There was much discussion at the 6/19 school committee meeting about Thomson probably failing the English Language Arts (ELA) for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) [see [url]http://www.doe.mass.edu/sda/ayp/[/url]]

Will parents be notified of this in time to transfer to other schools for Fall 2008?

Dear Potentially Honest,

First, a little clarification is in order.

The School Committee discussion was focused on "if" the Thomson School failed for a second consecutive year to reach Adequate Yearly Progress, not "probably".

The Federal No Child Left Behind Act requires the School Department to offer a choice of two alternative school choices to certain children who meet specific criteria, not to the entire student body, if Thomson fails to attain AYP this year.

I raised two children in the Thomson School, spent nine years there, served four years on the School Council, and was a very active volunteer parent there in several capacities. I believe I have a very good understanding of the education offered at Thomson.

If my own child were still at Thomson and were offered school choice, would I choose to move them? I don't know yet. The school department spent considerable time at their last meeting discussing funding, educational resources, and improvements they will make at Thomson School next year, regardless of whether they make AYP.

Children struggling at Thomson won't necessarily fare better just by moving to a different school. And there's an emotional factor to consider: would a child learn better in a new school environment where they have no familiarity with the building, the staff, or other students? And possibly to a more crowded classroom?

I have seen wonderful work done at the Thomson. I have seen children leave very well prepared and excel at the Middle School because they have a strong desire to learn and are motivated to do the work. My quibble has always been with the administrative leadership at Thomson - a string of ineffectual principals and school superintendents who ignored the needs of Thomson contributed to the lack of direction, lack of staff support, and lack of follow-up on students who needed additional instruction. John McAleer's arrival helped reverse the situation, but his two year tenure hasn't been long enough to fix the years of neglect that preceded him.

I'm hoping the School Department follows through with its promises and devotes the resources they say they will to Thomson. It's high time Thomson students received an equitable education in North Andover.

Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed

Sandy,

When you say "a string of ineffectual principals", which Principals are you talking about, and what do you feel could have been done differently by each of those?

I only ask because I feel that Nancy Jukins, who was the Principal while I was at Thomson, did a phenomenal job.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/nclb/choice.html

Sandy,

The Mass Department of Education site states that ALL children in a failing school (presuming Title I applies) get the option of transferring to another school...



No Child Left Behind

NCLB School Choice

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCL, a school that does not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in English language arts (ELA)/reading or mathematics in the aggregate and/or for student subgroups for two consecutive years is considered to be in its first year of improvement status. While a school receiving federal Title I funds is in improvement status, the district is required to offer all students enrolled in the school the option to transfer to another public school served by the district that has not been identified for school improvement.

In response to two prior postings…

First, I both attended [a portion of] and taped the June 19th School Committee meeting that included the discussion of school choice if Thomson failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for the second year in a row. I went back and watched the tape again tonight. I interpreted the discussion to refer to students who failed the MCAS tests.

Yes, it’s possible that I misunderstood and the law may actually allow the entire student body to evaluate the school choice option – I’ve asked for clarification of this. But in the meantime, I think the reality is that students who are doing well and have been doing well all along would not leave. It’s the families with students who are really struggling that may exercise the option…and it’s a risky option…to leave just when help is arriving may not necessarily be the best option…

In response to Phil’s question, during the nine years my children were students at Thomson, there were three principals and one interim principal: Nancy Jukins, Kathy Kostan, John McAleer and Deb Colura [while Nancy was out on a disability leave]. There were also three Superintendents: Bill Allen, Harry Harutunian, and Dan O’Connor [interim]. There were also two assistant superintendents, whose jobs were curriculum oversight: Ron Binkney and Dick Bergeron.

Nancy was incredibly warm and caring and I think she knew the name of every student in the building. She loved science, loved teaching, and it showed. I will be forever grateful to her, that she took a chance and allowed me to create the Academic Opportunities Program and wholeheartedly supported it.

