According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Hillsborough Elementary School now has a "permanent" Principal.
"Martinette Horner will be the new principal of Hillsborough Elementary School. Now serving as the associate principal at Pathways Elementary School, she is certified according to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Before becoming an associate principal, she taught third and fourth grades in Orange County Schools for eight years. "
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Uh, aren't you forgetting something?
I must admit I was so anxious to read about the "Big Plan" that would come out of yesterday's Merger Sub-Committee meeting that it was the first thing I looked up online when I woke up this morning. Luckily, the Durham Herald Sun and Raleigh News & Observer covered the meeting.
As I read Cara McDonough's Herald Sun article, I can say I was more than a little disappointed by how small the "Big Plan" really is, and very confused by some of the assumptions the Board (or more accurately Dennis Whitling) is making with its preferred plan.
Then it hit me; they think HES parents are bluffing about not sending their kids to a merged school.
According to the article:
"A proposal by school board chairman Dennis Whitling [and endorsed by the sub-committee] would involve a restructuring, making Central Elementary a K-2 school serving the children who are currently districted to Central Elementary and the children who currently attend Hillsborough Elementary. Hillsborough Elementary would be a grade 3-5 school which would also serve the children currently attending both schools."
Regardless of what new name you put on it, this is a merger of CES and HES. And like Shirley Carraway's merger proposal from earlier this year, this plan assumes one key element around which there is great doubt - whether "the children who currently attend Hillsborough Elementary" will continue to attend this "restructured" school.
The majority of families with children at HES will have the option of not taking part in this "Big Plan" by returning their children to their neighborhood school or opting out of the Orange County Schools all together. This is why only 17% of HES parents stated that they would definately stay in a merged school earlier this year.
Of course, why should they stay? The single largest factor driving the decision to enroll one's kids at HES is "student performance" (41%). Just as under the original merger proposal, under Whitling's "Big Plan," average student performance for the children at HES will suffer. That is not my assertion, rather is what was planned for in the original merger proposal.
Of course not all who agree to remain will attend HES. The children applying for kindergarten in January, and those starting kindergarten and first grade next month won't be attending HES at all in 2008. According to Whitling's "Big Plan," both schools will keep their separate names, principals and facilities, but children in K-2 will attend Central Elementary School while those in grades 3-5 will attend Hillsborough Elementary School. So much for Dolphin Pride.
What is not made clear in Whitling's "Big Plan" or was addressed in Shirley Carraway's original merger plan is: What happens when over half of HES students return to their neighborhood schools?
As proponents of the merger have readily pointed out in the past, a large percentage of HES students (about one-third) are zoned to Efland-Cheeks Elementary. Does Efland-Cheeks have enough empty seats to accomodate an extra 75 or 100 kids showing up at its door? That is a full classroom in each grade! Does the school have 6 empty classrooms? Is Cameron Park ready for an additional 50-60 kids? Is Pathways ready for another 25-30?
Does the District have enough school buses for all those extra kids traveling to each school?
Any decision can have unintended consequences, but in this case, the Board cannot say they were unexpected consequences; only that they chose to ignore them. I guess ignorance is bliss afterall.
As I read Cara McDonough's Herald Sun article, I can say I was more than a little disappointed by how small the "Big Plan" really is, and very confused by some of the assumptions the Board (or more accurately Dennis Whitling) is making with its preferred plan.
Then it hit me; they think HES parents are bluffing about not sending their kids to a merged school.
According to the article:
"A proposal by school board chairman Dennis Whitling [and endorsed by the sub-committee] would involve a restructuring, making Central Elementary a K-2 school serving the children who are currently districted to Central Elementary and the children who currently attend Hillsborough Elementary. Hillsborough Elementary would be a grade 3-5 school which would also serve the children currently attending both schools."
Regardless of what new name you put on it, this is a merger of CES and HES. And like Shirley Carraway's merger proposal from earlier this year, this plan assumes one key element around which there is great doubt - whether "the children who currently attend Hillsborough Elementary" will continue to attend this "restructured" school.
The majority of families with children at HES will have the option of not taking part in this "Big Plan" by returning their children to their neighborhood school or opting out of the Orange County Schools all together. This is why only 17% of HES parents stated that they would definately stay in a merged school earlier this year.
Of course, why should they stay? The single largest factor driving the decision to enroll one's kids at HES is "student performance" (41%). Just as under the original merger proposal, under Whitling's "Big Plan," average student performance for the children at HES will suffer. That is not my assertion, rather is what was planned for in the original merger proposal.
