North Charleston & Stall HS Starting Times

I never need worry that the P & C will give me nothing to write about, either by omission or commission. Take Sunday's paper, for example. It contains a relatively interesting article on changes in start times for schools in North Charleston. [Some North Charleston Schools Alter Start Times] According to Courrege, North Charleston and Stall High Schools will start an hour later than last year and some elementary schools will start earlier to accommodate the changed bus schedules. So far, so good. There's only one problem.

WHAT TIME WILL THAT BE?

Well, I know now because I took a look at the PDF attached to the on-line version of the P & C. But if, like North Charleston High School's principal, you're making a point about how teens need to sleep longer in the morning, wouldn't it make sense to state what time school has begun in the past? Seems logical to me.

The answer actually makes change more supportable. Since next year the late bell at these high schools will ring at 8:15, this past year that time was 7:15. That IS early. In fact, I've never worked at a high school whose schedule began so early, except for special elective classes outside of the normal curriculum (and those were scarce). And I assume that students also were dismissed at 2:15 last year instead of 3:15 for this coming year. That later dismissal time is still probably time enough for students to get to their jobs. Again, the P & C ignored the possibility that dismissal times would change as well.

Speaking of jobs, why does the state allow minors to work until midnight? Let's face it. The student who works until midnight is a part-time student and full-time worker. It should be the other way around. That schedule doesn't encourage a student to stay in school.

Lipstick on a Pig: North Charleston's Middle Schools

Question: If you had the option to send your own children to a better-performing school, would you take it? Would you decide that your child's education is too important to experiment with based on promises from CCSD's administrators? Or would you take the chance that disciplinary and academic conditions in the failing school your child is slated to attend have changed? See Thursday's North Charleston Schools Courting Students.

For most of us, that's what's known as a "no-brainer."

NCLB in this case is working quite effectively! Parents who care are opting out of Brentwood, Alice Birney, and Morningside Middle Schools in North Charleston because, because--they can! Now ordinary, middle-to-lower-income parents have the choice that richer parents have opted for all along. How American!

The P & C doesn't like this situation, and neither does CCSD. Surprised?

In the story splashed across the front of Thursday's local section, the reporter makes no mention of NCLB. If you weren't paying attention to CCSD's situation, you might have assumed that students were going elsewhere in the district on a whim! Courrege's lead says, "Hundreds of North Charleston children opt to go to middle schools elsewhere in the district rather than trying the ones in their neighborhoods." The REST OF THE STORY appears in the back pages.

According to Patricia Yandle of the District office, "Each of the three North Charleston middle schools has at least 95 students who plan to transfer to other higher-performing middle schools next school year under the federal No Child Left Behind law. . . . Most of those students were incoming sixth-graders." Of course, the schools' principals want this cadre of parents to stay. These would be the most involved in their children's education. ALMOST makes you feel sorry for them.

However, changing "perceptions" about these schools is NOT what is needed. REAL change is! And it is happening, just too slowly for these parents. Losing students like these to other schools is causing CCSD to attempt change, as can be seen from the list of "goodies" held out to the parents like an olive branch--technology, arts-infusion, single-sex core classes. Does anyone believe these attempts would have been made without the pressure of NCLB?

When the so-called "rumors" about these schools stop, when their failing status under NCLB changes, THEN these students will return. Well, not these students. By then these will have graduated from other schools that are not failing.

YouthBuild Builds at Last: CCSD Soap Opera

The long, sad odyssey of Sea Islands YouthBuild Charter School seems to be coming to a resolution, if a temporary one. Today's P & C reports that the school finally has a building. [See Sea Islands YouthBuild Home at Last ]

At the end of the school year. The school managed to dodge the cut-off of district funds several times during the year [see several postings on this blog], but this summer the CCSD School Board will be forced to choose: is it going to fund this school in the future or not? Has the school met its obligations to remain in good standing?

Comparisons have been made between Sea Islands and the new Charter School for Math and Science over the last few months. It's time to take stock. The two charters certainly have been treated differently by the CCSD School Board; that's because, leaving aside differences in their missions, these two charters are entirely different in genesis, motivation, and parental involvement. Perhaps there are some lessons to be learned.

• Sea Islands was encouraged by 75 Calhoun to form under the well-meaning guidance of a former employee of CCSD and friend of 75 Calhoun in order to meet the needs of older at-risk students who would no longer be eligible for Murray Hill Academy because the district changed its policies regarding Murray Hill. The students targeted for YouthBuild were unlikely to have much parental support or involvement in its organization.
  
• Charter School for Math and Science started as a grass-roots effort among parents of District 20 students who were discouraged by their choices of failing schools. From the beginning, it seems, the CCSD board was miffed that it did not control the actions of this group.
  
