30 students' parents ask about transfers out of Muir academy
The parents of 30 students at John Muir Literacy Academy in Hoffman Estates have asked that their children be transferred to other schools in the district by Oct. 1.
But only two of these students are disabled -- the population group requiring Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 to make the offer at all. And seven students' parents have already changed their mind.
For the first time since the federal No Child Left Behind Act went into effect, the district has been forced to offer students from one school the choice of attending another.
Muir became this school because it failed to meet adequate yearly progress, known as AYP, on reading test scores two years in a row for one of its population groups -- disabled students -- and because it accepts federal Title I money for needy students.
Schools that take Title I money also have to accept penalties for not making AYP. To be taken off the watch list, two years of compliance with standards are required.
Muir is already a school of choice in District 54, offering special emphasis on reading. But most of Muir's students live within its normal attendance boundaries.
District officials learned they'd be required to offer choice at Muir when state report card results were released last month.
Parents of Muir students received letters explaining the situation and giving them until last Friday to file requests.
Though the majority of parents requesting transfers don't have disabled children, district officials don't suspect any misunderstanding of the situation on their part.
Principal Brad Carter began calling parents Monday to get a better understanding of their requests. He found most simply didn't want to pass up an option offered to them without exploring it first.
Seven of the 30 students have already opted to remain at Muir, while the other families are still mulling it over, he said.
"I found that, on the whole, parents just want to make the best choice for their families," Carter said.
The district now has until Oct. 1 to comply with the requests to the best of its ability -- taking into account available space at the requested schools and the ability to bus students to them.
The timing of the scores' release -- right at the start of the school year -- didn't necessarily cause any hardship because only the sixth-day enrollment figures could effectively show which schools still had space, district spokeswoman Terri McHugh said.
Muir failed to meet AYP because less than 55 percent of disabled students passed the reading portion of the standardized test. If even one subgroup -- identifiable by race, gender, income level or special needs -- fails to meet goals for a given year, the entire school is considered to have failed.
Last year, Muir had 571 students, of whom 66 had disabilities. For a subgroup to be recognized, it must have at least 45 students.
A disability, under the No Child Left Behind definition, is one that affects learning or requires an individualized education program.
The minimum percentage of students in each subgroup that must pass goes up annually until it reaches 100. Next year, 62.5 percent of each subgroup must pass.