Youngstown schools propose plan for ‘Framing the Future’

By Harold Gwin

The city school district would look significantly different under the plan.

YOUNGSTOWN — Children in fifth through eighth grade spending 11 months in the classroom, East and Chaney high schools becoming magnet schools — both are part of a plan to get the city school district moving forward academically.

Noting is written in stone yet, but Wendy Webb, schools superintendent, has presented the board of education with a preliminary version of what she calls “Framing the Future.”

It’s a look at what the city schools could become starting in 2010.

Webb said she plans to outline the plan to the public at a pair of public sessions next week, Wednesday at East High School and Thursday at Chaney High School. Both sessions will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The goal, she said, is to move a “critical mass of kids” forward academically as quickly as possible.

“Framing the Future” is a plan that is designed to do that, Webb said, explaining that it is a mixture of best practices of what works now combined with some significant changes that will require the cooperation and support of both the community and the district’s educational staff.

The community has to be willing to make changes, and there will be significant reallocation of district resources, she said.

The philosophy behind the proposal is a simple one: You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect success if what you’re doing now isn’t working, Webb said.

Many preschool and elementary-level programs that show success now will be retained, but where the district will start looking different will be in grades five through eight, something the plan refers to as “The Building Foundation.”

Children in those grades will move toward a “balanced budget,” Webb said, explaining that they could essentially be in school up to 11 months of the year.

Not all of that time would be in the traditional classroom setting.

There would be extensive early academic intervention and enrichment programs provided after specific grading periods. City school teachers could work those interventions and enrichments under supplemental contracts, Webb said.

Children performing at grade level would get enrichment programs while those who are performing below grade level would get intervention assistance.

The long-term goal of this specific effort will be to increase graduation rates by helping children master the basics at an early age, she said.

“We need to make a drastic change,” Webb said, suggesting that it is better for children to spend more time in school at this age than to have to spend three or four summers getting caught up during high school.

The plan would create two college preparatory academies — one for girls and one for boys — for pupils in grades seven through 12, focusing on career pathways as well as career and technical adult opportunities and school-to-work concepts.

East and Chaney high schools would become “magnet schools” with an early-college emphasis, Webb said.

One would become a STEM school, concentrating on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The other would concentrate on baccalaureate programs such as the performing arts, the humanities, communications and international studies, she said.

Youngstown would become an “early college district” with all kids able to earn some college credit while still in high school, she said.

The district has already proved that concept can work with its Youngstown Early College program at Youngstown State University, which graduated its first seniors this year, Webb said.

Children selected for that program are average students who have demonstrated academic potential. All of this year’s graduates earned some college credits and four actually earned associate degrees, Webb said.

Part of the plan also includes the development of the “Youngstown Promise,” what is hoped will become a scholarship program that Webb would like to see offer four-year scholarships to all city school graduates with a 2.5 or higher grade point average.

Webb acknowledged that it will require some extensive community surveys to find out if people will support “Framing the Future.”

“I’m definitely open to anything we can do to improve student achievement in the district,” said Shelley Murray, school board president.

Webb’s proposal is “truly innovative and thinking outside the box,” she said, adding that the intensive intervention and enrichment proposed for grades five through eight is “definitely something worth looking at.”

The academic plan isn’t something that can happen overnight, however. It will require some research and careful development, she said.

Board member Lock P. Beachum Sr. said he’s been a proponent of magnet schools for years.

“That’s the part I can appreciate right now,” he said, adding that the plan proposed by Webb needs to be studied carefully.

He’s not sure parents will go along with an extended school year for children in grades five through eight, but he likes the innovative approach Webb is taking. These may be some of the things Youngstown needs to do to draw children back to the city schools, he said.

“I’m pleased,” said board member Jacqueline Taylor, adding that she wants the plan put into writing so the board can examine it in detail.

Taylor said she is curious about what physical differences there might be between the two high schools, as both will still be required to meet state academic and other standards.

Webb has mentioned various aspects of the plan in the past, but this is the first time the board has seen “Framing the Future” in its entirety, she said.

gwin@vindy.com