As an administrator, I think she was hampered by the fact that she was promoted from a teaching position. It’s incredibly difficult to manage the very same employees that you had been friends with for years. Couple that with Superintendents who at best ignored her school’s needs and at worst made decisions that they knew would be detrimental to her school, and you can see that the leadership structure was compromised. Nancy needed help in following through with changes that would make things better, and she didn’t get it.

At one point, while Nancy was out on temporary disability, Deb Collura filled in. Deb later went on to an assistant principal position in a neighboring town. I thought Deb was very good for Thomson…this town never should have let her go…

Kathy Kostan was a joke. Harry ignored the recommendation of the principal search committee and hired his friend’s wife instead. She was wrong from the start. I won’t go into it any further, but if she hadn’t “retired” or “resigned”, there was good reason to fire her.

As for the assistant superintendents, Ron Binkney never came to Thomson, and never adequately responded to parents’ concerns about the inequity and inadequacy of curriculum resources and standards at Thomson compared to the other schools in the district. By the time Harry allowed Dick Bergeron to try to make a difference, Harry was gone and Dick had other issues to deal with.

John McAleer has worked very hard to bring consistency, support, and strong direction to the staff at Thomson. I’m sure they will miss him, but I’m sure that Mr. Gilligan will continue the good work that John started. Rome wasn’t built in a day and it may take a few more years to turn things around at Thomson. I am very optimistic that the tide is turning in a positive direction.

Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed

Sandy,

Your 'a few more years to turn things around at Thomson' is no doubt true. It is also the motivating reason for parents to leave a failing school. One presumes attempts have been already made for years to improve the poor results. Why should attempts begun next year fare any better? Will parents accept 'we really mean it this time'?

I have attached a file that describes NCLB requirements for Public School Choice.

As required by NCLB (see below) will North Andover be able to notify parents of Thomson School children about their options to transfer before the beginning of the 2008/2009 school year?

Shouldn't the town notify the parents now and describe the plan [there already [b]is [/b]a plan I hope] to accommodate requests to move to another school? It will be a huge disservice to 'spring' this on the parents just days before school begins.

=========================================

B-2. When must an LEA make public school choice available to eligible students?

An LEA must make choice available for students not later than the first day of the school year following the school year in which the LEA administered the assessments that resulted in the school being identified as in need of school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring [Section 1116(b)(1)(E)]. If possible, an LEA should notify parents about their available choices well before the beginning of the school year in which those choices will be available.

Dear PHA,

I thought from your initial posting on this topic that you had watched the June 19th School Committee meeting [you did not attend in person]...the questions you are now asking were answered during that meeting, probably as best as the School Committee, Dr. Marini and Dr. Hutchinson were able to at the time.

Dr. Hutchinson said that the School Department wouldn't know if Thomson had made AYP until they received MCAS scores that were [supposedly - but not guaranteed] being sent to the School Dept. before the end of June.

School Committee members expressed concern that there was little time to put a plan in place and notify parents so that they could weigh their options before the start of school.

Parents won't know MCAS scores until October - so they won't officially know if school choice is on the table until the school department informs them that it is.

Dr. Hutchinson indicated that meetings and/or discussions were already underway to determine which schools could best accommodate school choice enrollees, and which grades within those schools could handle increased enrollment.

I share your concern that the urgency and importance of such decisions shouldn't be short-changed. One could argue that as soon as Thomson failed to make the AYP the first year, they could have begun to work on the plan for if they failed again. I believe Dr. Hutchinson, John McAleer, and the rest of the staff and administration have probably been discussing the "what ifs" all along. Concurrently, their effort was concentrated on addressing the teaching and curriculum issues that would improve scores; they focused on prevention.

I believe the School Department intention is to officially notify the Thomson parents in August, if school choice is mandated. The matter is already being reported in the newspapers, and I'm sure the possibility will come as no surprise to Thomson parents. My guess is they're already thinking about it. Is August too late? Parents aren't notified about regular class assignments until August 15th. I am hoping that if school choice is an option, that the information will be released either prior to that date or no later than that date.

Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed

'Planning' is generally understood to be something done in advance of an event. For example, we have a Fire Department that exists in anticipation of a fire. It is the result of a plan and the plan has been executed.

Under NCLB a school that fails AYP two years in a row must inform parents of all students about the option to go to another school before the next school year begins. After Thomson failed the first year, the contingency plan to coordinate sending children to other schools should have been demanded and approved by the School Committee. This is just basic competence. Why do you make excuses for the failure to have a plan? 'The School Committee expressed concern...' and '... they focused on prevention.' is just pablum.

I have not seen the possiblity of Thomson failing AYP this second year and its implications in the newspapers. What newspaper covered it? I certainly want to see how it was presented.

Dear PHA,

Rather than condemn them, I'd like to give Dr. Hutchinson and Dr. Marini a chance to present their plan. Dr. Marini has proven himself as a very capable steward of our schools this year. I think it's premature to criticize them for a "failure to have a plan"; I'm giving them latitude in case it exists but they weren't ready to present it.

There are five School Committee members, seven if you include the two that left in March. I watch or attend all School Committee meetings. You are right - I do not recall this issue being discussed this year. Is your frustration with the administration or the School Committee that did not direct the superintendent to put this issue on the table earlier in the year?

Will you attend the next School Committee meeting to discuss this? Will this be an issue for you during the next election of school committee members?

Since you are not a Thomson parent, and I am no longer a Thomson parent, rather than us continuing this conversation, I'd really like to hear some feedback from the people most affected and see if they share your concerns. If readers are reluctant to weigh in, perhaps I can invite some Thomson parents to visit the site and offer their perspective.

Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed

I received a message from an Eagle Tribune reporter for my comment on the Thomson failing AYP. I didn't call back because I didn't want to comment on something that I don't have all the facts on. Now that I know that the Thomson might fail AYP for the 2nd year, this is really troubling to me. I have 3 children at the Thomson. I'm not pulling out yet. My 3 kids personally had a wonderful year.
They each had really good teachers and had a successful year of learning in my opinion.
My goal now is to know all the facts and I hope I can get them. Maybe someone can help me. I am looking forward to seeing the MCAS scores of my children and the whole school. What about the other schools in town? Where can I see their scores? Will my children be better off in another school in town? Are their scores so much higher?

Being a Thomson parent of two myself (one going into 5th and one going into 2nd) I find myself troubled by this but also willing to give Gregg Gilligan a chance to see how things go. I've seen positive steps taken the last couple of years and I'm hoping that Mr. Gilligan can accelerate things even more.

Thomson, in particular, seems to be hit with many challenges... although I'm not aware of what other schools face so I'm not sure if we are so unique from other schools. It just feels like Thomson has been climbing a higher hill and the results seem to bear that out with having the worst results. So I'm not sure if Thomson has different challenges (facility, curriculum, etc) or different 'effectiveness' relating to the teaching. I can only say that for both of my children for the 4 years we've been there... we've always been extremely happy with the teachers so I lean to the former being the challenge.

That said... going to another school seems to invite many other problems... overcrowding at other schools, the trauma of changing schools for children, logistics (and possible expenses) of getting children to and from the schools, etc. It seems that a better approach is active participation and support of the entire community to identify and fix any problems vs. 'cutting bait'. Thomson has been fairly instable and it needs to be stabilized. The schools system is very integrated and if one school suffers... they all do... or will when the kids get to the Middle and High School.

In short, we will remain at and actively involved in improving Thomson... and the overall North Andover School System in general.

Dear Thomson Parent,

The Massachusetts Department of Education has a wealth of information you can dig into if you have a ton of time, but you may find it easiest to go to this link:
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/home.asp?mode=so&view=tst&mcasyear=2007&ot=5&o=1233&so=1239-6


If you copy and paste this link into your browser, you'll come up with the summary of Thomson 2007 scores. Near the top of the page, on the right, you'll see a pull-down menu where you can look at the other North Andover schools' scores.

