Like the mythical phoenix, a controversial change to the city school calendar flamed brightly, died swiftly and rose from the ashes to live — and die — again.
After considerable blow-back from her first major action as the Columbus Municipal School District’s new superintendent, Dr. Martha Liddell reversed course Tuesday on a plan to dismiss students early on Wednesdays to allow time for teacher training and development.
The proposal failed for lack of a second in last Monday’s board meeting, only to be revisited after executive session and passed 3-1 with one abstention and no additional public comment.
The process immediately caused dissension amongst board members, with Jason Spears and Glenn Lautzenhiser both arguing on behalf of the public. Most observers had left the meeting thinking the issue had failed, only to learn later that night it had been successfully resurrected.
Spears voted against the measure, and Lautzenhiser abstained.
In a two-page press release issued Tuesday, Liddell apologized for failing to effectively communicate her rationale for the proposal, which she believes will lift the district out of academic watch and forestall a state takeover like that which recently took place in the Aberdeen School District.
“I’m not too stubborn to say I’m sorry for allowing my commitment to student achievement to cloud the participatory process I believe should occur prior to implementing a large-scale reform,” Liddell was quoted as saying in the press release.
She is recommending the board amend the 2012-2013 calendar approved last Monday to allow time for stake-holder input. She plans in July to establish an advisory council of parents, teachers, support staff and administrators to examine the issue before finalizing the calendar.
Liddell said her motives were “unselfish” when she pushed the board last week to approve early-release Wednesdays, adding her recommendation was based upon research and a commitment to keeping students’ education at the forefront.
“My heart as an educator is in the right place,” Liddell said. “However, I humbly admit that as superintendent, I should have dedicated more time to communicating with stake-holders about how the district’s achievement decline indicates a need for more professional development that is focused on student achievement.”
Liddell credited a parent — presumably Lori Pierce, who spoke at the beginning of Monday’s board meeting — with helping her see the importance of involving parents in the decision-making process.
“Parents and educators’ involvement in improving the school system is extremely important to me, and I would never intentionally isolate parents or educators from the decision-making process that affects their children and our students,” Liddell said.
Under the initial proposal, middle and high school students would have been released at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesdays, and elementary school students would have been released at 12:45 p.m.
Teachers would have remained at school to participate in professional development, particularly training for the new Common Core State Standards, slated for K-12 implementation in 2014 and aimed at increasing academic rigor and nationwide standardization of instruction and academic benchmarks.
The lost instructional time would have been recouped by later dismissals on the remaining four days of the week.
Friday, the state board of education voted to limit its 152 school districts to two early dismissal days per year beginning in 2013-2014. The motion will not be official until a 25-day public comment period has passed. If finalized, the state’s ruling will terminate any early-release plan adopted by the CMSD in 2013.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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