• When the CCSD Board of Trustees approved YouthBuild, it failed in its duty to these needy students by trustingly accepting the word of its organizer that a facility that would meet state standards was available for use. Such was not the case.
• The CCSD Board of Trustees never trusted CSMS in any regard because it hated the idea of a charter high school downtown, with members repeatedly hinting that its organizers were racists. Strong grass-roots support among all races downtown won over public opinion.
  
• The lack of a building and monthly perambulations of YouthBuild from pillar to post, coupled with lack of busing, guaranteed a major reduction in the number of students in attendance. Meanwhile, the district continued to pay funds based on initial numbers of students. Records of attendance were not made available to the district when requested.
• When CSMS organizers saw the old Rivers High School building sitting vacant and requested its use, the School Board attempted to quash and/or gain control over it by suggesting exorbitant rent, then raising the number of millions needed to bring the building up to standards (never mind that the building had been vacant for a very brief period) to a ridiculous figure.
• Perhaps as part of its agreement with CCSD to keep getting funding despite its not following the rules, Sea Islands did not ask for space in public school buildings, although certainly such space exists. Now it has signed a three-year contract to rent an old warehouse that students themselves will renovate.
  

According to Larry Blasch, chairman of YouthBuild's board, "the school will spend another $30,000 improving the space so it can clear state and local inspections and be occupied by students." So the space will finally meet requirements just as school is getting out for the summer?

Given that expenditure and the signing of a three-year contract, it seems reasonable to assume that the fix is in, even though the Board will be not updated in regard to continuing its support until its meeting later this month.

Taxpayers deserve to know what CCSD has gotten for their money in regard to students at YouthBuild: How many credits have been earned per tax dollar? How many diplomas?

And has CCSD learned its lesson?

CCSD Teacher-of-the-Year Story Surprise

Don't you just love stories with punchlines? There I was, reading a story about this year's selection of CCSD's Teacher of the Year, thinking that nothing very startling would appear. Was I ever wrong! [See Teacher of Year 'Never Gives Up,' Principal Says.]

First of all, let me hasten to say that Gwendolyn Benton undoubtedly deserves her award. Judging from her many accomplishments and willingness to work in a new and undoubtedly difficult environment (Morningside Middle School), the award is much deserved. I suspect, however, that Benton has more common sense about such awards than the district that made this one.

Someone who spent 35 years of teaching in another state (and at the high school level) who then comes to CCSD to teach for two is not the most likely recipient of this honor. In fact, teachers with as much experience and education as Benton frequently are not hired in CCSD because they must receive higher salaries based on that experience. That's why I continued reading the article after the first few paragraphs.

I learned that "during her last few years in North Carolina schools, Benton worked as a coach for teachers, but she decided when she moved here that she wanted to be back in the classroom." No mention of why she left North Carolina. Should the reader assume she retired with an irrestible yearning to live in Charleston County?

Then I read the Morningside Middle School's principal's remarks:

"Goodwine said she could tell during Benton's interview that Benton would be a good fit for Morningside, and her prediction has come true. Benton has a good heart and a good spirit, and she'll pick the most difficult students in her class to work with and help, Goodwine said."

Was there ever any doubt that Benton would be hired? Are we being asked to believe that Goodwine didn't know that Benton was the wife of the new principal at Burke High School?

This was the article's punch-line: "'If she was not my wife, I'd love for her to teach in my school,' said Charles Benton, principal of Burke High School. 'I'm real excited for her.'"

North Charleston Principal Subject to Rumors

Emblematic of CCSD's failure of nerve, the suspension with pay of Eric Vernold, who took over as principal of North Charleston High School last October, remains a mystery, unreported by the P & C and apparently not dealt with during Monday night's CCSD Board meeting.

Failure of nerve because the case so typically is described as a "personnel" matter with no further details. Which causes more harm to the District--rumors or basic facts?

You can see where I'm going with this. Nasty rumors are flying about this removal, even some posted on this blog. What else could be expected when not even basic facts are released about the issue?

Who's being protected here? The student body of North Charleston High School? Vernold? I doubt it.
UPDATE: CCSD announced Wednesday that Vernold has resigned. Will it let the rumors continue to fly unchallenged by any other facts? Of course.

CCSD Alert: Principal Suspended

Too late for Saturday's paper (naturally), CCSD announced the indefinite suspension with pay of Eric Vernold, the principal of North Charleston High School. According to News Channel 4, it's over a "personnel" issue. Some details will follow presumably at Monday night's School Board meeting.

According to the P & C's on-line version,

"Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley said it was a personnel issue and that she could not comment further on the circumstances of his leave.

School officials are doing an investigation, and an assistant principal is temporarily charge of the school, she said. She hoped to have more resolution to the situation by Tuesday.

Vernold was in his first year as principal at North Charleston High."

