Article in yesterday's Phila. Inquirer.
Chester Upland plan: Close 3
schools, sell buildings
November
14, 2012|By Rita Giordano, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
To win back
students who have fled its schools and escape its deep financial crisis, the
troubled Chester Upland district will have to embrace a "radical and bold
plan" that includes closing three schools, selling several buildings, and
overhauling its approach to academics, according to a state report issued
Tuesday.
"The
choice is stark: reform or become irrelevant and go out of business as a direct
education provider," said the report, released by Joseph P. Watkins, the
state-appointed Chester Upland School District recovery officer.
If the district
fails to meet certain scholastic performance goals, such as federal annual
progress targets, by the end for the 2014-15 school year, the plan calls for
the schools to be run by external management operations such as charter
schools, cyber charters, and education management companies.
"Our
children can wait no longer for the chance to learn, to graduate, and to go on
to college or a trade," Watkins said in a statement released with the
report. "They deserve the opportunity to succeed."
Watkins, who
previously ran a pro-voucher and -charter political action committee, was
appointed last summer and given broad powers under recently enacted
distressed-school legislation to try to turn around the struggling district.
His report
highlighted many of the district's problems - over 50 percent of the students
score below proficiency on state standardized tests; a $3 million deficit
projected to balloon to over $180 million by 2017-18 if no action is taken; and
a 5 percent loss of students a year to charter and cyber schools, resulting in
lost revenue.
In an interview
Friday, Watkins said he did not want to turn the schools into charters or have
them managed privately, and Tuesday he said he would like to see local
school-board involvement "in the short term and the long term."
But he also
said, "We're making students the top priority. This is all about the
kids."
"I am very
angry and very disappointed," said Chester Upland school board member
Charlie Warren. "The state isn't serving this part of the commonwealth
with truth and honesty."
Warren accused
state officials of trying to remake the district according to its wishes.
"I believe
had they given the board - this board coming in - the opportunity, we could
have fixed our schools without all this nonsense coming down from the
state," he said.
"My
biggest fear is, we will lose our public school system and our kids will get
pushed out of the charters and they will have no place to go," said State
Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland (D., Delaware).
The school
board doesn't have much choice. It has 10 days to act on the plan. If approved,
the plan will go to state Education Secretary Ron Tomalis for approval or a
call for revision.
If the board
doesn't approve the plan, the state will seek to have the district put into
receivership.
Other
low-performing school districts have turned to charter or school management
firms to try to improve some of their schools, including Philadelphia's.
In the last
five years, according to Robin Lake of the Washington-based Center for
Reinventing Public Education, the number of challenged districts using a
combination of operators, including charters, has increased.
Watkins' plan
calls for closing three school buildings he said are underutilized, as well as
the district's administration building.
The Columbus
and Stetser Schools will close as soon as December. The Smedley STEM High
School building will be closed and its students and programs will be housed in
their own space at Chester High School, as will district administrative staff.
Some classes will grow.
Watkins said
the district will "rightsize" staff, shedding about 70 positions
during this and the next school year. However, he said staff could be called
back if the student body grows with new and returning students lured by
improved academic programs.
The plan also
calls for teachers to contribute to their health-care costs and placing a limit
on district contributions. The teachers will also be subject to the state's new
evaluation process.
Watkins said
his proposal calls for seeking private funding to add programs, including day
care for students' children, expanded after-school and summer programs, and
staff development.
He wants the
district to sell some buildings for a projected $2 million and is calling for
retaining a recruiting firm to help hire a superintendent and a chief financial
officer who will each commit to serving at least three years.
He recommended
increasing property taxes and seeking state funds to help pay for initiatives
such as capital improvements at the high school, marketing, administrative
recruiting, and school board training.
The Bensalem, Bristol Township, Centennial, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school boards will reorganize Monday night. 
