Only eight plan to leave Muir school

Just last month, the parents of about 30 students gave notice they planned to pull their children out of Hoffman Estates' John Muir Literacy Academy.

But by Monday's deadline, transfer requests were in place for only eight.

Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 was required to offer Muir students the choice of attending other district schools after Muir failed to meet so-called adequate yearly progress on special education students' reading test scores for two years in a row.

Having to offer students the choice to transfer is one of the penalties of the No Child Left Behind Act for schools that accept federal Title I money for needy students.

Though the Muir student body as a whole met progress benchmarks, only the special education subgroup fell short. But under the federal law, any failing subgroup results in penalties applied to the whole school.

Of the eight students transferring to either Dooley School in Schaumburg or Einstein School in Hanover Park, only one is in special education, Muir Principal Brad Carter said.

Carter, who spoke to parents who'd expressed an initial interest in leaving, said most merely wanted to explore their options but ultimately decided they were best served at Muir.

"It's kind of nice for this to be over," Carter said.

The school is working on ways to improve its curriculum and get off the No Child Left Behind watch list as soon as possible, Carter said.

Two years of compliance with standards are required.

The school already has implemented a new program offering 90 minutes of language arts time, an after-school homework help program and twice-weekly visits with volunteer tutors from the Schaumburg-Hoffman Rotary Club.

When students transfer schools under No Child Left Behind, they're free to continue at that school even if their original school is taken off the watch list.

A school district is not required to bus students to a different school if their original school comes off the watch list but could opt to continue offering busing, District 54 spokeswoman Terri McHugh said.

Last year, less than the required 55 percent of Muir special education students passed the reading exam.

The minimum percentage of students that must pass in each subgroup goes up annually until it reaches 100.