North Charleston High School started this school year without a principal because McGinley failed to replace David Colwell, its previous successful two-year principal (who had also worked at the school the previous 18 years), after Colwell took an out-of-state job. We hope he didn't leave because of an unfriendly attitude on behalf of 75 Calhoun! The school was also short of two assistant principals in August! Why?

Vernold replaced Colwell in October in the midst of a complete breakdown of discipline at the school. We could argue that waiting until then for a permanent principal was not the wisest choice on McGinley's part. Supposedly, Vernold's experience in a rural high school in upstate New York made him qualified for the job.

I always wondered why.

School Choice, Diversity Training, & Duck Death

Wednesday's diversions from the P & C:

"The push for school districts to offer more choices to students has been stopped this year by lawmakers."

Whose push is this? Oh, yes. The State Superintendent of Education. We're using the word "choice" here loosely, as in charter schools. If school districts need more charter schools, let's see elected school boards and community members organize them without the help of the legislature.

"After meeting with [Nancy] Cook about her controversial comment [see my previous blog about CCSD airheads] over the weekend, the [NAACP] said she should enroll in sensitivity and diversity training, and urged other members of the county school board to condemn her comment."

Can we require President Dot Scott to attend also? She believes anyone with a white skin must be racist [i.e., her previous remarks on organizing of the new charter high school downtown--a racist plot]. That couple could contribute so much to the class!

See Driver Charged in Accident, Duck Death

No wonder we have such a high homicide rate in North Charleston.

I know--it's not that funny when you read the article. Still.

Copycat Bomb Threat at Academic Magnet

Allow me to put Tuesday's report about a bomb threat at Academic Magnet in context. I will simply make a few substitutions in the article as it appeared. [See Police at Magnet High After Threat ]

[Substitutions are in italic bold.]

"Extra security officers patrolled Bishop England High School over the weekend and Monday after a bomb threat was discovered.

School officials found writing in a boys' bathroom on Thursday that warned about a potential incident at the Daniel Island school on Monday, said David Held, Bishop England's Principal. Bishop England staff and Berkeley County Police checked the school twice during the weekend, and police monitored it overnight Sunday, he said.

Although the searches turned up nothing suspicious, the school increased security Monday, Held said.

Several police officers were at the school to monitor students as they arrived and watch for any potential problems, Held said.

School Principal David Held did not send a message to parents Monday morning, instead choosing to make an announcement to the students to let them know what was happening.

Officials made an announcement about the threat and assured students they were OK. If officials thought it safe enough for them to be in school, three-fourths of the student body said, they felt safe being there.

Several classes had deadlines for their research papers on Monday, and many teachers and some students speculated that was why the day was targeted."

That was before the Easter break. Rumors spread like wildfire through text messaging. It worked for the 200 or so students who did not attend Bishop England that Monday. Maybe officials at AMHS should investigate a connection.

Principal Likes Lack of Parental Contact?

Somehow, I don't believe that Alice Birney Middle School's new principal had quite the above message in mind when she was interviewed by the P & C's reporter for Monday's article. Nevertheless, that is the gist of her delight in being able to pursue academics instead of answering to parents all day at her previous school, Cario Middle. [See Birney principal relishes tough assignment ]

According to the article

"[Carol] Beckmann-Bartlett spends more time doing what she wants to as a principal at Birney. She's able to focus on her responsibility of leading instruction.

At Cario, constant distractions pulled her away from academic work, such as parents who would demand to talk to the principal and not anyone else. If those parents had been willing to talk to the appropriate staff person at the school, their problems could've been resolved in five minutes versus the hour that it would eat up of Beckmann-Bartlett's time, she said. Entire days would pass in which she did not have a conversation about academics.

At Birney, parents respect the chain of command, which enables Beckmann-Bartlett to focus on instruction. "

Let me get this right. The district wants parents to be more involved with their children's education; however, if that involvement means that parents want to speak to the principal, that involvement is NOT wanted. Also, parents in wealthy districts, such as Cario, don't "respect the chain of command," but poorer parents do. Are you smiling, reader?

Certainly, everyone wishes Ms. Beckmann-Bartlett success in leading Alice Birney and its teachers. One wonders, however, how this particular principal came to the attention of the P & C. It's not too far a leap to assume that CCSD invited this interview in its campaign for CCSD teachers to voluntarily move from successful to failing schools.

It's also not too far-fetched to assume that Ms. Beckmann-Bartlett is following a game plan set up by Superintendent McGinley. You see, her transfer to a problem school, turning it around (or at least improving its performance), and then applying to the Broad Foundation for a fellowship to be trained as an "urban" principal is exactly the path blazed by McGinley in Philadelphia.

The article also touts how discipline is handled at Alice Birney.

