Schoolhouse Beat: The Blog

Design dilemma

Mike — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:17:29 +0000

The cost of building schools, like most things lately, is climbing. That’s especially true in Massachusetts, where the escalating cost of the new Newton North High School ($197 million at last report) has drawn plenty of attention. The state’s treasurer, Timothy P. Cahill, who also doubles as chairman of the state’s School Building Authority, wants to rein in those costs. His suggestion? Have the state’s cities and towns use prototype facility designs instead of creating plans from scratch, The Boston Globe says. Cahill believes such off-the-shelf building designs could cut school-project costs by 30 percent. But, as the article notes, some architects and school administrators question “whether New England’s rolling hillsides, marked by such construction obstacles as wetlands and rock outcroppings, can ever be conducive to a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Do you think using prototype schools is a good way to build school facilities more efficiently?

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Make good?

Mike — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:39:53 +0000

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wants Boston College to pay the city the $424,000 it will lose in taxes if the college converts a high-rise apartment complex to student housing. School officials say they will discuss the mayor’s request with him, but they point out that the university provides more than $5 million worth of community service to the Boston area, including volunteer efforts in local schools and nonprofit agencies.

Do you think the college, or other schools and universities, should feel obligated to compensate a city or town for the tax revenue it loses when a school project takes money off the property tax rolls?

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Whose responsibility?

Mike — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:23:03 +0000

When a private management firm takes over operation of a public school, who is responsible for safety on campus? That’s the question that arose recently in a Pennsylvania court, when Edison Schools Inc., contended that it was not responsible for the safety of students at one of the schools it managed in Philadelphia. Edison subsequently settled a lawsuit brought by parents of a 12-year-old boy assaulted at a middle school managed by Edison, a for-profit manager of several schools in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that before settling the case, Edison contended that the terms of its contract with the Philadelphia School District called only for it to provide educational programs and training, not security. The boy’s family asserted in the suit that Edison was responsible for his assault. (The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.)

What do you think? When a private management firm takes over operation of a public school campus, should its responsibilities include making sure that the campus is safe and secure?

Pizza, but no dancing

Mike — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:58:08 +0000

The University of Scranton is trying to block a local pizzeria from opening a dance club and bar in its basement, The Scranton Times-Tribune says. The school has filed an appeal to overturn a city Zoning Board decision allowing the restaurant to expand. The school says it’s concerned the establishment could attract young students and lead to underage drinking. A university spokesman says the school had been assured that the pizzeria would be a family restaurant. “…Plans for a ‘beer cave’ are substantially different and reignite our concerns….the $27 million development of Condron Hall will place our entire sophomore class within one block of this establishment.”

Do you think a university should be able to prevent bars and dance clubs from opening too close to its campus?

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Private failures

Mike — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:05:00 +0000

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission is removing outside managers of six public schools and putting the campuses back under the control of the city sc hool district, The Philadelphia Inquirer says. The six that are returning to district control are Gillespie, Harrity, Potter-Thomas, Stetson, Dunbar and Fitzsimons. The schools have repeatedly failed to meet state standards and district targets. They will receive intense district support, including teacher coaches, targeted professional development, a parent-outreach worker, and a social worker.

Private managers at 20 other schools have been given one-year contracts and have been warned that they may lose their contracts if improvements are not made. Private managers at 12 schools have been given three-year extensions.

Do you think school districts should continue to experiment with using privatized management for running some of their campuses?

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Fingered

Mike — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:46:00 +0000

In the Clinton County (Mo.) district 40 miles north of Kansas City, some parents are upset about the district’s plan to use a finger-scanning system to keep track of students’ lunch accounts, The St. Joseph News-Press says. Officials say the biometric system will be more efficient and eliminate the problem of students losing their lunch cards. But parents say once school officials have the private identifying characteristics of students, it could be misused or fall into the wrong hands.

Do these high-tech identification systems have enough precautions built in to protect students’ privacy? Should districts hold off on adopting such systems until parents and community members are more comfortable that their privacy is being protected?

Understanding Islam

Mike — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:27:04 +0000

Last month, two women from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Houston gave a presentation on Islam to about 875 seventh and eighth graders at Friendswood (Texas) Junior High School. After many parents objected to the presentation, the district has removed the principal from the school and reassigned to another administrative post, The Houston Chronicle says. (Another article here.)

