Yesterday Santa Cruz.com reported that school administrators were anxiously awaiting “The List” of “persistently low-achieving schools” across the state. The list is out, pending final approval by the California Department of Education, and the Bay Area did not do so well. About 20 schools, three of them in Santa Cruz County, found themselves on the List.
Santa Cruz.com reported that school administrators were anxiously awaiting “The List” of “persistently low-achieving schools” across the state. The list is out, pending final approval by the California Department of Education, and the Bay Area did not do so well. About 20 schools, three of them in Santa Cruz County, found themselves on the List. Under state and federal law, each of them will now have to take drastic, almost draconian, measures to improve. Some will end up firing their principals and at least half of their teaching staff. Others may be converted into charter schools, while still other will end up closing their doors for good. Once these measures are taken, however, the schools will be eligible to apply for federal school improvement grants ranging from $50,000 to $2 million for the coming academic year.
The three schools in Santa Cruz County were Calabasas Elementary, Hall District Elementary, and T. S. MacQuiddy Elementary, all of them in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. Their ranking identifies them as “the lowest achieving 5 percent of all Tier I schools.” Superintendent Dorma Baker said that closing these schools is not an option simply because the district does not have enough classrooms as is. She added that it will be equally difficult to fire teachers because of the state’s education code and various union contracts. Instead she suggests adding full day kindergarten or extending the school day. She did not say where the district will get the money to do this, especially after it has cut $22 million from its budget over the past two years.
Note that the List will be updated today, though no change is expected for the local schools listed. Read more at NBC Bay Area and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