The way Birney teachers handle discipline offenses is one example. They take a team approach in dealing with misbehavior and recommend consequences. In most schools, one teacher refers a student to school administrators, who decide what to do. Although Birney's process takes more time, it limits emotional recommendations from teachers and enables deeper discussions about ways to better handle students, Beckmann-Bartlett said.

I wasn't aware that this school is known for its good discipline. Is it?

CCSD Politics: Airheads at Play

Now obvious to the public is the political deal made between CCSD School Board members Hillery Douglas and Nancy Cook. Let's face it: the two of them may be the biggest racists on the present board, so maybe that's what they have in common.

The conversation clearly went something like the following:

Hillery: If I run for mayor of North Charleston, you'll support my candidacy.
Nancy: Yes. And then if you lose, I'll let you be Board Chairman while you support my candidacy for Charleston County Council, even if I have to run as a Republican.
Hillery: Why do you want to be on the Charleston County Council?
Nancy: Well, remember, the CCSD Board can't send funds to my shelter any longer, the way it did with the Derthick Fund. If I get on the Charleston County Council, I can get some funding from the county to replace that money. After all, the County Council puts lots of earmarks right into the budget, even if its slush fund has been under the gun lately.
Hillery: That's true. It's a deal.

Of course, the former was only an IMAGINED conversation, but it does explain Douglas's reaction to airhead Nancy's stupid remarks made earlier this week on local talk radio.

In case you've been hiding under a rock, the comments, which Cook now claims have been taken out of context, concerned sterilization and taking babies away from what used to be called "welfare mothers." THIS is her solution to high dropout rates in our nation's schools. AIRHEAD is not too strong! [See Cook's On-air Remarks Draw Fire]

Cook: We're not paying for another baby, maybe one baby, but after that, we're taking the baby. And maybe you get sterilized. I know that sounds kind of extreme and radical, but we're in times to where — think about America.

Out of context? Here's what Douglas said in response:

Cook was trying to give an answer to a problem that has most people perplexed.

"Sometimes when you try and do that off the cuff, the wrong things come out," he said. "I'm almost certain she really doesn't mean that that's the solution to it by sterilizing. I just think it was something that was said that should not have been said."

Why was it said? Because Cook is after the racist vote in North Charleston, that's why. She's no Republican. Don't kid yourself that she really doesn't think this way.

Can you imagine the firestorm from Douglas and his cronies if Sandi Engelman had made remarks even one-third as racist as these?

Inner-City Dropout Rates Reflect CCSD, Too

Perhaps this cartoon will remind you of recent news stories on the cities that that have the highest dropout rates in America. The figures, in fact, show that surrounding the miserable rates of graduation in each of those cities are suburban school systems with low dropout rates. Is anyone surprised?

Let's put these statistics into perspective for CCSD. Cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have school districts that are SEPARATE from the surrounding suburbs. Students do not legally cross those district lines to attend school.

Such is NOT the case in CCSD. Thanks to the Consolidation Act of thirty-some years ago, here in Charleston County the "urban" (if you can call it that!) "hole" is part of the same district as the suburban "doughnut" that surrounds it. Students cross from the hole into the doughnut (and vice versa) in large numbers every day. They are able to do so because the county is all one school district, unlike the situation in larger urban areas. Yet the outcome is amazingly the same!

How could that be? Well, how could it be that downtown Constituent District 20, containing a majority of white students of high school age, has one high school (Burke) that, for all intents and purposes, is all black? Why do up to 30 percent of students attending Burke come in from the suburbs? Where do the majority white students disappear to every morning? How did that come about?

And, what is the result in terms of dropout rates? You guessed it. Burke's matches inner-city Detroit and Cleveland, while suburban high schools like Wando match their counterparts in the suburbs of those cities. North Charleston doesn't count: it is rapidly becoming the "hole" for the "doughnut" districts of other counties.

CCSD's Bill Lewis: Pure as Caesar's Wife?

CCSD Superintendent Nancy McGinley began her series of budget meetings lamenting the projected shortfall in funding the district's yearly operating budget, while Bill Lewis, the executive director of its building program, had to explain his rejection of the low bid for the new North Charleston middle school.

Now, you and I know that the building fund and yearly budget for CCSD are separate from each other, but in the public mind it's all going down the same sinkhole. Lewis's action hardly was of assistance to McGinley's quest or fair to the taxpayers. According to the president of the Charleston Contractors' Association, "the way the system is set up . . . gives the appearance that something wrong is happening." Is it?

What did happen here? Well, according to the P & C's story of last Sunday, the low bid from Infinger Construction was never considered, since Lewis decided to "save time and enable the school to open in August 2009." Saving time, not dollars, was his highest priority. This arrogance led to a negotiated bid with the highest-rated company that will cost us $400,000 more.

