An appeal by Frost Middle School's site-based decision-making council to keep its authority was denied by the Kentucky Board of Education Wednesday.
The board voted 10-0, with board member Doug Hubbard absent, to uphold Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday's recommendation that the council be disbanded and its authority transferred to Sheldon Berman, superintendent of
Jefferson County Public Schools.Holliday's recommendation came as a result of leadership audits conducted at 10 of the state's lowest performing schools, including six in Jefferson County.
...In its appeal to the state board, Frost's council said it "has the capacity to lead this school to become high achieving and our hope is that you will allow us to be part of this change."
But ...Chairman Joe Brothers said he went through the minutes of several recent Frost council meetings and was surprised that there was "little mention" about student achievement.
"The minutes do not give the kind of attention to student achievement as they
should," Brothers said. "To me, that is problematic."Tonya Mobley, a Frost parent who had served on the school's council, said Wednesday she is disappointed with the decision.
"I think they had their minds made up before they went into the meeting," she said. "It bothers me because they are not at the school every day, they don't really know what's going on."
Mobley said she also doesn't understand how the state auditors concluded that the council was not operating efficiently when a separate review by the Jefferson County
Public Schools site-based council office gave the Frost group the highest possible rating in terms of efficiency in April...
Other actions taken by the board include:
- approved suggested amendments to 703 KAR 5:180, the regulation that relates to the intervention system for persistently low-achieving schools
- approved changes to 702 KAR 7:130 (emergency and ordinary versions), the regulation related to uniform procedures for approval of alternative, innovative school calendars
gave final approval to 704 KAR 3:303, the regulation related to required core academic standards - approved district facility plans for Nelson County and Ashland Independent
- approved district facility plan amendments for Henderson County
- approved local district working budgets
- gave final approval to 702 KAR 5:110, the state regulation related to reimbursement for vocational school pupil transportation
- approved the Kentucky Minimum Specifications for School Buses, 2011
- approved the designation of Rogers Hall at the Kentucky School for the Deaf as surplus property
- approve the recommendation from the commissioner of education to reappoint Lea Wise Prewitt of Mt. Sterling as an at-large member to the Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) Board of Control
- approved a KHSAA-implemented alternative training course for coaches
The board heard a presentation on reporting requirements outlined in 702 KAR 7:065, the regulation designating the KHSAA as the entity to manage interscholastic athletics.
The board also agreed that members Billy Harper, Dorie Combs, Brigette Ramsey and David Karem should serve as the nominating committee to select a proposed slate of officers for 2010-11.
4 comments:
I see absolutely no reason to have a SBDM if it can be disbanded at will by Mr. Holliday.
This seems but another attack on the legitimacy of the democratic processs.
Honestly, why have one?
Good question.
The reason for a school council is for the improvement of student achievement and, the commissioner cannot close one down without cause. In this case it was years of little progress.
Councils, theoretically, promote cooperation and innovation but since no school can vary too greatly from the state curriculum without negative consequences, I haven't seen a lot of the latter.
If the council at Frost was not focused on their mission, as the department says, why have them indeed?
Then why have parents on the council? They have no experience with student achievement or pedagogy or curriculum.
Yes, that's generally true.
But it has been my experience that the best schools are those where parents and teachers work together for the benefit of children. I liked having a school council even though it meant more work for the principal and seemed to diminish their authority. In reality, I found a good school council makes a principal stronger.
But, I take your point. In most low performing schools we see little parent involvement and in some cases we see a group of parents who are incapable of making the kinds of decisions council members need to make.
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