THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408100162
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
BACK TO SCHOOL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 242 lines
ARTHUR D. SMITH, the School Board's new chairman, recently discussed the state of city schools and some of the board's goals for the upcoming school year. Two newcomers - Frances Alwood and Calvin Jones - were elected to the seven-member board in May, as were incumbents Lorraine Skeeter and William L. Whitley.
Smith, 49, has two grown children and lives in the Nansemond Borough. He has served on the board for about two years. He is an associate dean at Tidewater Community College.
Approximately 9,400 students are enrolled in Suffolk's 15 public schools.
Q. Where is the new board heading?
A. Collectively, I think the board has a pretty clear focus in terms of the direction in which it wants the school system to go, and it's not appreciably different than what has been the direction of the board in years past.
Q. So how would you describe that direction or focus?
A. No one thing gets any more attention than the other because they're all of equal importance. You can pick out, if you care to, one particular area and say that's a concern to you, like standardized test scores. It's a concern to us and it's been a concern to us for years, I'm sure. Now, you can sit and give so much attention to one particular area that the other areas go unattended to. You may experience some accomplishments in this area, but at the expense of others. And I personally don't want that to happen. I think that's the way the board is in general. Safe transportation for our students is equally as important as the standardized test scores or the performance of our children on standardized tests. So you look at everything.
Q. But are there some key areas where the board is interested in placing extra emphasis?
A. I know what you're driving at, but I'm real hesitant to say that. Every year, every day, you learn something new about the school system. And until you collect all this information about what's going on around you, you've got to be real careful as an individual board member. But there are probably three or four areas. One thing we're very excited about is going to be construction of the new elementary school.
(The school, which will be in the rapidly growing Harbour View area, is expected to open in the fall of 1996. It will replace Florence Bowser Elementary, which may be converted into an alternative school for troubled students, school officials said.)
It's going to be a great challenge to make sure that the school is designed the way it needs to be to educate our children for the 21st century. We're going to put an emphasis on technology in the elementary schools. We'll probably try to come up with some imaginative physical configurations so that we get the best utilization out of the space. We don't build that many schools all that frequently, so when you do go into a construction phase, you want to make sure that you're getting the absolute best facility that the dollar will buy in today's market.
Q. You said there were three or four areas of concern. What are the others?
A. Well, certainly the at-risk children. Next year, the state is going to fund a preschool at-risk program in which we're going to be given the opportunity to identify those children that need almost like a pre-kindergarten experience to get caught up, to elevate their readiness. And we're going to add in the '94-'95 school year about 20 new teachers, and I think we're up to 24 new mobile classroom units being brought in - which is part of the state's initiative on a reduction of class size.
(For the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years, the district stands to gain about $2.2 million in ``disparity'' money, which the state legislature agreed to give poor school districts in varying amounts. Most of the money must be used to reduce class size in kindergarten through third grade. It also will pay for library computer equipment and the placement of disadvantaged 4-year-olds into preschool programs.)
Q. Are Suffolk educators or School Board members thinking about different ways of dispensing education to get different results in the classroom?
A. At our August retreat, standardized testing will get a lot of attention. Two years ago, one of the system's goals was to improve the performance of our children on the Literacy Passport Test. And there are a number of strategic goals established in ways in which to do that. We created a pre-Literacy Passport program for fifth-grade children. We started a Literacy Passport summer school program for children. Teachers were given professional development experiences to help them understand what's on the test . . . And we achieved a remarkable improvement . . . So you look at those areas that you've made some improvements in and you say, ``Great. Those things that we did here obviously had some impact.'' Then you turn around and you say, ``But what happened over here? Now we need to go over and focus on a writing component or a math component. Now we've got to go back over here and focus on a reading component.'' And you do that with some high expectations.
But at the same time that you're doing that, you've got to realize, the community's got to realize, that you don't evaluate a school system based on the performance of the children on standardized tests. There's a whole lot of other things that you need to look at . . . Something like 30 percent of our children who come in through the gates are not ready for kindergarten. So those children start school in an at-risk category the very first day they step foot in a facility.
Q. If the district knows that, is there any way to address those problems outside of traditional channels?
A. We're starting the preschool program next year . . . We're looking at a special kindergarten program for kindergarten repeaters or summer school programs for elementary school kids. There are a lot of those things going on already. There are a lot of imaginative, sort of unadvertised attempts to focus on these children, like getting parents involved with the parent resource centers. We're doing some new things with manipulatives in math classes. So there are a lot of little - maybe they're not so little - initiatives that are going on. And people are constantly saying, ``What is it that we can do that's new and different to challenge and excite these kids, to bring these kids up to an area where they're now operating on equal ground?'' the gifted-and-talented kid because he's starving for excitement and challenges and motivation and so forth.
(Manipulatives are objects that appeal to several senses. Students can touch, handle and move them. Students who learn with manipulatives are better able to grasp abstract concepts of math because they make more sense.)
Q. Suffolk can barely compete with other area districts that offer teachers more competitive salaries. Is teacher quality a major concern?