"Highest-rated company" sounds good until you look into the details. According to the article, "The school board chose to spend the extra money so a company that it rated as higher quality would do the construction work." That WHO rated? Lewis stated that "contractors are evaluated on two criteria: the technical aspects of their plans — such as their approach, their team and prior performance — and their price." Notice the passive voice here--allowing Lewis to avoid saying who assigned the ratings.

One of two things happened here. Either Infinger was blackballed by Dorchester District 2 with no recourse, or a "few district-appointed people" made a subjective decision that the contractor's quality is not as it should be. The school board, in its usual fashion, followed Lewis's lead. Question: Can they show that Infinger's prior work for the district did not meet its standards? No mention of that.

Some of us might remember that the district no longer accepts kickbacks from contractors in the form of donations, parties, etc., such as last year's goodbye party to Goodloe-Johnson. Now I'm getting too cynical.

Speaking of which, what ever happened to the search for a qualified financial officer to replace Don Kennedy? Did I miss something here?

Summey-McGinley: Let's Ask the Real Questions

While the citizens of Charleston County continue to anticipate true give-and-take meetings with CCSD Superintendent McGinley, Mayor Keith Summey of North Charleston managed to arrange a meeting for himself and his City Council. As reported in the P & C, Wednesday became an opportunity for both officials to spout platitudes and congratulate each other on their sound ideas. [See North Charleston Asks Education Questions . ]

Summey's impetus seems to have been the desire to convince the City Council to vote funds for three-hour after-school programs at all of North Charleston's elementary schools. These would require parental involvement and the part-time services of a teacher-coordinator (paid by the city). McGinley thinks CCSD and North Charleston should "work together to figure out how to fund them." Right.

McGinley's motivation clearly was to show off to the Council her enlightened policies and plans while glossing over the past failures of CCSD (to be fair, not done on her watch). These include (1) encouraging teachers who want to curry favor with 75 Calhoun ("move up the education ladder") to teach in failing schools and (2) replacing more than half of the experienced principals in the district with "talented individuals." Of course, she trotted out the usual excuses about high-poverty areas, poorly-educated parents (whose fault is that?), and the "comeback" of "once-stigmatized trade-school courses" (who took them out? who stigmatized them?).

Since Summey urged her not to leave CCSD until they come to fruition, he bit--hook, line, and sinker. But there's no reason to think that he wasn't already privately convinced before the public meeting took place.

In perhaps the most ironic follow-up I've seen recently, the article goes on to quote Bill Lewis's contribution that "the district is spending $211 million to build or upgrade new schools in North Charleston."

We've all seen the correlation between brand-spanking-new school buildings and achievement. Yes? And Lewis had the temerity to include the new campus for the Academic Magnet and School of the Arts in his numbers! Let's take those millions out, Bill. Those are only North Charleston schools geographically. Wouldn't it be interesting to discover what percentage of students graduating from North Charleston elementary schools attend either AMHS or the School of the Arts? Let's guess: 1 -2 % tops would be mine.

Other comments made reveal the fuzzy thinking involved in the planning of these programs that practically guarantees poor outcomes:

• Summey wants to "mandate" parental involvement. Isn't he concerned that the children whose parents won't (or are unable to) participate and thus won't be eligible are those that extra help needs to reach the most.
• Somehow the "site-coordinator" (teacher) will be deciding upon "recreation or whatever specialty" individual children are "interested in." Will playing video or soccer games make for academic success? Will the child choose to be "interested in" drilling math facts?
• If these programs "could help parents as well," to read and write adequately, where will its focus be? On children's achievement or that of their parents? Did anybody say "adult education classes"?
• Summey wants "local businesses to look to the schools for part-time help"--that would be high schools presumably. Has it occurred to him or to CCSD that business-school partnerships rather than vague desires would ensure results?

Summey really wants to improve the elementary schools in North Charleston? He needs to invite Director Cecelia Gordon Rogers of the Charleston Development Academy Charter School to a City Council meeting for a chat. As I said back in February,

I hope that others [. . .] are taking notes on how Ebenezer AME, Rogers, and the community have succeeded with this school. Visiting the school's website, I was struck by the following statement: " CDA incorporates The Charleston Plan of Excellence, The Coherent Curriculum, and The Core Knowledge Curriculum [italics mine] as the foundation teaching tools."

The Core Curriculum (an anathema to McGinley, no doubt) is one of the best hopes for those unfortunate children who enter elementary school from low-income and poorly-educated backgrounds. It can level the playing field if given a chance. Kids in the "projects" are succeeding at CDA.

Just ask Ms. Rogers how, Mr. Summey.

Do the Math

North Charleston experienced its fourth murder in 21 days on the night of January 21st. At this rate, the city will see 70 murders in 2008.

