Three South Bend schools at risk of state takeover

INDIANAPOLIS -- State education officials say they will intervene at three South Bend high schools if local leaders don't agree on a strategy to improve academic performance. Bendix School, Riley High School and Washington High School are among 23 schools the Indiana Department of Education has placed on academic probation each of the past four years because of failures to show improvements on the state's standardized ISTEP test. Schools that remain on probation for six straight years are subject to state intervention, including the possible assignment of a management team to operate all or part of a school, according to the state's Public Law 221. That means the South Bend Community School Corp., and the other nine school corporations in this situation, have until May 2011 to forge a plan to turn things around, said Jeff Zaring, chief of results and reform for the department. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is in the process of meeting with leaders of the 10 school corporations that operate those 23 schools. Meetings will continue through March 19, the DOE reported. Bennett and other state officials met with South Bend schools staff and three School Board members Monday at the school corporation's downtown office. "We really want them to do something," said Zaring, who is one of the state officials that attended the meeting Monday. "We want them to feel the urgency and the need to do that. We can help them." About 57 percent of Riley's 10th-grade students and 43 percent of Washington's 10th-graders passed the math and English sections of the ISTEP during the 2008-09 school year, according to the DOE. At Bendix, an alternative school, about 14 percent of 10th-graders passed both sections during the 2007-08 school year -- the most recent year reported on the DOE's Web site. The state hired a consulting firm last year to evaluate the 23 schools and develop a list of recommendations to improve them. All the schools received the same checklist of 28 recommendations, with each item classified as "must do" or "may do." On South Bend's list, 20 of the items are listed as "must do" and eight are in the "may do" category. That list of "must do" items includes working with the DOE to select a consulting group to support academic improvement, replace a school principal if he or she is identified as performing below expectations, and ensure a school is not required to employ a teacher without the principal's consent, regardless of that teacher's seniority. It also recommends revamping the processes of teacher evaluations and enhancing incentives and opportunities for professional development to recruit and retain staff. Zaring said schools' final plans will not necessarily include all the items on the checklist. He said school leaders and state officials will work together on developing a plan of action, and school leaders will be able to explain why the state's recommendations may or may not work in a specific school. "There will be a dialogue that will go back and forth," Zaring said. "We'll be expecting the school corporation to come up with its own work plan, and then we'll talk about a memorandum of agreement." Zaring said schools have been "pretty receptive" to the process so far. "We've had some good discussions," he said. "We'll see what happens in the next few weeks as we move toward memoranda of agreement." South Bend Superintendent James Kapsa said local officials need more explanation of the 28-item checklist the state issued this week. "Frankly, it has created a lot of questions that we have in regard to what their recommendations are," Kapsa said. "We are in the process of deciphering all the mandates or suggestions they have given us." Kapsa said the action so far does not amount to a state takeover of Bendix, Riley and Washington, but it could lead to that if the three schools don't show marked improvement. "We don't want that to happen," Kapsa said. "Right now it is not (a state takeover), and we don't want it to be." Every person interviewed for this article said the process is not about punishing schools. Schools will not lose funding as a result of probation, said Bennett's spokeswoman, Lauren Auld. Zaring said some of the schools will qualify for federal grants to implement their turnaround plans. "It's not to blame one person or another. It's to drill down and fix the problems," said Jo Blacketor, a South Bend resident who serves on the state Board of Education. "You can't fix a problem until you address it." Principals at Riley and Washington did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday afternoon. Bendix Principal Carol Dennis said the schools are just working on ways to improve learning. "All of us have the same goal in mind," she said, "which is what we can do to best serve these students." Staff writer Joe Dits contributed to this report. Staff writer Kevin Allen: kallen@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6244