THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408260281
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY DR. RICHARD D. TRUMBLE, SUPERINTENDENT OF PORTSMOUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
AS SUPERINTENDENT OF Portsmouth's public schools, it is my pleasure to address some of the issues confronting our school district.
Declining student enrollment, aging school facilities, school safety, and shrinking local, state and federal revenues are only a few of the issues we are facing in our schools. Yet, Portsmouth is not alone in dealing with these harsh realities. Urban school districts throughout the state of Virginia and the United States are grappling with the same issues. School boards across the country are facing tough challenges and having to make some very tough choices. There are no easy answers.
In Portsmouth, we are particularly concerned about standardized test scores among students, differentials in achievement between black and white students, and failure rates among students taking the Virginia Literacy Passport Test. We are concerned about the diverse needs of our students. We know that students are different and that they need different kinds of help to succeed. We also are concerned about the changing nature of the work force and the skills that our students will need to function beyond high school, and to compete for even the most basic entry-level jobs.
We are addressing these harsh realities in several ways: tougher academic standards, a districtwide strategic plan, a joint services study committee with Norfolk Public Schools, on-going discussions with the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, joint school board and city council meetings, and participation in regional school district task forces.
In many instances, our school system does a fine job of educating most students, while failing to educate others. As a district committed to providing a quality education for all students, we must provide programs that meet the specific needs of our students and the communities we serve. We are addressing many of these concerns by raising our expectations of students and staff, and by raising academic standards throughout the school district.
At the elementary level, for example, several schools offer continuous progress programs. These programs are designed to let students proceed at their own pace. Students who need more time in their grade level can receive the extra help and attention they need, while others who require less time can move forward. The Chapter I Extended Day program provides opportunities for elementary students to receive extra help in learning the basics.
We appreciate preschool education for those children who are not old enough to attend school in our district. We want to make sure that children are ready to learn when they reach our school doors. The 4-A-Good Start and Even Start programs help preschool children get ready for kindergarten. The Even Start program not only provides appropriate education for four-year-olds, but it also requires parents to attend school.
The Portsmouth School Board has approved community attendance zones with an open enrollment option for elementary students. By educating children closer to home, we hope to build parent and community networks that provide the extra support students need in order to do well in school. Open enrollment will provide parents with the opportunity to select any elementary school in the city, if there is space available. We will provide the transportation to get students to the schools of their choice. Community attendance zones and the open enrollment option will be implemented in the 1995-96 school year.
We're raising academic standards at the middle school level by developing tougher courses and accelerated programs for those students who fall behind. We're assigning more homework to reinforce lessons learned in the classrooms. We're offering computer labs at the middle school as another means of helping students get the individual attention they need.
At the high school level, we're eliminating the easy classes. Instead, we're focusing on advanced placement courses, honors programs, dual enrollment programs with neighboring colleges, school-to-work programs and other opportunities that will better prepare students for life beyond high school.
School improvement teams play a tremendous role in raising the academic standards of our district. By using effective schools research and studying data on small groups of students, they identify individual student needs and establish school improvement goals at the building-level.
Continuous Improvement is a way of life in Portsmouth Public Schools. More than 500 school district administrators, employees and community members have received quality management training. Our commitment to quality is evidenced by the fact that this is the third consecutive year that Portsmouth Public Schools has been selected as a finalist for the U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award.
We know that continuous improvement requires continuous change. In a constantly changing world where 75 percent of today's information did not exist 20 years ago, where information doubles every 19 months, where 50 percent of what we learn today will be unusable in 10 years and where 90 percent of today's kindergartners will work at jobs that do not exist today, our rate of improvement must be equal to the reality of an ever-changing world. Incremental improvements will leave our students inadequately prepared.
Decreasing revenues coupled with increasing demands for improved services to students keep us thinking about how we operate in Portsmouth Public Schools. Last year, school district representatives and community members joined forces in developing a long-range plan for our schools. The strategic plan is important because it defines the purpose and priorities of the school district. It also serves as the impetus for future decision-making in our district.
The strategic plan identifies eight objectives relating to differences in student achievement, standardized test scores, a job evaluation system for all school district employees, the evaluation of instructional programs, and public relations. School-community action teams are currently working to develop strategies for implementing the strategic plan.
We are responding to the challenges of limited resources by considering the use of private companies and teaming up with other school districts and regional organizations to examine opportunities for sharing or consolidating services. Most recently, representatives from the Portsmouth and Norfolk school districts began working on a joint services study committee. The purpose of the committee is to identify areas where the two school districts can share services, purchase common services or consolidate services. The Portsmouth representatives also are tasked with examining administrative services internally and making recommendations for better utilization of staff.
In addition to the Portsmouth-Norfolk partnership, we are participating in several regional efforts to share or purchase common services. Representatives from our school district are meeting with colleagues from the neighboring school districts to determine the feasibility of purchasing services as a group. If, for example, school districts can purchase health and other insurances as a group, this could perhaps reduce the amount of individual premiums paid by each district. Throughout the past school year, we have had similar discussions with the regional Chamber of Commerce.
Consolidated school board and city services, including computer services, the print shop and lawn mowing, also have served as cost containers for addressing limited resources. These considerations have led us to reduce the amount of money we spend on building maintenance and custodial services, and to spend that money instead on more teachers to reduce class size and more instructional materials for teachers to use.
As vacancies occur in our school district, some positions will not be filled; others will be filled using existing staff.
Our commitment to the students, parents and citizens of Portsmouth demands that we are open, responsive and accountable. We welcome your participation in your school district. Your continued support and commitment are essential to our ability to improve the quality of education for all students. MEMO: Related stories on pages 11 and 12.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by L. TODD SPENCER
Richard Trumble, superintendent of public schools, and School Board
chairman J. Thomas Benn III, standing, outline their goals.
Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Among the issues Richard Trumble is tackling are tougher academic
standards and a districtwide strategic plan.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS by CNB