The district superintendent says she had approved the presentation for staff members, but not for students; she says the principal misunderstood the directive. Parents complained that they had not given their consent for their children to attend the presentation, which was a 40-minute overview referred to as “Islam 101.” The complaints escalated after local talk radio seized on the topic.

The program was scheduled after the principal received reports that a student was attacked because of his Muslim faith.

Supporters of the presentation say it was a good way for students to get greater understanding of an unfamiliar culture.

Do you think the principal should have scheduled such an assembly?

Leave a comment.

Too much success

Mike — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:28:13 +0000

UPDATE: Good news for Anjali. The Dallas Morning News reports that The University of Texas has awarded a her Dedman Distinguished Scholarship, which awards $13,000 per academic year for four years.

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Many schools choose the valedictorian of their graduating class based on the highest grade point average. In some cases, students who have transferred from other schools may end up with the highest GPA based on only one or two years at a school, edging out students who maintained a high GPA for a full four years. In the Grapevine-Colleyville (Texas) district, they dealt with that problem with a policy that states, “The valedictorian shall be the eligible student with the highest weighted grade-point average for four years of high school.”

But that policy didn’t take into account students like Anjali Datta. The 16-year-old is graduating from Grapevine High School with a GPA of 5.898, which officials say may be the highest in the high school’s history. Still, Anjali isn’t the valedictorian. That’s because , The Dallas Morning News reports, she zipped through her high school requirements in three years instead of four. Anjali’s family and her supporters have appealed to the district to use common sense and not hold rigidly to the policy language, but district officials have not budged.

As one Morning News columnist wrote: “In one masterful stroke, they have managed to subordinate the value of genuine academic accomplishment to bureaucratic obsession with officious trivia.”

The school will recognize Anjali as “Valedictorian – Three-Year,” but because she is not the official valedictorian, she may be denied college scholarships that are awarded to valedictorians.

Do you think the school board made a wise decision in refusing to award official valedictorian status to the girl? Leave a comment below.

Flip flop

Mike — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:39:44 +0000

In the Orange County (Fla.) district, like many across the country, the daily schedule for schools has been along these lines: High schools start first, elementary schools a little later in the morning, and middle schools later still. Large districts stagger the start times mainly so that buses can be used more efficiently–the same driver and vehicle can run a route each day for three schools.

But next year, in an effort to save money, the Orange County board has decided to flip the schedules of middle and high schools. High schools that started at 7:20 a.m. now will start at 9:30 a.m. (9th grade centers at 9:45 a.m.) Middle schools will start at 7:30 a.m. instead of 9:30 a.m.

But some high school students are complaining about the switch, saying it will cut into their extracurricular involvement, after-school jobs and teen-age activities. (No word on what middle school kids think.)

The school district estimates that the change will enable it to run 37 fewer buses; it also notes that some research indicates that teen-age students perform better academically when they get more sleep in the morning.

What do you think? Is it better for high schools to start early or start late?

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Wildcats in the House

Mike — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:02:06 +0000

The Wildcats, as millions of tweens and teens know, are the singing and dancing kids from Disney’s High School Musical and High School Musical 2. Now they’re making High School Musical 3, which means the house they’re in is East High School in Salt Lake City, where filming takes place.

Some students are excited that Troy and Gabriela and the rest of the cast and crew are using their school, but others attending East in real-life are complaining that their fictional counterparts are making it difficult to get around the campus, The Salt Lake Tribune says.

The school has benefited from the Hollywood visitors–in addition to a $75,000 rental agreement, Disney has provided new auditorium curtains, and fresh coats of paint in the library, hallways and lockers. But some students think the disruption isn’t worth it. As one wrote to the newspaper:

As I walk through the school, half of the hallways I use are blocked off for filming. It gets difficult to get to classes and I have been tardy. The gym has been monopolized, so no matter what the weather is, we are sent outdoors. This is a school, not a movie set. Filming should be done after school hours.

Should schools be leasing their facilities to filmmakers or other outside groups that may interfere with school functions? Is the financial benefit worth the disruption?