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Beach school in lowest 5 percent

March 7, 2010 12:36 am

BY FRANK DELANO

The Virginia Department of Education has identified Colonial Beach High School as one of the state's lowest-achieving schools.

According to a Department of Education memo sent this week to school superintendents, Colonial Beach High is in the bottom 5 percent of the state's 1,865 public schools in terms of its students' academic achievement in English and mathematics. The school has also not significantly reduced its failure rate in English and math in the past two years, the memo said.

Department of Education spokesman Charles B. Pyle said the designation would make the school "eligible for significant additional resources" if the town school system accepts aggressive measures to improve it. Replacing the principal and teachers, revamping instruction and hiring educational managers are among turnaround steps mandated by federal regulations.

"I have grave issues about [the designation]," Colonial Beach schools Superintendent Donna S. Power said last week. She said she will have an online conference tomorrow with state education officials "to decide if we are truly on that list and what are the ramifications."

"Since becoming superintendent [in August 2009], it's become obvious to me that some of the reporting was not always accurate. We're checking every state report against all student records to make sure the data VDOE has used is accurate," Power said.

Power said she also wants to inform state officials of recent improvements in student instruction and "mitigating circumstances," such as the interim superintendent who preceded her, that may have affected school performance.

If state officials do not change the designation, "We'll do what's best for the Colonial Beach schools," she said.

Colonial Beach High Principal Clint Runyan reported an enrollment of 233 students last month. The school is fully accredited, but "not in improvement," according to the state.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, Colonial Beach High made annual yearly progress goals in two of the past three years. The school, along with its English and math test results, has been rated "not in improvement" for all three years.

The Obama administration announced last August that $3.5 billion in Title 1 school-improvement grants would be made available to turn around low-performing schools. Colonial Beach High is one of 17 "persistently lowest-achieving schools" identified in Virginia by the state Department of Education.

The federal School Improvement Program's objectives include "supporting only the most rigorous interventions that hold the promise of producing rapid improvements in student achievement and school culture; providing sufficient resources over several years to implement those interventions; and measuring progress in achieving results," according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Education.

The press release said the School Improvement Program would require implementation of one of the following intervention models:

Turnaround Model--This would include, among other actions, replacing the principal and at least half of the school's staff, adopting a new governance structure and implementing a new or revised instructional program.

Restart Model--School districts would close failing schools and reopen them under the management of a charter school operator, a charter management organization or an educational management organization selected through a rigorous review process. A restart school would be required to admit, within the grades it serves, any former student who wishes to attend.

School Closure--The district would close a failing school and enroll the students who attended that school in other high-achieving schools in the district.

Transformational Model--The district would address four specific areas:

1. Developing teacher and school leader effectiveness, which includes replacing the principal who led the school prior to commencement of the transformational model.

2. Implementing comprehensive instructional reform strategies.

3. Extending learning and teacher planning time and creating community-oriented schools.

4. Providing operating flexibility and sustained support.

Power said she "has not discussed or selected any of the options" pending her appeal tomorrow to the state. She said the situation will be discussed at the Colonial Beach School Board meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Town Center.

Frank Delano: 804/761-4300
Email: fpdelano@gmail.com