Note that these are 2007 scores - 2008 scores aren't available on the website yet. Scores are not released to parents until October of the year in which the tests are taken. The School Department, however, is sent results in an earlier report, expected to arrive this month, in June.

Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed

p.s. You can actually just click on the link in this posting and it will take you directly to the Dept. of Ed. webpage.

Sandy,

The 'chance to present their plan' was the School Committee meeting on June 19. This issue was simply ignored this past year. The 'Dr. Hutchinson indicated that meetings and/or discussions were already underway to determine which schools could best accommodate school choice enrollees, and which grades within those schools could handle increased enrollment.' is CYA.

The problem is not limited to Thomson in that at least two other schools will be designated to accept transfers from Thomson. Will these parents be given the ability to comment on the increasing class sizes forced by the failure at Thomson? August 15 (class assignments sent to parents) is only 6.5 weeks away so it seems unlikely.

The most likely result of the current situation IMHO is that parents will not be notified with any meaningful time to make crucial decisions about transferring their kids and so few will do so. This will make it easier on the school system but is a disservice to the parents.

A 'plan' of such importance should not be cobbled together without community discussion immediately before a known deadline. Why has it come to this?

Do Thomson parents feel they've been adequately informed about A) the issue of failing AYP two years in a row and B.) what the proposed mitigation plan is? Have they been 'notified' by the school administration in any way?

If you have the ear of school committee members NAU supported in the past, how about getting one to respond to this issue in this thread?

Dear Readers,

Dawn Crescitelli asked me to post her comments to the website for her, because her comcast was acting up. Dawn, by the way, is the only person who I have ever heard speak up at a School Committee meeting and ask for explanations as to Thomson's Title I status, it's Title I funding, and what was being done to address the problems. I don't recall that she ever got a satisfactory answer to her questions...

Here's her posting:

My name is Dawn Crescitelli. I am the past pto co-president for the Thomson school for 2 years. Prior to my role as president, I was the VP. I was also deeply involved at the Bradstreet school. I worked with Sandy and the NAU team to promote passage of the over ride. For many years I have been an involved citizen. I regularly attend or watch school committeee and BoS meetings. From time to time, I pop in to FinComm meetings. I try to be educated in the town governement of North Andover because I believe it is my responsibility as a citizen and a parent. Am I surprised that Thomson will likely fail MCAS again? Not at all. For the past 4 years, I have been a very vocal advocate at SC meetings. I warned time and again that Thomson was in rapid downward spiral. I was also the parent that INSISTED that Thomson MCAS issues be placed on the June 19th SC agenda. The story was then picked up by the Eagle Tribune. I felt it was entirely unfair to parents to have only 10 days to make a critical school choice decision for their children. Why will Thomson fail? It is all a direct result of lack of leadership. The chronic changes in Administration, budget cuts, misappriation of Title 1 funds and a school committee that was apathetic to the needs of the Thomson have compounded the problems created by past Supt. Harutunian who used the Thomson school as his dumping station. This past year, I was again vocal at SC meetings to address the enormous class sizes in grade 1. We had only 3 teachers for 97 1st grade students. I was appalled that no one on the SC knew about this situation and that a parent, not the pricipal, was the one to ask for additional staffing. The Thomson failure was preventable. School officials should be ashamed of themselves. As usual the problem will be addressed in reactive manner when all of this could have been prevented.

It certainly seems that Dawn diligently and repeatedly brought this issue to the School Committee.

Why did the School Committee ignore her?

Dawn's description of life at Thomson ('rapid downward spiral...' certainly seems at odds with Sandy's generally positive description ('My quibble has always been with the administrative leadership...'.

(Comment to webmaster: why does this editor insert underscores into the text sometimes?)