able to finally right-size the district and set the tone for the future of the school district.”
Under the plan, the district will fund about 67{e4f787673fbda589a16c4acddca5ba6fa1cbf0bc0eb53f36e5f8309f6ee846cf} — or $29,807,375 — of the $45,807,375 project costs, but Salvino said the total cost will likely grow with locally funded initiatives, items the state will not fund.
For instance, the district might decide to widen hallways within the new schools, add classrooms, and make the entrance and parking lots larger. Those costs are not supported by the state’s formula.
“Due to how the OFCC calculates these school district projects, according to the OFCC figures the square footage of Washington High School would justify moving sixth, seventh and eighth grade into the current high school,” Salvino said. “We are not going to do that.”
Where will the new schools be located?
A location for the new schools has not been determined, but Salvino said the schools will be built on existing district-owned property. Land is available at the middle school, high school and the former Bowers Elementary site. They have also considered the site of Smith Elementary School, which houses the district administrative offices and the pre-school, as well as the existing elementary school grounds.
Each of the potential sites have been evaluated and core samples have been taken to determine if the land is suitable, Salvino said. They are awaiting the results of the tests. He hopes to be able to provide the location of the new schools, as well as a timeline for construction, after the start of the new year.
If the funding clears the state board, the district also will begin looking for a project architect. The process will include the OFCC, he said.
‘It really is an exciting time.’
Officials will have to work closely with teachers and staff to ensure the buildings are equipped to meet Massillon students’ needs. He also anticipates working closely with the district’s three unions to blend the staffs of the three elementary schools.
Salvino does not foresee a reduction in force. Until the new schools are ready to welcome new students, officials will closely watch staffing. For instance, if someone retires do they need to replace them.
“In the end, we have the same amount of kids to feed, transport and teach,” he said.
He estimates each school will have around 650 students.
While they forge ahead on the plan, Salvino said they will take their time to ensure they get things right.
“It really is an exciting time,” he said. “When you can do things that will directly impact our district for the next 50 to 80 years, it’s exciting. We won’t take it for granted. We know it is going to be a lot of work but this is good work. This is future planning. These are the things we need to focus on.”
An effort on Tuesday to add fifth grade at three charter schools, in alignment with Metro Nashville Public Schools’ own initiative, devolved into chaos and a heated debate about the role of school board members.
Metro Nashville school board members eventually voted to allow three charter schools — Rocketship Nashville Northeast, Purpose Prep Academy and Smithson Craighead Academy — to add fifth grade to their current K-4 elementary schools in alignment with the district’s own initiative to move fifth grade from middle schools back to the elementary level.
But the vote came only after heated debate as board members drew pro- and anti-charter lines and a yelling match with some of the many parents who showed up in support of the charter schools.
An initial motion by board member John Little, a charter school advocate, failed and he slammed his colleagues for not supporting the desires of parents. His colleague, board member Sharon Gentry, called his remarks a “tongue lashing.”
“We’re sending the wrong message to our families to say we’re going to change how we do elementary and middle school, but we’re not going to allow charter schools,” Little said.
Board member Freda Player-Peters had earlier said charter schools could have made the move to add fifth grade before Metro Schools introduced the ReimaginED initiative to do the same, saying the process is dependent on the school board’s decision.
But Little reminded Player-Peters that charter schools still have to propose amendments to their initial agreements with the district to change the grade levels along with the number of students they serve.
Parents applauded Little’s comments before the tone quickly shifted.
“It’s worth noting that these are charter school students, not necessarily our students,” said board vice-chair Rachael Anne Elrod, who attended the meeting virtually.
Several parents voiced their disappointment with Elrod’s comments, prompting Little to interrupt Elrod before stepping away from the dais. One parent stood in the middle of the board room, pointing and shouting at Elrod on the screen while chair Christiane Buggs gaveled for silence.
A motion by Elrod to deny Rocketship’s proposal also failed.
On top of that, there was confusion about the Rocketship vote totals, with some members not voting but not officially abstaining, either. As a result, the board had to reconsider Rocketship’s application.
When it was made clear that Rocketship was not requesting an enrollment increase to add two fifth grade classes, board members eventually approved the matter with a 6-2 vote.
The board then approved Purpose Prep and Smithson Craighead’s request to add fifth grade but did not approve enrollment increases for the two schools Tuesday night.
