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Stephens no fan of 'No Child Left Behind' law Gerald Stephens, superintendent of the Clarke County School System, again criticized the federal "No Child Left Behind" act of 2001 after Jackson Intermediate School and Gillmore Elementary School were recently placed on "School Improvement, Year Two" status. Stephens made his comments at the Aug. 9 meeting of the county school board. "We have programs that are not funded yet," he said, "and we try to deal with that. When people see the test scores (for the two Jackson schools)…it's unfair." Stephens encouraged parents to come to the schools and see the quality of the education there. "To be punished and think you are in a school that is not performing because you had handicapped children that didn't meet the goals - it gives people a bad view of the school when they're not bad," he said. "These are good schools." The two schools were placed under "School Improvement" chiefly due to the performance of special education students in math and reading. "When you have your special education children included in a regular classroom, it's unfair to the special ed child," Stephens said. The federal law has a goal that all children will be proficient in reading and math by 2014. "He (the special ed child) can't be as successful as we say he'll be by 2014." The standards of "No Child Left Behind" can't be met. "It's practically impossible," he said. "…What we are doing is making the situation worst. The handicapped child is expected to do so much, and he can't do it. He becomes frustrated. He drops out, and then they hold the student dropping out against us on our accountability report card. "…All children can succeed, but not at the same level." Stephens said he continues to ask representatives in Congress for help with these federal requirements. "Every time we talk to one, they say they are going to help us." The "No Child Left Behind" law must be reauthorized this year. Julia Ann Deas, testing coordinator, said the state is developing a new test for severe needs students, but that will not be available for a few years. In other action from the school board meeting, the first of two public hearings on the fiscal 2008 budget was held. According to information provided by Carmen Rotch, chief school financial officer, the school system is predicted to have federal funding in the amount of $16,972,790.00 and local funding totaling $2,159,320.00. (The prediction of local funding assumes the school system will receive property tax revenues from the Boise Cascade paper mill in Jackson. Boise is contesting the assessment of portions of the mill. The entire county tax bill, over $1 million remains unpaid until the taxes in question are resolved. If not resolved, Rotch said the system would have to fall back on its reserve. If the problem with Boise continues past this year, the system could have a funding problem, she said.) There were 3,410.40 students in the system after the first 40 days of the 2006-2007 school year. The county system lost funding due to a decrease of 99.85 students from the 2005-2006 year, she said. The state no longer allows pre-school students to be counted (a total of 60 last year), and this added to the severity of the student decrease. Stephens reported Aug. 9, the first day of school, that the system had 3,474 students so far this school year, and he was looking for more to come. There will be approximately 475.37 total employees in the system. Due to the loss of students, there is a loss of teachers overall from 231.92 to 223.86. "That was quite a drop for us," she said. Jackson High School is predicted to have the most students with 583.05, and Coffeeville High School with the smallest, 218.70. The second public hearing on the budget will be held at 4 p.m. on Aug. 30, where the budget will be adopted. • Stephens reported that he had received a $15,000 grant from State Senator Hank Sanders on Aug. 8. The money will go to help pay for band uniforms for Clarke County High School and 50 school desks. • The following resignations were accepted by the board: Linda Oliver, Maid at Grove Hill Elementary; Onette Drinkard, Child Nutrition Program Assistant at Wilson Hall; Tammy Maness, Nurse at Coffeeville High School; and Janger Sullivan, Instructional Assistant at Jackson Middle School. The following persons were hired: Helen Sheffield, Library Instructional Assistant at Jackson Intermediate; and Jeanne Powell, County School Health Coordinator.
Correction: the graduation rate of Coffeeville High School was incorrect in an article on school improvement in the Aug. 9 issue. The rate was 73 percent, not 75 percent. The goal is 90 percent.
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