THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 1, 1996 TAG: 9602280155
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Following are some of the issues discussed at the School Board's Feb. 23-24 retreat in downtown Portsmouth: New program: Members briefed on Equity 2000
School Board members were briefed on the Equity 2000 program, which board members and Superintendent Richard D. Trumble said they would like to launch in all four middle schools next school year.
The 6-year-old program is sponsored by the College Board.
It's set up to better prepare minority students for success in the workplace and higher education - primarily by retraining their teachers and creating more academic enrichment activities, such as ``Saturday Academies'' for extended learning.
In the six ``national demonstration sites'' that have adopted the program, students are expected to complete algebra by the ninth grade and geometry by the 10th grade.
Teachers, counselors and principals also get intensive training.
A key aim is to expose more kids - especially the disadvantaged - to a rigorous, academic education.
The national sites include the Prince George's County, Md., district, which is near Washington, D.C.
The results could have ripple effects, eventually showing up in everything from higher SAT scores to better-prepared vocational students, board members said.
Equity 2000 could cost the district up to about $73,000 next school year. The College Board, which also sponsors the Scholastic Assessment Test, would contribute about $191,000, for a total cost of nearly $265,000.
The board told Trumble to earmark the local share in his proposed 1996-97 budget. Open enrollment: Cost of transportation weighed
The board, concerned about the potential growth of elementary school busing under the ``open enrollment'' plan, asked the administration to find out how many elementary students are currently enrolled in out-of-zone community schools they did not attend in the 1994-95 year.
The open enrollment plan for elementary students allows them to attend a school other than the assigned community school or the school they attended last school year - when space is available.
The district now provides transportation to elementary students who pick the third option.
But that may soon end because the board fears further increases in transportation costs.
More than 1,600 students are now bused to school under the open enrollment plan.
When the board approved the plan in 1994, it said the district would bus elementary kids who lived beyond the designated walking distance to their assigned community school.
It also said the district would transport ``grandfathered'' students who wanted to remain at the school they attended in the 1994-95 year instead of enrolling in their new, ``community'' school in 1995-96.
But the board never explicitly said the district would not offer transportation to elementary students who chose what board members call ``school C'' - a school they didn't attend last year and one that is not the assigned community school.
So, beginning this school year, the district also bused those kids to school - if they needed transportation. On Saturday, board members said the district might cut costs by eliminating transportation for such students.
Trumble said the administration would dissect the open enrollment numbers and report to the board at a later time.
Parents would be notified of any approved changes, he said.
The administration doesn't know how much would be saved by eliminating transportation for elementary students who pick the third option, Trumble said. But those numbers also will be researched, he said. by CNB