Alternative school overhaul
Seatbelts buckled? The pace of reform in the Baltimore school system is getting faster still. Now, on top of decentralizing the way the system is managed and opening six new middle/high schools, Dr. Alonso and his team are going to create 1,200 new alternative school seats by August, including the creation of two new alternative schools. They're also requiring staff to reapply for their jobs at most existing alternative schools. To read more about their plan, see my story in today's paper.
The alternative school presentation was the centerpiece of last night's school board agenda, but it wasn't the only interesting development. Jimmy Gittings, president of the system's administrators union, got into a heated exchange with Alonso over what Gittings called the system's "deplorable" budget. He said he and the union's vice president had surveyed 54 principals and found that most will not have enough money in their individual school budgets to maintain current levels of staffing and extracurricular activities. Many did not feel they had adequate training. Alonso shot back that the schools that have to cut their budgets received disproportionately high levels of funding in the past. Questioning the validity of the union survey, he said the system will gather data by the end of the month showing how many schools did in fact have to cut positions under the new structure, which gives principals autonomy over their budgets instead of the central office. Gittings also threatened to sue Alonso and the school board if they transfer or terminate principals and assistant principals without documentation that their performance needed improvement. Alonso told him to go ahead; it won't stop him from making the decisions he feels are right for the kids.
Also during the public comment portion of the meeting, Shirley Cooper, a mother whose daughter attends Polytechnic Institute, spoke about a fire set at the school last Thursday. Her daughter was one of two students with asthma who were hospitalized. Amid the commotion, another student sprained an arm and another's head was hit. It's not just the "bad" schools that are having problems, Cooper said, questioning whether the incident at Poly had been reported. Alonso assured her that it had.
In spite of the controversy over locating one of the new middle/high schools at the Canton Middle building, Alonso reported that the six new schools have received 1,020 applications in the past week for 900 slots. He also reported that the system has recruited 668 volunteers since he called for 500 people to sign up. "We still want more," he said.
There were several new principal and administrative appointments last night, which I'll list below. In a few cases, principals at schools where the entire staff must reapply for their jobs were rehired.
Principal reappointments at zero-based schools:
James Linde, reappointed principal of Sharp-Leadenhall Elementary
Nancy Faulkner, principal of Harford Heights Primary, appointed principal of Harford Heights Primary/Intermediate
Roxanne Thorn-Lumpkins, reappointed principal of Sinclair Lane Elementary
Principal appointments:
Mark Bongiovanni, assistant principal at Hazelwood Elementary, appointed principal of Dunbar Middle
Eugene Chong Qui, assistant principal at West Baltimore Middle, promoted to principal of the same school
Lamarge Wyatt, area executive assistant, appointed principal of Forest Park High
Jason Hartling, resident principal at Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, appointed principal of Northwestern High
C. Michael Robinson, principal of a school in Greenville, Ga., appointed principal of Coldstream Park Elementary/Middle
Stacy Place, resident principal of William Paca Elementary, promoted to principal of the same school
Michael Frederick, principal of Carver Vocational-Technical High, appointed principal of the Reach! School
Ian Roberts, resident principal of Heritage High, appointed principal of Friendship Academy of Science and Technology (to be located at Canton Middle School)
Joy Savage, assistant principal of Western High, appointed principal of Maritime Industries Academy
Paul Covington, managing assistant principal of New Era Academy, promoted to principal of the same school
Susan Wheeler, science curriculum specialist, appointed principal of Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology
D'Andrea Chapman, resident principal of Mount Washington Elementary, appointed principal of Collington Square Elementary
Central office appointments:
Helen Shelton, principal of North Bend Elementary, appointed academic director of elementary education
James Drummond, area executive assistant, appointed director of elementary operations
Christine Watson, area executive assistant, appointed director of elementary operations
Lisa Tarter reappointed director of career and technology
Donna Stewart, staff associate for drug abuse and violence prevention, appointed director of health and science
Nicole Gavin, coordinator of elementary restructuring, appointed director of literacy
Brenda Kelly reappointed director of early childhood
Debra Barbour, interim director of student learning support, appointed academic director of special education and student learning support
Jay Salkauskas, interim director of special education monitoring and compliance, promoted to the permanent position
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
where is the accountability if the principals remain but teachers have to reapply? in truth, teacher turnover at alternative schools is already often quite high. it is especiall high at some of these failing (and poorly run) alternative schools. does making teachers reapply make a difference if the only constant over a 5 year period is the principal and mismanagment?
