Special attention for specialized schools

After a November audit labeled Elgin Area School District U-46's high school academies understaffed and underfunded, district administrators Monday fired back -- presenting the school board with an improvement plan for the specialized schools-within-schools.

In response to auditor Lorraine Plum's charge that strict staffing guidelines have prompted academies to accept unqualified students in order to reach target class sizes, an analysis of placement procedures will be conducted by March, said gifted education coordinator Kathleen Hughes.

"Improved recruitment and placement procedures should be implemented by August of the next school year," Hughes said.

While Plum commended the district for maintaining the academies in the face of drastic budget cuts, she noted the district should now look to rejuvenate the program, since U-46 now is on firmer financial footing. Funding for each of the individual academy programs will be re-analyzed, and a multiyear budget will be developed, Hughes said.

The district's six academy offerings are Bartlett High School's Science, Engineering and High Technology Academy; Elgin High School's Gifted and Talented Academy; Larkin High School's Visual and Performing Arts Academy; Streamwood High School's World Languages and International Studies Academy; and South Elgin High School's new Broadcast Education and Communication Networks Academy, to open in August.

An umbrella committee for the five academies will provide recommendations for improving academy alignment and program goals by mid-February, Hughes said. Parents and school board members had mixed responses to the administration's lengthy but vague plan of attack.

Board member Amy Kerber questioned timeline projections. "It seems like a lot to be accomplished in such a short period of time," she said.

Ellen Bachman, a U-46 parent and librarian at Willard Elementary, said the district's academy program "has not recovered from the deep bleeding of 2003-04," when the district amassed a $40 million debt.

"There's more we can and should be doing," she said.

Regarding the short time period for much of the action plan to be implemented, interim Superintendent Mary Jayne Broncato advised board members not to panic. Broncato promised the board regular updates on the academies progress.

"It's not like we're starting from scratch," she said. "We're (just) tightening up."