Chandler restructuring a go

Mar 9, 2010 — Goshen News

John Kline

Mar. 9, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- It's a go.

The restructuring plan for Chandler Elementary School has been approved by state education officials.

Goshen school board members received word Monday that the Indiana Department of Education has accepted the plan. Now the Comprehensive Action Committee, which created the plan, will oversee the plan's implementation.

"We have received written approval from the DOE," said Tamra Ummel, director of elementary education for the Goshen school corporation. "We have been approved, and we are moving forward."

The Comprehensive Action Committee -- a group of 50 teachers, administrators, parents and concerned citizens, went to work on Chandler's problem of not meeting achievement levels under the No Child Left Behind Act. The committee formed its plan in September and then presented it to the school board. That plan involves changing out about a third of the teaching staff as one of 10 plan segments.

Created by Congress in 2001, NCLB established consequences for Title I schools, which are schools with a high percentage of low-income students, that consistently fail to make adequate yearly progress.

Such consequences can include everything from requiring failing schools to implement additional tutoring services to a complete restructuring of school staff and administration.

To avoid such consequences, Title I schools must show consistent improvement in passing percentages each year on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress exam.

As of now, three Goshen elementary schools fall under the Title I designation: Chamberlain, Chandler and West Goshen -- all three of which are now facing some form of corrective action due to several consecutive years of failing to make adequate yearly progress.

However, of the three affected schools, Chandler is now facing the most severe consequences -- required restructuring of school staff.

According to Ummel, the CAC was established primarily to examine the corporation's options for Chandler's restructuring and establish a workable plan.

As of now, the plan includes 10 major components aimed at ensuring improved student achievement with the least amount of negative impact to staff, perhaps the most substantive of which is the required transfer and replacement of 12 teachers.

In order to best facilitate the transfers, Ummel said, the committee will begin its task by first looking at voluntary transfer requests before moving on to involuntary transfers and possible recruitment.

Along those lines, Ummel indicated that the committee has already met with all elementary licensed staff to review the plan and talk through the transfer process.

"So we are getting started," Ummel said.

As for what's to come, Ummel said the committee is in the process of obtaining forms from all elementary teachers indicating their interest in transferring, and asking some other information as well. Those forms will be collected by March 15. Ummel said the goal is to have the internal teacher selection process completed by May 1 and the final Chandler roster submitted to the DOE by June 1.

Chandler training

In related action, the board approved an agreement with the Goshen Education Association establishing up to 60 additional hours of professional development for Chandler Elementary instructors to fulfill the Public Law 221/Title I School Improvement Plan for the 2010-11 contract year.

PL221 is Indiana's comprehensive accountability system for K-12 education passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 1999.

According to the agreement, up to 30 hours of professional development must be completed by teachers between June 1 and Aug. 31, with an additional 30 hours of professional development to be completed during the remainder of the 2010-2011 contract year.

A similar agreement was approved Monday establishing up to 22 additional hours of professional development for Chamberlain Elementary instructors to be completed during the 2010-2011 contract year.

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