The decision stems from the announcement last week that the school received an academically unacceptable rating by the Texas Education Agency for the third consecutive year.
“This plan is a composite of a lot of great minds and caring hearts,” said Dr. Robin Battershell, TISD superintendent, during the board meeting. The vote for the plan was unanimous among board members.
“Standards have increased from year to year,” said Battershell, about the TEA’s ratings.
The TEA had already assigned someone to monitor the school because of past ratings; however, because of the third failure, the state could take over the school. The district is hoping to avoid that by approving the plan.
“Meridith-Dunbar is a significant part of the district’s history,” said Battershell. “We want to save our schools.”
Students scored lower this year than in the previous two years in the testing areas - reading, math, writing and science. The results are preliminary, as districts have the option to make appeals. The TEA will release the final numbers in late July. The ratings are based largely on results from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests given to students during the school year.
The plan will make the school a pre-kindergarten through third-grade campus. There are about 100 fourth- and fifth-graders who will be transferred to other schools.
Battershell said that the district is in the process of creating profiles for the fourth- and fifth-grade students, which will be the basis for their transfers.
Lisa Diserens, TISD director of accountability and Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), told board members that an official in the district would likely be subpoenaed by the TEA to testify about their plans.
Diserens said that a response may not come for a while from the TEA, but Battershell said that in most cases the agency is willing to work with districts that develop their own improvement plans.
The TEA will still have the option to amend the TISD’s plan, or come up with their own.
“Nobody is going to lose their job in this,” said Battershell. “That’s a very important point.”
Battershell said that some teachers at the school would be transferred to other campuses to avoid job losses. The plan will allow the district to seek experienced teachers and pay them a $2,000 stipend to teach at Meridith-Dunbar. “I think that the stipend will be important in attracting experienced teachers,” said Battershell, who also said that teachers who remain with the campus would receive the stipend.
Battershell said the district has been pleased with the group of second-graders from 2008-09, who scored well in testing and will remain at the school, and is hoping their success will continue.
Diserens said that the TEA would more than likely make the district track the progress of the transferred students, and report to them.
