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State rejects plan to house troubled students at Wilson
By HAROLD GWIN
BOARDMAn
The Academic Distress Commission has rejected a plan to use the new Wilson Middle School to house a program for academically troubled seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders.
That plan doesn’t fit in with one being devised by the commission, said its chairman, Debra Mettee.
The state commission was appointed to develop a recovery plan to get Youngstown schools out of academic emergency
The school district put together its own strategic academic plan earlier this year that called for Wilson, now under construction, to house Pathways to Advancement.
The program would be aimed at students in seventh through ninth grade who are failing two or more subjects. The focus would be on core-subjects with the emphasis not on remediation but on accelerated learning.
The commission last month gave Youngstown the go-ahead to launch a summer school version of the Pathways program, and that is happening.
Wendy Webb, Youngstown schools superintendent, told the commission Monday that the district has reworked the fall version of the program and will be able to operate it as a “school within a school” project.
Students assigned to the program will attend extended classroom sessions in core subjects they are failing at their home schools, she said.
Meanwhile, the commission continues to refine its recovery plan for the district, and a final document is expected at its meeting next Monday. A formal vote on it is set for June 28, and it must be submitted to the state superintendent of public instruction by June 29.
The plan calls for a strong focus on family engagement to help boost education for children from birth to age 3 and into the primary grades.
There will be “double literacy” classrooms focusing in reading and writing skills for children who are one full grade behind in their literacy skills. A “double math” program is called for in the second year of the plan.
It also calls for opening a public preschool for all 4-year-olds at every elementary school and a 15:1 student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through third grade.
There is a focus on teacher training and recruitment and on selecting teachers and teaching assistants with knowledge, skills and competencies aligned with state educational standards.