FINALLY, the DPI is attempting to hold the ECASD accountable for creating a school with close to 75% "at risk" children and not providing the staff and teachers with the resources to help students succeed. I have heard for YEARS that the situation at Longfellow was unfair and not in compliance with SAGE rules since it was merged with students from Lincoln to accommodate the Montessori program.
Justice delayed is justice denied for those students and staff who had too few resources for so many years.
Maria
Updated: 6/17/2008 11:27:01 PM
Longfellow may have to add teachers
By Christena T. O'Brien
Leader-Telegram staff
The Eau Claire school district might have to add up to two teachers at Longfellow School to comply with requirements for a state program aimed at reducing class sizes at the elementary level.
Earlier this year, school officials - at the direction of the school board - applied for waivers from the state Department of Public Instruction for eight schools offering the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education, or SAGE, program to give the district time to comply with the class size requirement of one teacher to 15 students in kindergarten through third grade.
The DPI denied the waiver request for Longfellow School, meaning the elementary must be in full compliance with the 15-to-1 class size requirement beginning in the 2008-09 school year.
The DPI reviews SAGE waivers on a case-by-case basis considering a variety of factors, including classroom configuration, overall class sizes, poverty rates and student achievement data, said Shelly Greller, a DPI SAGE program consultant.
In looking at all of those factors, "We thought Longfellow was one (school) we really wanted to make the district take a look at," she said. In denying the waiver for the north side school, "We're kind of helping the district prioritize."
In March, the board unanimously approved a motion to apply for the waivers for Flynn, Lakeshore, Locust Lane, Longfellow, Northwoods, Roosevelt, Sam Davey and Sherman. That motion included using up to $400,000 as a one-time payment from the district budget's general fund to work toward compliance with the SAGE law.
Throughout the summer, district officials will continue to monitor enrollment projections for Longfellow for the 2008-09 academic year, said Gregg Butler, interim deputy superintendent.
If projected class sizes materialize or increase, the school board then will have to consider adding either a first- or second-grade teacher or both, he said.
District officials estimated the cost of two teachers at $120,000 to $130,000.
While denying the waiver request for Longfellow, the DPI approved waivers for the other schools for the 2008-09 school year, with conditions.
In the fall, a committee will be formulated to examine the SAGE program and make recommendations to the school board regarding compliance with the law, Butler said.
O'Brien can be reached at 830-5838, 800-236-7077 or christena.obrien@ecpc.com.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
When Lincoln was closed there wasn't enough room at Lakeshore for the entire school. At the time the North Riverfronts neighborhood attended Lakeshore, a lot of kids from low income families. This group was bounced to Longfellow.
At the time it seemed like the district was creating two charter schools, with one of them being a concentrated low income school at Longfellow. All the research indicates that this is just about the worst thing you can do to a school population, that it is very difficult if not impossible to compensate for concentrated poverty.
The irony in this is that many districts use Montessori schools as a tool to promote socioeconomic balance. La Crosse is an example of that, and there are several examples in the Mpls and St Paul districts.
What I thought was interesting about this article is that apparently the DPI has to help our district prioritize because we are woefully incapable of doing so on our won.
Post a Comment