School board responds to review

By Harold Gwin

Teachers are highly qualified, and schools are warm and welcoming, the board said.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city school board agrees that academic test scores need to improve, but it doesn’t agree with some of the other perceptions about the schools as outlined by the FAMILY Empowerment Student Achievement Institute.

Members of the institute formed a task force to conduct hundreds of random interviews with city residents, which were used to create a list of perceptions and recommendations for the district — all aimed at improving pupil performance.

The institute presented its findings to the board in September, along with a challenge to develop a plan to move the district from a state rating of academic watch to excellent by 2013 and a demand for a written response.

“We agree math, science and reading scores need to increase consistently in the right direction,” the board wrote in its response sent this week. The board is working on a school district strategic plan for education and would welcome community input and vision in the process of creating a more user-friendly and community-oriented plan.

The institute found a perception that there is no successful home-school-community partnership at every school.

The district is working on a list of successful home-school partnerships, the board said. Youngstown already encourages parental and community involvement through monthly parent meetings, creation of a Parent Patrol group as a community outreach and seeking parent volunteers.

The institute said its respondents believe there are underperforming teachers in the district, but the board said 98 percent of its teachers are deemed “highly qualified.”

The district also has extensive professional development programs to give teachers an opportunity to grow, develop and learn new teaching strategies, the board said — adding that teachers are evaluated annually.

The institute suggested that there appears to be a degrading criminalization of pupils who have no criminal intent or background, and that police officers treat pupils like “jailbirds in a prison.”

“We agree that we do not want to criminalize students,” the board wrote. “We know there is a proper way to work with children based on their social development, and we have provided professional development for all staff ... which promotes building positive relationships.”

There are pupils with no books or course syllabus to take home, the institute said.

The board replied that the district provides textbooks for all subjects that require one, though a textbook might not be available for a pilot program or a new resource program. Parents should speak with building administrators regarding books if there are any questions, the board said.

The institute said it appears that too many teachers are taking on social responsibilities that should be handled by family, school counselors or others.

“We agree that teachers have taken on social responsibilities that should be handled by family,” the board wrote. “We would like to continue to work in concert with the community on a stronger partnership to develop stronger social outcomes.”

The institute found that people don’t believe there is a positive, warm, respectful and welcoming environment at every school.

“We feel that our children’s schools are positive, warm, respectful and welcoming,” the board wrote.

The institute said there appears to be a low level of trust between the board and the majority of families with children in the schools.

“The board is currently working to improve trust with the community through such initiatives as the Financial Advisory Committee, moving board meetings into the neighborhood schools and improving the information given on the [school] Web site,” the board said.

Jimma McWilson, institute president and chief executive officer, said no response to the board’s reply would be made until task force members had a chance to review and discuss the document.

gwin@vindy.com