A. Without a doubt, every time I've visited a classroom I've been impressed with the work that the teachers are doing. The sincere and honest love for the children in the classroom. Are we getting quality people? You're damned right we are. And we're getting the best quality that we can.
Q. But does the district need more radicals - teachers or principals who go against the grain and who really try a little more aggressively to shake things up?
A. I wouldn't call them radical and I wouldn't call it going against the grain. What I would say is that we really need imaginative kinds of people. People who are excited to pursue challenges and who are willing to sit back and constantly evaluate what they've been doing, try new things.
Q. Are there too few of those in the district?
A. I really don't think so. I think the people in the Suffolk city school system probably are willing to try almost anything that good professional judgment says is worth trying. And I don't think there's any hesitation to look at new technology, to look at new strategies. I think the math manipulatives are probably an example of our eagerness to look for new techniques and new strategies that come down the pike. It takes time to implement things like that. You don't just go in and start doing new things. We need to purchase those manipulatives. You need to have the textbooks. You need to have the teachers' manuals. You probably have to go out and do some professional development and teach teachers how to use the new stuff coming down. You can set a computer right here on my desk and say, ``OK, buddy, you got the best technology that's available to us at Tidewater Community College.'' But if you don't know how to use it, what's the sense in even having it?
Q. During the past fiscal year, the district set aside about $225,000 to buy 100 computers - 10 for each elementary school - and computer software. Was that a milestone for Suffolk, which has lagged behind other area districts in exposing large numbers of students to classroom technology?
A. I think it was an obvious commitment by the school system to go out and do what we can to improve those technologies. It's a great step in the right direction to get those kinds of things.
Q. But when the district faces so many problems, many of which are socio-economic, are classroom computers really high on the priority list?
A. You've got to keep all those things on the priority list. That's why I say you can't focus in on one thing at the expense of something else . . . So if you had ``X'' number of dollars, are you going to put them in computers or are you going to put them in an alternative education program for students who are having difficulty adjusting to rules and regulations at school? They're both equally important. And you try to give each one their piece of the pie, if you will.
Q. Superintendent Beverly B. Cox III has talked of creating a daytime alternative program at Florence Bowser Elementary once that school closes. Many parents have embraced the idea. Has the nighttime alternative program created a problem all its own because of the hours?
(The program runs from 5 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. It's designed to help troubled students master basic skills and get back on track. Students who do well are allowed to return to their regular schools.)
A. An evening alternative program obviously presents some kinds of difficulties for folks who don't have transportation at night and those who have to make accommodations to take care of the children during the day.
Q. Cox also has talked about placing a police officer or security guard in each of the two high schools to crack down on disruptions and deter violence among students. What does that say about the high schools?
(No city school now has security officers. The district is considering the idea for Lakeland and Nansemond River high schools this fall.)
A. The School Board's responsibility is to provide a safe and secure environment for teachers to teach and children to learn. The greatest majority of the children that go into those school buildings 180 days a year are children that follow and obey the rules and regulations. They conform to the expectations of society and they get along just great, thank you very much. For those students who create disturbances or whatever, what those students are doing is taking away from what everybody else in that building is trying to do . . . So the police would be there to make the faculty and staff feel comfortable when they walk through the door. Are they needed? I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes. On occasion. Are they deterrents? Yeah, I think that's what police officers are for. You feel safer when you walk down the street because you see a police officer standing on the corner or something. They're there if they're needed. Hopefully, they will not be.
Q. So what are the biggest challenges facing the district? What are the priorities?
A. I don't think any one piece of the educational process can be picked out as being any more or less important than the other. You want to focus on the needs of all 9,000 and some kids who walk through the doors. You want to put educational and instructional programs in place that deal with those needs, and we are trying to be all things to all people. I think that's our charge: to offer a free and appropriate education to every child that walks through your door. That's our responsibility.
Q. What can parents expect for the upcoming school year and what will distinguish it from other years, if anything?
A. I'd like to think we're still going uphill. The Suffolk school system is constantly looking for new ways, better ways, different ways to accomplish the challenges that we have in front of us as a school system . . . I sense that we have a school division that is just never going to be satisfied and never going to say, ``Well, that's the best we can do.'' There is always more we can do.
Q. Isn't that what all educators say?
A. Well, sure they do. Hell, we all try to do that, I think. And when you find that you fall short in certain areas, you go back and you say, ``Why was it that we didn't do quite as well as we would have liked to in that particular area?'' and you analyze that thing . . . It's no one little piece. You've got to have the quality people. You've got to have the resources. You've got to have the facilities. You've got to have the equipment. And what's unique about the school system is that you've got to have the children properly motivated. They have got to have an understanding and appreciation for the importance and the significance of the education that they're getting in the Suffolk school system. Where do they get that from? Well, certainly they get it when they walk through those doors; but also in the home and the support network that they have in their community . . . We've got to have the community. We've got to have the home. We've got to have the parents. And we're focusing on all of that. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Forty-nine-year-old Arthur D. Smith is the new chairman of the
Suffolk School Board.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK SCHOOL BOARD INTERVIEW
by CNB