High School might lose accreditation, help?

Parents Forum
1

<p>I can’t believe this community has let problems get to this point, but our local high school is in deep trouble on a lot of levels and they are asking voters to support a referendum that would fix the high school, in the tens of millions.
Stuff like this:</p>

<p>– there is still asbestos in the building, in floor tiles. It boggles the mind.
– there is no handicapped access
– the roof leaks. Into the library. Sheesh. Mold problems? Probably, but they have to knock down the walls to find out.
– Concrete areas, like the front steps, are crumbling
– wiring is from the '60’s, i.e. can’t handle computers and other things you plug in.</p>

<p>…and it goes on and on. Considering what needs to be done, I don’t think they are asking for much money, but the total has been assessed by the architecture/engineering firm the district hired for the purpose.</p>

<p>We just moved to this community last year, we had no idea things were this bad. The teachers are wonderful and dedicated, the kids are really nice. But the school could fail, due to all the problems that they’ve let go for so long. </p>

<p>Do any of you have any experience with this? How do we get the community concerned, City Council members have already questioned the expense and tried to propose that the amount be lessened. I am on a Parent Committee, and letters have been written to the papers, etc.</p>

<p>I seem to remember that there are financial considerations (if the “it’s the right thing to do” appeal doesn’t work!), like real estate values being tied to the quality of the school, also the potential for lawsuits (asbestos! mold! someone falling on the crumbling front steps!) is high.</p>

<p>Can anyone help with advice, or links to information? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much.</p>

2

<p>“How do we get the community concerned, City Council members have already questioned the expense and tried to propose that the amount be lessened. I am on a Parent Committee, and letters have been written to the papers, etc.”</p>

<p>Don’t have any suggestions or words of advise other than… sounds like it time to move again. If these sort of problems have gone on for years, it is highly unlikely that they are just now being discovered for the first time! Complacency in a community, especially if it is driven by financial considerations, is a really hard pattern to change. I fear you will end up fighting an uphill battle, with little to show for it in the end.[ been there, tried that]</p>

3

<p>I doubt you need to worry about accreditation any time soon. In our state, the absolute worst public middle school (by pretty much every metric available) was fully accredited up until the day the district shut it down because of many years of failure to meet NCLB standards. That’s because accreditation is much more about a paper-pushing process than it is about effective education. Lots of really crummy schools are fully accredited. (Can you tell I’m bitter? After many, many hours spent filling out these meaningless forms and preparing for even more meaningless site visits when there was real work that needed to be done - yes!)</p>

<p>In terms of the physical condition of the building (which is what it sounds like is the real problem) you have a couple possibilities:

  1. Some states (maybe many by now) have been the subject of successful lawsuits to force equitable facilities even if the voters haven’t wanted to pay for them. In my state (Colorado), we have some very, very poor counties that simply didn’t have the tax base to deal with exactly the kinds of problems you mentioned. Eventually the state was forced through a lawsuit to deal with the issue on a statewide level. Every single school in the state was ranked on a facilities condition and suitability survey, and the worst schools get money to repair/rebuild/add on. Next year the next batch of schools will get the funds, and so on. This year’s batch included schools with holes in the roof, schools with non-functioning boilers, and some schools with much too small facilities for the student population.
  2. Bond issues to fix facilities are another option, and it sounds like your district is pursing one. But, this is a pretty challenging time for new taxes.<br>
  3. Some of the items may not be as bad as you think – asbestos in floor tiles is a good example. Generally schools have been advised to inspect them regularly and leave them in place until they’re ready to remodel. ADA accessibility is not mandated for older buildings (which is sounds like yours is) until a certain amount of remodeling is undertaken. Even then, some items will still not be required due to cost. The nearby 1889 elementary school is loved for its charm, but it is not very accessible. My understanding is that when they did have a student who couldn’t use stairs, they relocated classrooms year by year so that the child never needed to go upstairs. Not perfect, but it worked. </p>

<p>I personally care a lot more about the quality of the teaching and the classes than I do about the facility, but YMMV.</p>

4

<p>This does sound problematic. About 15 years ago, our school district wanted to issue bonds to fix the physical plant, which was in pretty bad shape. The mayor was the one who lead the charge on the campaign. The ballot item included language setting up a citizen’s committee to ensure that bond funds were spent on the proper items. </p>

