She says the parents and those who attended were supportive of consolidation. This is the “State Board Summary” that is supposed to be the key part of the
revised AG plan
The
Board of Education received information in late September on Crisfield High’s
School Improvement Status and the need for restructuring. The public response to
CHS needing to be restructured included a lack of knowledge about the previous
school improvement status. The public clearly stated that they did not know that
the two high schools in the county were failing. Questions about how did CHS get
so bad, when did this happen, and what exactly does restructuring mean are some
of the many questions that were asked. The superintendent believed that it was
necessary to educate the public about: 1) the data for both high schools; 2)
AYP; 3) Achievement Gaps and Subgroups; 4) what it meant to be in a school
improvement status, versus a corrective action status, versus restructuring; and
5) the three options identified by the MSDE for schools in restructuring status.
(Please see the PowerPoint used in the Appendix). In an attempt to engage and
accommodate the public five Town Hall Meetings were held from November
1st
through
December 12th throughout the county. Meetings were held at Crisfield High
School, Crisfield’s City Hall, Washington High School, the Garland Hayward
Community Center and Deal Island Elementary School. Meetings were held in the
evenings, on Saturdays, and in community center locations in an effort to
accommodate parents.
The
State Board of Education should be reminded that Washington High School (located
on the northern end of the county) will be facing restructuring in the fall of
2012 (they will not meet the five year graduation rate for the 2011 cohort and
therefore, will not make AYP). The point of the Town Hall Meetings was to
educate the public, share the options under Alternative Governance and engage
community members in what they wanted to see happen in their schools.
Participants were asked to respond to three questions: 1) What are the top three
things you think have benefited students in SCPS? (What is working); 2) What
recommendations do you have for improving Somerset County Public Schools; and 3)
What recommendations do you have for implementing your
recommendations?
Consolidation/merging
of the high schools was a recurring theme in the feedback received from the
community members during the Town Hall Meetings. The idea of consolidation was
not explored with the Board until January. In a January meeting the Board
requested Ms. Teresa Knott to share information on restructuring. Following the
information shared by Ms. Knott the Board went into closed session to discuss
the possibility of consolidation and the personnel that would be affected as
well as the cost to consolidate. In January 2012, the Board having seen the
results of the community meetings was presented with the option of consolidating
the high schools.
The conversation of merger was introduced by the public at the
town hall meetings. It is because of the recurring theme that the consolidation
plan was prepared for the Board to consider. The PowerPoint that was shared with
the Board at that January meeting was also shared with the public at a meeting
in January. A special called public Board meeting was held on February 2, 2012
where the Board voted to not consolidate the high schools but rather to
restructure Crisfield High. Meetings focusing specifically on the requirements
of the Alternative Governance plan were held in February and March with the CHS
staff, parents and community members.
