Officials take step to better track kids

The superintendent said she wants to be sure they are being educated.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- City school officials say they want to do a better job of tracking the whereabouts of the children who live in the district but do not attend the schools.
At Tuesday's board of education meeting, Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg said a new exit form will be available to principals in each building. It is one tool that will be used to gather information that can help school officials determine how to better meet the needs of its pupils and retain more of them.
Gordon Hazen, supervisor of student services, said the district is down 246 pupils from last year, which costs the district more than $1 million in funding from the state. The district receives about $5,000 per pupil.
Hazen said there are about 1,000 kids living in the district who do not attend the city schools. They attend charter schools, use open enrollment to go to other public school districts and attend private schools.
Hellweg said the district has also made home visits to contact some of these children and is cross-checking information from charter and other schools to discover where they are.
"We want to make sure kids are in an educational setting. We don't want kids falling through the cracks," she said.
She said accurate information like this has been required during the process of planning for the district's new school buildings and could also be valuable after the buildings are complete.
She said she hopes Warren families will "see changes in instruction in the new buildings and encourage some of them to come back."
One way Hellweg has tried to change perceptions and attitudes about the district is to become more visible in the community. She gave the board a presentation like the one she has been giving to community groups.
Wants greater collaboration
In it, she said "Academic Watch is not acceptable." She was referring to the district's score on recent state Report Cards. She said everyone from bus drivers to custodians to teachers and administrators need to voice the belief that the focus of the district should be on "producing student achievement."
Hellweg said a groundbreaking will occur Monday at 9:45 a.m. at the site of the Lincoln K-8 school on Atlantic Street. She said she thinks it is important that the public can finally see tangible results of the district's planning.
The district is in the midst of a $153 million construction project that will replace all 13 city schools with five new buildings by mid-2009. Hellweg said the Lincoln building should be complete by 2007.
"A lot of people have been involved in the process" of planning the schools, board member Nedra Bowen said. Board member Robert L. Faulkner Sr. added he thinks the district has probably "set a record" for the number of meetings that have been held to get input from the community and staff on what they want the buildings to be.
Input has even gotten to the level of what size and height classroom cabinets should be, Faulkner said.
Board President Linda Metzendorf said she is pleased that the buildings will be attractive and not look like warehouses.
In other business,
UHellweg said she hoped to have a new principal at East Middle School by next week.
UBoard member Edward Bolino reported that a committee is working to reduce the cost of Workers' Compensation costs by half of the $1.4 million annual price tag. He said this can be done through seminars and a change in attitude about safety. Hellweg said these seminars will be in November and January for all administration and staff.
UThe board hired Mark Donnelly to be executive director of business operations.