<p>A key element was to co-opt the senior community. The old folks hadn’t been inside those buildings in decades and had no idea of the conditions. Special tours for just the seniors were arranged. This got them on board, one of the keys to a resounding 85% positive vote.</p>

<p>We have a much tougher road to travel this year. We are working towards a Nov 3 ballot for a five year parcel tax, $96 a year for five years. Seniors over 65 are exempt. We need a 2/3 positive vote for passage. Thus far, we have no organized opposition and last week, we managed to secure an endorsement from the Chamber of Commerce.</p>

5

<p>We just had a group from our church adopt a public school and 100 people went to the school one Saturday and did a lot of the work that the school had not been able to do for years. They mostly painted and did landscaping. Just an idea.</p>

6

<p>My sister has been involved in several school referendums in CA. Bottom line, it’s much, much easier to get them passed in towns know for their good schools because even people with no kids in school see the value of paying up to maintain real estate values. These referendums regularly fail in less affluent towns that people are not flocking to for the schools.</p>

<p>I would suggest researching which town around you have gotten them passed and talking to those that lead the effort there.</p>

7

<p>I wish I had some advice to give you. The problems at the high school here are similar:</p>

<p>-the roof leaks, and their solution is to put buckets under it.
-there are rats and mice
-there is cockroach infestation (and they are enormous)
-there is termite damage
-probably problems with mold, too
-when they took the PSAT last year in the school cafeteria, two birds were flying around (I am not making this up!); that has happened before because of holes</p>

<p>They say there is no money to fix this. A new elementary school is being built, but there is no money, or so they say, </p>

<p>There are a few very good teachers, but others don’t seem to know what they’re doing , the bureaucracy is utterly incompetent, and the quality of education overall leaves much to be desired. For example, there were only six AP scholars in last year’s senior class of over 400.</p>

<p>I’m not worried about accreditation though. Another high school in the district got labeled a dropout factory, and it’s still accredited. Schools that don’t meet NCLB and AYP are still accredited. As Arabrab said, that’s all about paper pushing - and it would seem that an inability to move on fixing clear health problems in the physical plant goes right along with a bureaucracy that does nothing.</p>

<p>Sad, isn’t it?</p>

8

<p>Thank you all so much for your insights! I knew I’d get great advice from this group, and please, if anyone else has anything to add, I would be most grateful. This referendum comes up for a vote in Nov. and the school community will be working hard on it. The principal has been good about trying to rally the community and sending information to us.</p>

<p>arabrab, yes:

</p>

<p>I have been saying that all along. My kids have attended mostly overseas schools, so this is all new to me. I know kids can receive a top-notch education in some very poor facilities in places like China, Russia, Korea, etc., we don’t need fancy-schmancy to provide an excellent education. However, the conversation-stopper is that the school could lose its accreditation. Not even sure what that means, but it can’t be good. (interesting point about accreditation, arabrab)</p>

<p>What is tragic is that the teachers in this school are extremely dedicated and skilled. The teachers and students are getting the message that this town doesn’t care that they have a cruddy workplace environment – an environment that any other working adult wouldn’t put up with for 5 minutes, not to mention years.</p>

<p>You should have heard the beautiful speeches at the last City Council meeting by high school students! Any town would be happy to boast kids like this in the community. I don’t know, that’s something you want to throw your money at, I think.</p>

<p>Ironically, it’s because of what this school offers that we bought a home here. (of course this referendum will affect my taxes, nearly $200 per year more). My D has taken full advantage of the unique programs available, Honors Marine Bio, etc. She will not be affected by school improvements, she graduates in 2010. But wouldn’t it be a sad thing if the community turns its back on the school and kids won’t have these classes available?</p>

<p>Wow, califa. It really is sad. Hello, stimulus money? I think this school is kind of a dropout factory too; the governor is trying to address schools in this state, because in some areas it’s something like 20 - 25%. Only 54% of graduates in the state of Maine go on to college (very high ‘first generation in college’ stats). Interesting factoids: this is the whitest state in the nation, with around 1% minority population. Practically no “non-native speakers of English”. It flies in the face of whatever anyone thinks he knows about cultural indicators. Food for thought, right? </p>

<p>Again, thank you everyone. I will pass along your suggestions.</p>