Split over St. Charles D303 grade level centers
St. Charles Unit District 303 school board members provided their first public thoughts about a plan to turn Davis and Richmond Elementary schools into grade level centers Monday night. Meanwhile, the community continues to be split in its reaction to the idea.
District administrators engaged the school board and an audience of more than 350 community members about the plan for about four hours. The forces driving the plan, as expressed by the district staff, didn't change.
Richmond has too few students and too many teachers, and rather than close the school district, the district wishes to pair it with Davis to pilot a new approach to learning.
Richmond was one of the first schools in the district to fail under the terms of No Child Left Behind legislation. The failure tag triggered an exodus of 117 students since the 2009-10 school year. The school now has the largest concentration of Hispanic and low-income students in the district.
Administrators want to dilute that concentration to make the building reflect more of the district as a whole. The carrot in the plan is a school day that would be 40 minutes longer and the inclusion of more technology, such as iPads, to boost learning.
A particular emphasis would be placed on foreign language and science. The rest of the curriculum would match what is already offered throughout the district.
“The more students are being instructed, the more information they receive, the more time they have to practice with the materials and curriculum,” said Becky McCabe, area assistant superintendent for K-5 education. “They will learn more.”
The plan also costs more, at least initially. The district estimates a one-time cost of $335,500 for technology investments and training. That cost is offset by the elimination of four full-time positions — a value of $300,800 a year.
There also would be a new $35 annual fee for the computers. However, some of the annual savings is eaten up by a new $24,000 annual cost of providing shuttles between the two schools.
School board members asked repeated questions showing some concerns over too much reliance on the sparkle and inclusion of technology into the curriculum. Technology also has a short life span with a large potential cost related to working out the bugs, board member Jim Chimienti said.
“My fear is we become a taxpayer-funded Geek Squad,” Chimienti said.
Others, like board President Scott Nowling, weren't totally sold on the idea that the plan is the best financial move for the district.
“It comes out to $135 a head in savings,” Nowling said. “In and of itself, even if we were to say there are merits on another basis, but just on a cost basis, I don't know that's enough to go and do this.”
New details revealed in the plan included:
Ÿ Only students in grades three through five would be allowed to opt out and into another school.
Ÿ Students wishing to opt in to the grade level centers will be allowed to do so as room allows.
Ÿ The school day would most likely run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Ÿ The names of the schools would not change.
Parents still remained divided on the plan. During public comment, a pattern emerged where parents of Davis students generally spoke against the plan while Richmond parents supported the plan.
Jeanette Turley is a member of the “D303 Parents in Support of Change” Facebook group. She summarized the support for the plan by saying innovation in education is both welcome and long overdue.
“When and if this proposal is brought to be it will bring about an energy and passion for learning,” Turley said. “All students have something to gain from this proposal.”
Davis parents urged slow consideration of the proposal and fear of being guinea pigs for a new approach to learning in the district. Those thoughts will continue to be a theme at a special community meeting on the plan set for March 7. The entire meeting will be devoted to public comment.