Columbus Municipal School District board members voted 3-2 Monday to better vet a proposed plan for district improvement before deciding whether to implement it.
District administrators developed the plan to increase the district and its schools’ performance following the Mississippi Department of Education’s release of 2015-16 accountability grades for public schools. The plan, as it was presented Monday, would cost the district $642,022.58.
Trustee Jason Spears made the motion to amend the agenda to remove two items that would have provided the funds for those plans – a consideration to approve a one-time budget expenditure and a consideration to approve an increase in the fund balance for that amount.
The money would fund programs, technology, facility repairs and personnel, among other things.
Spears said he thinks more due diligence is required before spending the money, as well as addressing some other issues under the plan.
“All I’m simply asking is that we take this matter and discuss it further instead of just swiping the pen and striking a check to spend all this money on all these other things…,” Spears said.
The district received a D for 2015-16 based on the state’s A-F accountability system that evaluates how public schools across the state performed during the academic year.
Trustees Fredrick Sparks and Josie Shumake supported Spears’ motion. Board president Angela Verdell and board secretary Currie Fisher opposed.
Fisher expressed her “disdain” for the votes.
“We’re going to hint that we need to improve from a D, but we don’t empower the district to do that. I think it’s totally disgusting,” Fisher said.
The board will return to the plan next month and possibly vote to approve the expenditure needed to implement the plan, but Superintendent Philip Hickman said a month is too long to wait to start making improvements.
“As a parent, I am appalled that we would deny our kids of the services they need to be educated,” he said.
The scores
The state department of education released the 2015-16 letter grades for schools and districts in October. Accountability grades are based on the results of the Mississippi Assessment Program (MAP) for English language arts and Mathematics.
Columbus High School received a D; Franklin Academy and Cook, Fairview and Sale elementary schools received Ds, and Stokes-Beard Elementary received a B. Columbus Middle School received an F.
The plan
After the scores were released, Hickman said he asked administrators from each department in each school to determine their school’s needs.
The plan that resulted included multiple goals: increasing student achievement by using data-driven decisions, increasing the use of technology in classrooms, and improving grades, SAT scores, student attendance, proficiency and other aspects of education. The plan also included addressing how to recruit, develop and retain administrators, faculty and staff at schools.
Other needs determined included purchasing items for instruction, college and career readiness preparation, revising units of instruction to reflect current curriculum standards, maintenance repairs, technology upgrades, increasing the scope of communication between schools and parents, and creating incentives to recruit teachers.
Principals from each school attended the meeting on Monday and asked for additional resources.
Specific requests
Cook, Fairview, Stokes Beard and Sale elementary schools, Franklin Academy and Columbus Middle School have requested additional support personnel to provide adequate growth-based interventions for identified bubble students — those who score within a few points either above or below proficiency — based on recent MAP and district benchmark data to increase the accountability rating from a D. The cost to the district would be $200,328.58.
Those schools, plus the Columbus Success Academy, have also requested the purchase of test banks for English language arts and science for practice test purposes before actual assessments at a cost of $15,272.
The same schools are in need of units of instruction to be revised for grades 3-10 to reflect current College and Career Readiness Standards instead of Common Core State Standards. That would cost $20,300.
Those schools also requested Saturday University and after-school training for staff and assistant teachers in the amount of $70,000 to pay stipends for training.
Columbus High School has requested a $3,400 expenditure for College and Career Readiness preparation to provide opportunities outside of the school day for students and parents to prepare for upcoming assessments.
The high school also requested the completion of the second phase of a SmartLab that would include a digital media lab to broadcast the Falcon Talk TV show and to provide daytime and after-school opportunities for students. That cost is estimated at $149,122.
The high school, middle school, and the Columbus Success Academy requested technology upgrades, including the purchase of additional laptops, iPads and monitors to support instruction in the amount of $108,600.
Franklin requested repairs or the replacement of an outdoor patio because it is damaged and leaking. It would cost $75,000.
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