Should fifth graders stay in elementary schools?
For years, most elementary school students have transitioned to middle schools for fifth grade in Nashville. An earlier effort to move fifth grade back to elementary school — the most common practice for school districts — in 2017, under then-superintendent Shawn Joseph, failed after district officials determined the $300 million price tag was too high.
Starting in 2018, three elementary schools that feed into Antioch Middle School began adding fifth grade and now as part of the district’s multi-year Metro Schools ReimaginEd initiative, schools in specific clusters are making the change.
And district leaders acknowledge that most parents prefer their fifth-grade children stay in elementary school.
Academically, fifth-graders learning in an elementary school environment outperform their peers attending fifth grade in middle schools, said Elisa Norris, executive officer of strategy and performance management and leader of Metro Schools’ ReimaginED initiative.
State standards and most curriculums also group grades together, typically as K-3 or K-5, 6-8 and 9-12, making it easier for fifth-grade teachers to plan and collaborate with other elementary school teachers, said David Williams, the district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction.
This school year, elementary schools in the Pearl-Cohn, Maplewood and Whites Creek clusters, have transitioned fifth grade back into their buildings
Bobby Miles, principal of Rocketship Nashville Northeast, told The Tennessean Tuesday morning that his school hoped to add two fifth grade classes for the 2022-23 school year because many current parents have been hopeful the school board will approve the effort.
Amending charter school agreements
Charter schools have to propose amendments to change the grade levels along with the number of students they serve. Both Purpose Prep and Smithson Craighead asked to increase enrollment in addition to adding fifth grade. But Rocketship Nashville Northeast is only requested to add two fifth grade classes, which the board granted.
Rocketship’s second Nashville elementary school, United Academy, did not seek to add fifth grade because the school does not have the space, said James Robinson, executive director for the Rocketship charter school network in Tennessee.
The district’s Office of Charter Schools recommended the board approve the grade additions for all three schools but found that Purpose prep and Smithson Craighead’s enrollment increase requests “fall outside of the maximum enrollment threshold” at both schools per their charter agreement.
Smithson Craighead for instance has never met its current enrollment cap and does not have a weight list, according to Shereka Roby-Grant, director of charter schools for the district.
Board member Emily Masters, who typically sides with the anti-charter school board members, voted in favor of adding fifth grade at all three schools and even spoke in favor of Smithson Craighead, which is located in her district.
“I had a great visit at Smithson Craighead and I was really straightforward that I’m very appreciative of everything that they’re doing in that school and that I would be glad to vote for them to add fifth grade …because that is a pedagogical decision that doesn’t require the addition of seats. I can be understanding of that,” Masters said.
The role of school board members
After the board finished its votes — and the room nearly cleared out — Gentry questioned Little’s motives
“I would be remiss if I didn’t say a couple things. I will be honest with you Mr. Little, I’m talking about you sir, with some of these comments you made sitting at this board,” she said. “It just concerns me that I would be chastised for serving as a school board member and making decisions that are in the best interest of MNPS. I’m concerned when the tongue lashing comes.”
Gentry also reiterated Elrod’s earlier point that charter schools are not MNPS schools.
“They’re public schools, but they’re not MNPS schools,” she said.
Little said many families have children in a variety of schools, whether a charter school, a traditional zoned public school or a magnet school, and therefore parents and students should be treated equitably no matter the “brand” of their school.
Gentry argued the board is capable of making decisions in the best interest of students, using Tuesday’s votes to add fifth grade as an example, but members are charged with making decisions in the best interest of the district.
Charter school proponents often argue that parents choose charter schools when their zone or neighborhood school doesn’t serve them well or when their only options appear to be underperforming public schools. But those who are against charter schools argue they have little oversight and pull money out of local schools, making it harder for them to improve.
The majority of the present board members eventually voted in favor of the three charter schools’ amendments. Elrod voted against all three. Board member Abigail Tylor voted against the proposals for Rocketship and Purpose Prep but in favor of Smithson Craighead’s application.
The board also voted to renew its contract with LEAD Prep Southeast but deferred Knowledge Middle School’s renewal at the request of the school.
Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our Tennessee publications gets you unlimited access to all the latest news throughout the entire USA TODAY Network.
Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.
