Goshen school to be restructured after not meeting state requirements

GOSHEN — A local school struggling with poor performance will see some major changes. Chandler Elementary School in Goshen hasn't met state requirements for the past five years. The plan includes a major overhaul of staff and revamping the curriculum. There are challenges ahead for the school, but those involved say a better education is not only attainable, it is necessary. "Poor performance" — words Juan Diaz De Leon never expected to hear about his childhood school. "I actually enjoyed going there. There were nice teachers. Some of my best memories from childhood come from Chandler Elementary," said De Leon. Chandler hasn't met Adequate Yearly Progress for the past five years. Indiana Department of Education officials say the school was showing poor performance in their overall population, Hispanic population, free and reduced lunch population, limited English-proficient population and the special education population. "They just had poor performance across their school," says Lee Ann Kwiatkowski with the Indiana Department of Education. According to No Child Left Behind, schools that don't meet AYP for four years must plan to restructure. The state had outlined four options for the school, one included closing the doors altogether. The school district formed a committee to look at all the options. "It really comes down to providing the kids with the best educational opportunity you have," said David Daugherty, Goshen Chamber of Commerce president. Daugherty, who is on the committee, says it wasn't an easy decision. The group came up with a plan that includes 10 components — including changing out 30 percent of the staff. "This is the only one you can realistically do, and in the time period in which you have to do it, and make the impact is should make," Daugherty said. Daugherty says the school has sent out questionnaires to teachers in the district. The forms ask teachers what their strengths are and what school in the district they would be interested in transferring to. The idea is to reassign teachers based on their strengths, and ultimately recruit some high-performing teachers into Chandler. "It is not just replacing staff, though,” said Kwiatkowski. “They are also looking at instructional programs and building some other pieces that high-performing schools have in place.” The plan was approved by the Department of Education on March 7, and it will be fully implemented by the start of the school year. "We have a lot of relatives in this area,” said De Leon. “Some may end up going here. It is good to know they are doing something about it.” The state will be measuring growth and working with the district over the next two years. If nothing changes, the Department of Education will meet with the district and the plan will be adjusted. Kwiatkowski says there are many schools across the state with the same type of student make-up as Chandler Elementary, and many of those schools have received Title 1 Distinguished School status. "Not that there are not challenges, because there are, but it is certainly doable," says Kwiatkowski. The district has outlined the entire restructure plan on their website: www.goshenschools.org