THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507010108
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
GRADING SCALE STAYS: The School Board voted 5-4 Thursday to keep Portsmouth's current grading scale after the latest request to align it with scales in surrounding school districts.
The main issue was the value of an A. City students earn an A for scores between 95 and 100. In other area districts, A's are granted for minimum scores ranging from 90 to 94.
Guidance counselors, high school principals and some students have said the 95 cutoff puts city students at a competitive disadvantage. It affects grade point averages and, in turn, may affect a student's admission to college or receipt of scholarships, they've said.
The board opposed two other grading scales before deciding to keep the current one. The Rev. Charles H. Bowens II, Vice Chairman James E. Bridgeford, Evelyn Hyman and Leah Stith voted against maintaining the current scale.
1.7 GPA GOES: The plan was to require students to have at least a 1.7 grade point average to participate in extra-curricular activities next school year. But the board voted unanimously to change that to 1.66 - still in the D range.
Coaches recently pointed out that many students often missed the 1.7 target. The district's research director confirmed that a 1.66 or 1.83 average is much more common.
Superintendent Richard D. Trumble said a 1.66 average was ``more realistic,'' mathematically speaking. The minimum will increase to a 2.0 in the 1996-97 year.
TIME TO REORGANIZE: In a voice vote, the board agreed to accept Trumble's administrative reorganization plan for the upcoming school year. The plan - the work of an internal committee - is essentially the same one Trumble showed the board in February.
The committee tried to better define what administrators are accountable for and simplify the chain of command. The main idea, Trumble said, is to freeze hiring for jobs not considered critical, and rely on current administrators to take on more responsibilities or fill job vacancies whenever possible.
The district still might spend more on pay raises if lower-level workers are promoted to higher-paying supervisory jobs.
The plan consolidates several central office jobs and calls for the hiring of a deputy superintendent. Learning specialists will be assigned to a school for two or three days a week and coordinate districtwide efforts part time. They will probably remain at their Hartford Street headquarters, Trumble said.
The board also gave Trumble the green light to reassign principals, assistant principals and teachers for 1995-96.
NEW FACES: Attorney Byron P. Kloeppel and Mary L. Curran, president of the Midtown Portsmouth Association and a Central Fidelity National Bank executive, replaced Richard Crawford and Evelyn Hyman, who weren't reappointed last month. Their terms ended this week.
Several staffers have accepted jobs in neighboring school districts, including: Churchland Elementary Principal Sheila Hill, who is going to Newport News; Business Affairs Director James T. Roberts, who's going to Chesapeake; and Hunt-Mapp Middle Principal Michael Spencer, who took a Norfolk job. The administration has not announced their replacements.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS by CNB