Of course not all who agree to remain will attend HES. The children applying for kindergarten in January, and those starting kindergarten and first grade next month won't be attending HES at all in 2008. According to Whitling's "Big Plan," both schools will keep their separate names, principals and facilities, but children in K-2 will attend Central Elementary School while those in grades 3-5 will attend Hillsborough Elementary School. So much for Dolphin Pride.
What is not made clear in Whitling's "Big Plan" or was addressed in Shirley Carraway's original merger plan is: What happens when over half of HES students return to their neighborhood schools?
As proponents of the merger have readily pointed out in the past, a large percentage of HES students (about one-third) are zoned to Efland-Cheeks Elementary. Does Efland-Cheeks have enough empty seats to accomodate an extra 75 or 100 kids showing up at its door? That is a full classroom in each grade! Does the school have 6 empty classrooms? Is Cameron Park ready for an additional 50-60 kids? Is Pathways ready for another 25-30?
Does the District have enough school buses for all those extra kids traveling to each school?
Any decision can have unintended consequences, but in this case, the Board cannot say they were unexpected consequences; only that they chose to ignore them. I guess ignorance is bliss afterall.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
When you're right ...
I am perfectly comfortable admitting when I don't know something or when I am wrong about something, so I also feel comfortable tooting my own horn when I am right. That is the case this morning.
As the Orange County Board of Education's reconstituted Merger Sub-Committee sits down this morning to discuss how best to address the mess the Board has made for itself, they have something new to discuss.
It was confirmed to me last night that my concerns, about only designating one school to which CES children could transfer in the event CES enters School Improvement status, were correct. The Orange County Board of Education MUST offer parents more than one transfer option.
Apparently, the Board has been informed by Allison Schafer, the Legal Counsel/Director of Policy at the NC School Boards Association, that I was right. Parents must be given a choice of schools when transferring out of what the NCLB law unfortunately calls a "failing school."
Rather than a hardship that must be addressed in continuing down the same road, the Board of Education should embrace this as an opportunity to incorporate real school choice into the "Big Plan" for Orange County Schools.
Why should parents' choices, at any of our schools, be so limited? Why should where you live in the county be the primary determinant of your children's education? Especially, when the Board can arbitrarily move an imaginary line and completely change that experience with no direct input from you?
In the discussion of what to do about CES, some have suggested creating a new magnet school program at CES. I ask, why can't all our elementary schools have magnetic elements? Maybe a stronger than normal art program at New Hope, an exceptional music program at Pathways, a math focus at Grady Brown, and develop other core competencies at other schools.
Keep the zoned areas for parents who want to keep their children closer to home, but open the door for parents to choose the school that best fits their child's innate strengths and talents. Now that would be a model for choice we could all be proud of.
As the Orange County Board of Education's reconstituted Merger Sub-Committee sits down this morning to discuss how best to address the mess the Board has made for itself, they have something new to discuss.
It was confirmed to me last night that my concerns, about only designating one school to which CES children could transfer in the event CES enters School Improvement status, were correct. The Orange County Board of Education MUST offer parents more than one transfer option.
Apparently, the Board has been informed by Allison Schafer, the Legal Counsel/Director of Policy at the NC School Boards Association, that I was right. Parents must be given a choice of schools when transferring out of what the NCLB law unfortunately calls a "failing school."
Rather than a hardship that must be addressed in continuing down the same road, the Board of Education should embrace this as an opportunity to incorporate real school choice into the "Big Plan" for Orange County Schools.
Why should parents' choices, at any of our schools, be so limited? Why should where you live in the county be the primary determinant of your children's education? Especially, when the Board can arbitrarily move an imaginary line and completely change that experience with no direct input from you?
In the discussion of what to do about CES, some have suggested creating a new magnet school program at CES. I ask, why can't all our elementary schools have magnetic elements? Maybe a stronger than normal art program at New Hope, an exceptional music program at Pathways, a math focus at Grady Brown, and develop other core competencies at other schools.
Keep the zoned areas for parents who want to keep their children closer to home, but open the door for parents to choose the school that best fits their child's innate strengths and talents. Now that would be a model for choice we could all be proud of.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tell a good story
When interviewing for a new job everyone tries to tell the best story possible about their past work experiences. Interview coaches even advise you to say something positive about every job you have had - even if it was a living hell.