Posted by: jim | May 14, 2008 1:00 PM
Forget about the principals and teachers, where's the accountability of the students??? If they have no desire to learn and create a better life for themselves and want to drop out it's their decision. Why waste everyone's time and money when they don't want to be in school to begin with? Not to mention how disruptive they are to the students who actually want to be there. Here's a better idea... open a military-style school and take all the kids on suspension or expulsion and whoop their ass into shape. Drastic times call for drastic measures and it's time everyone stops coddling these "problem" children and gets them in line. Until then, nothing will change.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen | May 14, 2008 1:35 PM
Notice you dont't see Jean Ragin's name in any of this. She is the principal of Reginald F. Lewis, home of the infamous taped teacher assault. She goes around the bldg saying that she knows people. I guess she's right.
Posted by: Reginald Lewis Staff Member | May 14, 2008 2:31 PM
Concerned Citizen:
Your opinion is so misinformed, but, unfortunately, your opinion is shared by many. Spending money is your problem? If that's the case, then good gracious - you should be arguing VOCIFEROUSLY for the education of these children. The average return on investment for students who receive an adequate education - 7 to 1. Criminal justice costs and prison construction/maintenance costs are net negative investments and are a complete drain on public expenditure. If money is really what you care about, you should really re-evaluate your argument. There's plenty of articles and studies that I can paste for you if you're curious about the sheer economics of the allocation of resources. "Concerned Citizen" is an appropriate name, unfortunately, it's the soundness and logic of your argument that concerns me the most.
Consider reading this book - it's quick and easy - "Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun" by Geoffrey Canada. You can preview it here (http://books.google.com/books?id=SNSusKVm38sC&dq=fist+stick+knife+gun&pg=PP1&ots=QGiinzh6Y7&sig=TotP5oiUYhTjX58W8lTgGjHKIDw&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fq%3Dfist%2Bstick%2Bknife%2Bgun%26ie%3Dutf-8%26oe%3Dutf-8%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26client%3Dfirefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPP1,M1) and you can purchase on Amazon for about a dollar. Good luck.
Posted by: Bill | May 14, 2008 4:55 PM
jeez, this dude's real deal. when's somebody gonna chill this whacked out dude.
gotta say, tho, he got a sins of humor. still got me chucklin over rising stars academy. now that's funny. rising stars academy, give up hope all ye who enter here fer sure.
and then all them kids quittin skool to work for they're familess. doin what? sellin drugs? yo right, bro. yo me i'm putting my lil sista thru haaavaard workin mickey d's.
Posted by: winky | May 14, 2008 10:49 PM
I for one believe that we are not moving fast enough for the kids and families of this city. FASTER!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Interesting Observations | May 15, 2008 7:16 AM
Well, I am a parent of 2 kids in the city and an employee of the system, and I am very concerned. It's pretty clear that we're going to see chaos in September. Best take Ms. Neufeld's advice and get that seatbelt buckled. I am not personally worried because my kids are in charters which are pretty much immune to the craziness. But for the principals trying to run the other schools, it is going to be very difficult time. They are going to need all the help they can get from their parents in fighting the czar of North Ave.
Posted by: concerned parent | May 15, 2008 9:20 PM
Concerned Parent:
I am glad you are having a great experience with your kids at a charter school. I agree that some of the traditional principals are going to have a rough time in September but let's be honest here, they already were having a rough time and at least they cannot sit back and blame those at North Ave. It's up to them to step up and show that they are in fact instructional leaders as well as administrators. And in the end all change is hard, but can we, as parents, really afford to slow down the reform effort? Both you and I are parents of "charter school" kids. That's great since these prinicipals are already doing what is going to be expected of principals of more traditional schools. It can be done, but not by everyone. It takes someone special to carry this out. Look at the results from current BCPSS schools (including some of the charters I might add) and we can agree that there isn't much to hold on to when the other option is change.
I think your choice of "czar of North Ave" is interesting since (and here I am assuming you are referring to Dr. Alonso) he is less czar like and more benevolent dictator - I have never been more sure where the power and decisions are coming from and yet he wants people to succeed. And off with their heads if they can't. I LOVE IT!!!
And again I repeat, we cannot go fast enough - the culture of failure is already here. Dr. Alonso is trying to change that. Doing the same thing for even a second more isn't acceptable.
Rock on Dr. A.
Posted by: Interesting Observations | May 16, 2008 12:24 PM
I've got kids in the system and I've a different take on it. If you really do have a good pricipal there will be no reason to fight Alonso (I assume that's who you're refering to as the czar). And if your principal is weak you should be hoping that he does change management, either through training, intimidation or replacement.
Posted by: a different concerned parent | May 16, 2008 12:50 PM
I think they should just put everybody from rising star academy in chinquanpin middle scholl
Posted by: jerome walker | August 26, 2008 12:58 PM