Last year's total was less than 30.

What's the reason--gangs? turf wars? drug deals? Whatever it is, this is not an encouraging start to the new year.

UPDATE
Why not call this a "gang"? Saturday's P & C:

North Charleston police have charged two more teenagers in Monday's slaying of 18-year-old Adolphus Simmons, and they said there could be additional arrests. On Friday, a 15-year-old boy and Jackuez Witherspoon, 19, were arrested and charged with accessory after the fact of murder, said Spencer Pryor, North Charleston police public information officer. Another 15-year-old boy was arrested earlier this week and charged with Simmons' murder. [snip] "Police are not releasing any further details at this time, because the case remains under investigation, and additional arrests are possible," Pryor said. Witherspoon, two 15-year-olds and two other adults are listed as suspects on a police report about a Jan. 7 incident at Simmons' apartment. Someone kicked in the front door to the home about 5 p.m. when no one was home. Earrings and CDs were taken, the report showed. Simmons' mother, Felicia Moultrie, said the people who broke in were looking for her son.

CCSD: You Thought We Were Going to Follow Our Policy?

Clearly what CCSD needs is a Chief Obfuscation Officer, such as the one suggested for the New York City Schools [See DOE Announces New Administrative Positions]. Then slip-ups like the one below wouldn't occur.

Board trips over policy on expenses

By Diette Courrégé

The Post and Courier

Friday, January 11, 2008

Charleston County School Board members haven't followed their policy to publish their expenditures and share what they learned with their colleagues.

The school board approved a policy that requires it to publish the yearly expenditures for its members each August, but the board failed to do that last year. The Post and Courier began asking for that information in early October and submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for it in late November. The district supplied the information in early December and provided more details later that month.

Board member Gregg Meyers said it was inappropriate that a Freedom of Information Act request was needed and that the information should have been available in August. He said he planned to let the superintendent know the district should follow the board's policy.

School board Vice Chairwoman Nancy Cook was chair of the board until November. She said she forgot the board was supposed to make this information public, and district officials should have reminded the board about this. The board doesn't have anything to hide, but this disclosure wasn't on her radar, she said.

"They should've been on top of that," she said.

School Superintendent Nancy McGinley said she wasn't aware of the policy's requirement until recently, and the responsibility to ensure such a report was generated would have fallen under the chief financial officer. She said that she relies on the heads of district departments to follow policies and that this issue wasn't brought to her attention. [Note: And the chief financial officer said, what?]

Job description for this new CCSD official could be modeled after the one [satirically] proposed by New York parents:

"Chief Obfuscation Officer: Heads the PR Department division responsible for explaining all DOE restructuring issues to the public."

Add to this administrative position the responsibility for explaining the School Board's arcane financial decisions and unequal treatment of District 20 and North Charleston, and I think we've got a winner.

CCSD Rearranging Deck Chairs Again

Notable for what it isn't--an inspired response to the requirements "of the new Education and Economic Development Act, which requires school districts to offer clusters of courses in career areas such as health, business and engineering." Oh, it may very well meet bureaucratic needs to fulfill the letter of the law, and it may even be the best CCSD can do at the moment, given its propensity to treat career courses like the poor stepchild of the school system. The latter is the problem.

I checked the CCSD website to see if further explanation (beyond Monday's P & C article) had been posted, but to no avail, so I am left to speculate on what the accompanying chart really means, i.e., what is NOT included in the shuffling of the deck chairs. [double-click on the image if you wish to read the chart].

• Students are being given nine days' notice to decide if they wish to transfer to another school for an elective? Will they or their parents fully understand what the elective provides in the way of career advancement?
• No bus transportation? Why not? So those who don't have access to a car can't transfer? According to the article, the state is providing funds for transportation.
  
• Why are Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate included on the chart at all? When did AP become Interdisciplinary Studies? Not. These are not career courses!
• Do the three zones extend to this so-called Interdisciplinary Studies? Hard to tell on the chart, but if they do, that means that students in North Charleston have no hope of AP unless they make it into the Academic Magnet.
• In fact, thanks to the "zones," students in the north area generally get the short end of the stick. Just look at the school ["engineering, etc."] offered to students at Stall and North Charleston. And they can't transfer to Wando because . . . ?
  
• Does Burke offer AP? If so, what?
• The label of "Schools" is grandiose, although I suspect generated by the new law. "School of Arts and Humanities"? This is a career cluster? You tell me--what is "education and training" in this "school"?
• Please note the wide open spaces under "School of engineering, industrial, and manufacturing technologies," especially in the areas of "manufacturing" and "architecture and construction." Isn't this area generally what people mean by career electives?
  
• And, then, under the "School of health, human and public services," just out of curiosity, what course prepares high school students for a career in government and public administration?
  