Given that, I'm not sure how to interpret Shirley Carraway's comments to the Augusta Chronicle in an article titled "District seeks near perfect fit" :
Coming from a small North Carolina school system about 35 miles from Raleigh is "nothing insurmountable," Dr. Carraway said.
"I'm very fortunate that I have enjoyed every job that I ever had, and I would hope that people who know me would say that every job that I've been in I have left it better than I have found it," she said.
I am not sure about the people who know Shirley best, but in the light of pending budget cuts, potential forced layoffs, high principal turnover and the mess created by the merger she proposed, I have doubts that she is leaving Orange County Schools better than when she arrived.
Here is the full text of the Augusta Chronicle write-up:
Shirley Carraway
Her wealth of experience in education will benefit the students of Richmond County, Dr. Carraway said. She has worked in North Carolina schools for 31 years but said she wants something different.
School improvement is a continuous process, and her experience has taught her how to keep a school moving forward, Dr. Carraway said. That starts with digging deep and talking with everyone involved.
"It's really easy to look at test data to make decisions about which students are getting it and which ones are not, but the why to that might be a bit more complicated," she said, and the why is needed to find a solution.
As the mother of an adult son who is mentally disabled, she has a particular interest in special education.
Coming from a small North Carolina school system about 35 miles from Raleigh is "nothing insurmountable," Dr. Carraway said.
"I'm very fortunate that I have enjoyed every job that I ever had, and I would hope that people who know me would say that every job that I've been in I have left it better than I have found it," she said.
Given that, I'm not sure how to interpret Shirley Carraway's comments to the Augusta Chronicle in an article titled "District seeks near perfect fit" :
Coming from a small North Carolina school system about 35 miles from Raleigh is "nothing insurmountable," Dr. Carraway said.
"I'm very fortunate that I have enjoyed every job that I ever had, and I would hope that people who know me would say that every job that I've been in I have left it better than I have found it," she said.
I am not sure about the people who know Shirley best, but in the light of pending budget cuts, potential forced layoffs, high principal turnover and the mess created by the merger she proposed, I have doubts that she is leaving Orange County Schools better than when she arrived.
Here is the full text of the Augusta Chronicle write-up:
Shirley Carraway
Her wealth of experience in education will benefit the students of Richmond County, Dr. Carraway said. She has worked in North Carolina schools for 31 years but said she wants something different.
School improvement is a continuous process, and her experience has taught her how to keep a school moving forward, Dr. Carraway said. That starts with digging deep and talking with everyone involved.
"It's really easy to look at test data to make decisions about which students are getting it and which ones are not, but the why to that might be a bit more complicated," she said, and the why is needed to find a solution.
As the mother of an adult son who is mentally disabled, she has a particular interest in special education.
Coming from a small North Carolina school system about 35 miles from Raleigh is "nothing insurmountable," Dr. Carraway said.
"I'm very fortunate that I have enjoyed every job that I ever had, and I would hope that people who know me would say that every job that I've been in I have left it better than I have found it," she said.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Is That Legal? I Don't Think So.
One of the more interesting things reported out of last night’s OCBOE meeting was the plan to designate HES as the only alternative school CES parents could choose, assuming (as the BOE has) that CES fails to make Adequate Yearly Progress for the second year and requires a “School Improvement Plan.”
According to the No Child Left Behind law, parents of children in schools that enter “School Improvement” can opt-out of that school and enroll their children at another public school as long as it has not already been “identified for improvement under Title 1 or identified by the State as persistently dangerous.” This includes local Charter schools.
The idea is to provide an incentive for lower-performing schools to take the necessary steps to improve, while not forcing parents to keep their children in failing schools. Throughout the law, both in word and in spirit, is the concept of parental school choice. When a school meets the "School Improvement" criteria, parents can CHOOSE to either transfer to another school or CHOOSE to stay where they are.
While HES will surely satisfy the requirements outlined by the law for a safe and adequately performing school to accept families seeking to opt-out of CES, so do other schools in Orange County. By designating only one alternative school for CES parents, I believe the Orange County Board of Education is violating the law – both in word and in spirit.
According to the US Dept. of Education, “If more than one school that meets the requirements [not identified for improvement under Title 1 or identified by the State as persistently dangerous] is available, the LEA must offer more than one choice to eligible students. LEAs should strive to provide a full menu of choices to students and parents, and must take into account parents’ preferences among the choices offered.”
