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DCSC board to hold re-alignment work session Public invited to attend, listen in By Kevin Schnepp Staff writer Delphi Community School Corporation Board of Trustees will convene for a work session April 4 at 7 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria. The board will converse about re-alignment of DCSC elementary schools. Members of the public are invited to attend but will not have an opportunity to address the board during the session. Walker said the special meeting was called because the board wanted to meet in quorum to discuss re-alignment options before the regularly scheduled April board meeting. Superintendent Ralph Walker first presented a synopsis of financial and educational issues facing the corporation in a prepared statement he read at the March 12 school board meeting. He listed cutbacks the corporation made in recent years, reorganization suggestions and expected results. In summary, Walker's reasons to recommend reorganization are: + Improve academic achievement for all students + Provide equal educational opportunities for all elementary students; + Offer full-day kindergarten; + Equalize class size; + Improve the financial outlook of the school corporation; + Provide consistent staff development; + Insure all students benefit from Title I funds; + Improve collaboration among grade-level teachers; and + Improve collaboration and rapport between related specials teachers and classroom teachers. When he became DCSC superintendent, Walker said he found the general budget was depleted or overspent regularly for several years. The school district made reductions to certified, classified and extracurricular staff in efforts to control the budget. Alternative school and administrative positions were also cropped. Teaching positions severed include Family and Consumer Science, Social Studies, Physical Education and coaching positions. The Elementary Counselor position, previously cut, was only brought back this year through a grant. Educational programs dismissed due to lack of staff include Alternative School, Gifted and Talented, Readiness (for transition from kindergarten to first grade) and Enrichment. Walker said the cuts hurt student achievement without solving long-term budget problems. "Personnel reductions have directly impacted education statistics," Walker explained, citing severe declines in ISTEP+ passing rates, graduation rates and SAT Writing and Critical Reading scores. "Cuts made at the high school and middle school three years ago had a direct, negative effect. Yet enrollment figures show that the corporation is overstaffed by six teaching positions at the elementary level." Those six teaching positions, Walker pointed out, cost the school district approximately $250,000 annually. He said re-allocating funds is dire to the financial and educational stability of the corporation. Custodial staff reductions forced remaining personnel to assume added duties. No time was left for preventative maintenance, which "in the long run may have saved the corporation many dollars" according to Walker. Walker said solutions exist which could stop the cycle of reducing staff and educational programs to stay within budget. "We currently have a very inefficient model at the elementary schools," he stated. "From an educational standpoint, by combining and realigning the two elementary schools with a different configuration of grades, we would be able to add a lot of educational improvements for student learning. These improvements would be beneficial for all students in our corporation." An example Walker gave was the Gifted and Talented program. He said one million dollars was spent annually on special education while less than $16,000 was spent on gifted children. Reduction of special education funds is not an option because it is a federal program mandated by federal law. He said realignment would allow for gifted programs to exist at each grade level in the form of clusters or the formation of a gifted academy within the elementary schools. "Most gifted students do not appear to be reaching their potential academically," Walker explained. "They appear to have never been identified as gifted children." Walker said teachers at Hillcrest and Camden could interact and share resources if grade levels were not split between buildings. As a result, learning communities could be formed to further enhance childhood education. "Research shows that student achievement will improve through collaborations such as learning communities," Walker explained. "Having all the teachers from the same grade level together in the same building would allow collaboration among staff to take place." Inequities in class size at the elementary schools were cited as problematic. Walker said studentto teacher ratios are out-ofbalance. An option he offered was to house kindergarten and first grade at Camden and grades two through five at Hillcrest. Classroom space was cited as a factor that hindered academic growth. Walker said Camden does not have space to offer any additional programs such as fullday kindergarten, which he considered important to initiate. Walker said the goal would be to close the achievement gap before students enter grade two, but is not possible with the current configuration. "When we are unable to close that achievement gap during one year of kindergarten, these students remain behind," Walker stated. "However, re-alignment would allow us to implement a half-step transition class between kindergarten and first grade and/or between first and second grades." Success early on would allow students to be successful later in their academic careers. He said students who suffer from at-risk issues early on would struggle throughout their academic careers or drop out of school. "Realignment would allow not only full-day kindergarten to be implemented, but also an opportunity to work with at-risk students ages three and four in an Early Childhood Center," Walker suggested. "Let's give these children at least a chance to be successful in the world." Walker said library and technology funds could be saved by the elimination of duplicate books and site licenses. Re-alignment would also help utilize special teachers who could provide support to middle and high school programs. Walker noted re-alignment has worked well in nearby schools. A similar configuration was adopted by Tri-County School Corporation. Previously aligned similar to Hillcrest and Camden, the two elementary schools in that corporation were changed into K-2 and 3-5 buildings. Dr. Gib Crimmins, Tri-County superintendent, said there was much debate, but within a short time the change was welcomed and embraced by most everyone. "What started as a very challenging situation has actually worked out to the benefit of most everyone," Crimmins explained in a letter written to Walker. "Initially we had a few very vocal people against the reconfiguration, but now I believe most of these same people would agree that it is one of the best things to ever happen to Tri-County School Corporation." Walker said Tri-County continues to improve academically. In 2004, Tri-County ranked 180th in the state and 146th in 2005. DCSC was ranked 180th last year and is currently ranked 178th. Walker listed three other options at the meeting: + Make no changes; + House one section of K-5 students at Camden and redistrict the rest of the population to Hillcrest; or + Re-organize Hillcrest as a K-3 and house grades four and five at Camden. The board will continue to discuss options and suggestions from the public at the work session. Walker concluded by re-iterating the need to keep the educational interests of children first and foremost. He conceded that all recommendations would have positive and negative impacts to consider and discuss, but progress must be made. "We need to continue the dialogue both internally and outside the school corporation," he began. "Although this is a difficult decision, we must formulate a plan and direction to obtain the best education possible for our children. The operational direction will impact the facility improvements necessary to maintain and upgrade the current buildings." DCSC Superintendent Ralph Walker encourages patrons to provide input concerning re-alignment to him or members of the board via e- mail, letters or phone calls. Write: Delphi Community School Corporation
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