• In fact, looking at the whole chart, isn't that the problem: what are these "career" courses? Do they, in fact, prepare students for careers in those fields, or they serve as less academic "fill-ins" for students who have weak academic skills [you know, sort of like the "underwater basketweaving" course we all joked about in college--whatever it's actual name was].

The New York public school system has warehouses [I use the word advisedly] full of students in so-called career schools whose offerings have little to do with careers and more to do with pushing students through to diplomas. Let's hope that these "schools" don't portend the same fate.

CCSD Superintendent's White Wash Not Inspiring

Let's face it. Superintendent Nancy McGinley has decided which side her bread is buttered on. Those responsible for her selection as superintendent want to protect the cheat system in place at Buist come hell or high water, regardless of the needs of the rest of her constituents. She's made her choice and is steering clear of any decisions that would annoy her majority on the school board.


Now comes the plan for "partial-magnet" schools. [See
Struggling schools might get to 're-create' themselves in Saturday's P & C.]

Read carefully. A seasoned veteran of the CCSD wars has:

Charleston Superintendent Nancy McGinley has placed her "plan" for reorganizing failing schools on the penninsula, in North Charleston, and on Johns Island on the CCSD web-site. It is full of education jargon, some that sound good and many that just make sounds. It reflects an attempt to "play catch up" and “me too” with other communities around the country that have tailored successful programs rooted in unique communities. To be fair, some locally generated ideas are included within McGinley's new plan, but most of these have been borrowed, too, (more like plagiarized) with little or no acknowledgement to sources found among Charleston’s rich, built-in cultural resources or to the help of those active within the city's many integrated communities.

Certainly the plan has its problems, which may be unintentional, but this is the worst part: there is a thinly cloaked attempt to close the barn door on CCSD's embarrassingly weak position on "county-wide" magnet schools. With one exception these only exist at the high school level. McGinley gives the "county-wide" magnet concept legal standing for the first time, without ever acknowledging that the concept was illegitimate to begin with, as it has been applied to Buist Academy. In one section of the document under the heading "A 'Partial Magnet School' Constituent District" she says, "If the constituent district has county-wide magnet schools, they will continue to operate utilizing their enrollment criteria."

What does she mean “schools”? There’s only one K-8 magnet that fits that description: it’s Buist. And, unless she meant to limit only "academic" criteria remaining unchanged, this is a naked attempt to close the back door on the scandal that has surrounded CCSD's loose-as-a-goose "enrollment criteria" at Buist.

Complaints against the address cheats and admissions scams at Buist have little to do with academic qualifications. If cover-up is her purpose, McGinley is not correcting a problem; she’s white washing it. She is attempting to plug the gaping hole in CCSD’s defense of having run the Buist scam as long as it has. She gives it cover. No one will ever be held accountable.

If this bad apple is still stored with the rest, how long will it take for other parts of her plan to become spoiled by this exception to consistancy and fairness? If the other points in her reorganization plan are so good, then shouldn’t Buist conform to them as well?

McGinley needs to be questioned directly on this and not allowed to wiggle out of it . . . or be permitted to slip out the door before questions are answered. The truth is that Buist should be allowed to keep its "academic criteria," but it should also be required to conform to the enrollment and opportunity zone aspects of this new "partial magnet" concept that is being proposed for the other schools in the community. Buist might see its integrity restored in the process.

If McGinley refuses to budge on this exception for Buist, then her stonewalling the issue has to be seen for what it is. We all know that Buist organizers greatly fear racial inclusion. Those behind keeping Buist just as it is still share this fear, even if their fears are based on a downtown that existed 25 years ago, but no longer. Because of the academic criteria at Buist and CCSD’s failure to provide substantial early childhood education to minorities and low income children before now, the argument (and fear) that Buist will become “all black” no longer applies.

Too bad the original NAACP suit didn't use its position to change the inequity of early childhood education instead of just the appearance of "diversity" at the upper levels. [Note from Babbie: Oh, that's right. Isn't that the part that Gregg Meyers is responsible for?]

Where’s the policy that says Buist is a "county-wide" magnet? Where are other comparable K-8 "county-wide" magnet schools? Unless Buist has peers, it should not continue unless CCSD acknowledges it was established on the principal of racial minority exclusion and still functions that way.

Who came up with that "partial magnet" phrase, anyway? I thought St. Andrews was what a real magnet school was supposed to be. It’s Buist that is the crazy hybrid. We should say that Buist is at the same table, exactly like the other "partial magnets," or the county should be prepared to name about six more "county-wide" magnet schools, designed to be just like Buist and strategically located in other parts of the county. CCSD might start with converting Jennie Moore. Then watch the storm of protests go up when local residents are required to participate in a county-wide lottery just like Buist. Will they follow with forcing this on Ashley River Creative Arts? Not likely.