To my knowledge, no Orange County elementary school is currently “identified for improvement,” and only CES is at risk of that designation this year. Additionally, I am not aware of any Orange County elementary school that has been identified as “persistently dangerous.” If both of these facts are true, why would CES parents seeking to exercise their rights be forced into the year-round schedule at HES?
I believe CES parents should be able to choose HES for their children; however that should not be their only choice. Since every other school in the district qualifies to host these children, why doesn’t Orange County Schools allow CES parents to choose the school they feel will serve their children best – regardless of where it is?
But, then again, nothing in this matter has ever been about what is best for the individual students at either CES or HES. Why should this be any different?
According to the No Child Left Behind law, parents of children in schools that enter “School Improvement” can opt-out of that school and enroll their children at another public school as long as it has not already been “identified for improvement under Title 1 or identified by the State as persistently dangerous.” This includes local Charter schools.
The idea is to provide an incentive for lower-performing schools to take the necessary steps to improve, while not forcing parents to keep their children in failing schools. Throughout the law, both in word and in spirit, is the concept of parental school choice. When a school meets the "School Improvement" criteria, parents can CHOOSE to either transfer to another school or CHOOSE to stay where they are.
While HES will surely satisfy the requirements outlined by the law for a safe and adequately performing school to accept families seeking to opt-out of CES, so do other schools in Orange County. By designating only one alternative school for CES parents, I believe the Orange County Board of Education is violating the law – both in word and in spirit.
According to the US Dept. of Education, “If more than one school that meets the requirements [not identified for improvement under Title 1 or identified by the State as persistently dangerous] is available, the LEA must offer more than one choice to eligible students. LEAs should strive to provide a full menu of choices to students and parents, and must take into account parents’ preferences among the choices offered.”
To my knowledge, no Orange County elementary school is currently “identified for improvement,” and only CES is at risk of that designation this year. Additionally, I am not aware of any Orange County elementary school that has been identified as “persistently dangerous.” If both of these facts are true, why would CES parents seeking to exercise their rights be forced into the year-round schedule at HES?
I believe CES parents should be able to choose HES for their children; however that should not be their only choice. Since every other school in the district qualifies to host these children, why doesn’t Orange County Schools allow CES parents to choose the school they feel will serve their children best – regardless of where it is?
But, then again, nothing in this matter has ever been about what is best for the individual students at either CES or HES. Why should this be any different?
To Decide or Not To Decide, That Is The Question
Last night the Orange County Board of Education appears to have finally made a decision with regard to merging Central and Hillsborough elementary schools - sort of. Well, they’d like people to think they made a decision; actually they decided not to decide – at least not yet.
The good news is that the Board realized it is too late to merge the two schools for the 2007-2008 school year. Even Liz Brown couldn’t convince the other Board members that shuttering HES and forcing parents to find an appropriate school for their children on such short notice was a good idea.
While a merger will not happen this year, the Raleigh News & Observer reports, merging the two schools "is still an option on the table." So, we can expect at least another year of this “process.”
Meanwhile, Shirley Carraway will be alternating between developing a list of "short-term recommendations" for what to do in lieu of merging the two schools and interviewing for her potential next job in Augusta, Georgia. It's going to be a busy 12 days for Shirley.
All the while, the same sub-committee of Board members previously charged to create a process for considering the possibility of maybe merging the two schools will be "consolidating all of the board suggestions for long-term solutions into an option for consideration at the June 18 meeting." Are you ready for some more sub-committee meetings at inconvenient times?
So what do we have to show for four months of fear, uncertainty and doubt?
Not much.
The good news is that the Board realized it is too late to merge the two schools for the 2007-2008 school year. Even Liz Brown couldn’t convince the other Board members that shuttering HES and forcing parents to find an appropriate school for their children on such short notice was a good idea.
While a merger will not happen this year, the Raleigh News & Observer reports, merging the two schools "is still an option on the table." So, we can expect at least another year of this “process.”
Meanwhile, Shirley Carraway will be alternating between developing a list of "short-term recommendations" for what to do in lieu of merging the two schools and interviewing for her potential next job in Augusta, Georgia. It's going to be a busy 12 days for Shirley.
All the while, the same sub-committee of Board members previously charged to create a process for considering the possibility of maybe merging the two schools will be "consolidating all of the board suggestions for long-term solutions into an option for consideration at the June 18 meeting." Are you ready for some more sub-committee meetings at inconvenient times?
So what do we have to show for four months of fear, uncertainty and doubt?
Not much.
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