So she's throwing a few crumbs at those vociferous community members who disagree with CCSD policies on Buist in hopes that will quiet them down for a while.

By the time it becomes clear that the "partial magnet" system is another sleight-of hand, McGinley will have moved on to greener (as in $$$) pastures and those students who are now in CCSD's failing elementary schools will be in CCSD's failing middle and high schools.

Ok at Stall, but Not Elsewhere?

Judging from Diette Courrege's article on Stall's principal in Friday's P & C, she may now have a glimmer of how hardworking and caring many of CCSD's principals and teachers are. Judging from her report shadowing him on "Principal for a Day," Dan Connor seems to fall into that largely unsung group.

However, the anecdote about the 17-year-old with two felony arrests not only reinforces stereotypes about Stall but also shows ignorance of military standards.

According to Courrege, last fall a young man asked Principal Connor to allow him to enroll at Stall even though he was already 17 years old, had no high school credits, had two felony arrests, and had already been turned down by two other high schools. Connor, learning that his close relatives were in jail and he had no permanent home, took pity on him and took him in. Fast forward to December 6th, when Courrege reports, "Conner spent part of his day [Thursday] trying to work out a deal with an attorney that would keep this student out of jail and allow him to enlist in the military next summer [italics mine]." Unexplained is why going to jail has suddenly become an issue. Conviction? Plea bargaining? Pleading guilty?

No branch of the military takes 18 year olds with virtually no education and two felony arrests. Normally a recruit has a high school diploma with maybe a misdemeanor or two overlooked. Does Courrege think the standards for enlistees are so low? Do readers of the newspaper think so too? I guarantee that Connor, as a high school principal, knows perfectly well that the young man's chances of enlisting in the military this summer are somewhere between slim and none.

Sorry to be a party-pooper, but there remains the question of the effect of Connor's action on the rest of Stall's students and on the school's overall reputation. Two felony arrests for what? Guns? Drugs? Stealing cars? Are we to believe that he fit right in with the rest of the student body? Can you imagine the uproar from well-connected parents at a school like Wando if its principal acted similarly? She wouldn't dare.

Oh, I forgot. Stall's parents aren't well connected or wealthy. So it's ok.

Yes, there should be an educational environment for this young man, but why at Stall High School? What did Connor know would happen if he didn't say yes?Does CCSD have provision for such desperate cases? Murray Hill Academy? YouthBuild Sea Islands Charter? Anybody out there?

CCSD Superintendent: Now the Buck Stops with Her

Listen! Are those wings? Maybe a cackle or two? I know! The chickens just came home to roost! Superintendent McGinley now has the power to replace principals without consulting constituent boards; that means she also has full responsibility for what happens. And she's ready to roll.

In today's P & C McGinley hints of changes coming in administrative positions due to schools' failing performances on the state's report cards. Although the article points out that 25 schools are now rated "unsatisfactory," as usual the number is not put into context. That would be (roughly) a third of the county's schools.

Never mind that "more than half of the county's schools" have had their principals in place for less than three years, let's shuffle them again! That must mean those who have been in place for three years or more at unsatisfactory schools get to move, since McGinley promises a three-to-five-year window to prove effective leadership.

The dirty little secret is that the district has been preparing for this round of musical chairs. Schools such as Burke and North Charleston High that have been rated failing for six years MUST be restructured. No one expected a miracle to occur this year, and it didn't. The choices left to CCSD under NCLB are:

• replace all administrative professionals or
• bring in an outside agency to run the schools or
• make them into charter schools [yeah, likely] or
• have the state take over the schools [ditto].

Whatever changes McGinley makes, she will be held responsible now for the results. Well, that's assuming that three-to-five years down the road McGinley is still Superintendent.

Jordan's quoted comments pose an interesting dilemma for McGinley: she wants the Superintendent "to put those highly successful teachers [and principals] with students who need it the most," namely, those students in unsatisfactory schools where teacher turnover is high.

McGinley's got the power; does she have the guts?

CCSD's New Leadership: Rearranging the Deck Chairs

Buried in today's report of CCSD's Board of Trustees Monday-night meeting is the fact that Hilary Douglas, last year's vice chairman, and Nancy Cook, last year's chairman (and chairman for the last four years), have switched chairs. Now Douglas supposedly is in the driver's seat ["Douglas to Steer School Board"] and Cook is his co-pilot.


Recycling the past will help the future? Douglas was first elected chairman in 1989, eighteen years ago. He was on the Board starting in 1985. These were years when county schools continued unopposed in their downward slide.

What is the record in North Charleston, the area Douglas represents on the Board? Both North Charleston High School and Brentwood have records during his tenure that should cause nightmares. Has Douglas looked out for them in his 15 years on the Board?


Same old same old.