School Board Hears Comments on GSA

by Leslie Lytle,  Messenger Staff Writer

Visitors packed the 500-seat auditorium to near capacity at the Feb. 8 Franklin County Board of Education meeting at Franklin County High School. The meeting was moved from its normal location to accommodate the large crowd. The recently formed Gay-Straight Alliance club at FCHS has attracted national attention and locally provoked an outpouring of both support and criticism. Following publication of the agenda last week, the board agreed to an eleventh-hour agenda change, giving four community members permission to comment publicly on the GSA.

“This is a school board meeting, and no disruption will be tolerated,” insisted Kevin Caroland, board chair, after some audience members loudly recited the Lord’s Prayer during the moment of silence at the start of the meeting. Caroland then continued with the agenda, which allotted five minutes to each speaker. 

Chris Ball of Belvidere began by asking “the forgiveness of God, the board, the faculty and the children of the Franklin County Schools for never giving the safety of students a thought.” “I don’t think clubs that promote a viewpoint should be here,” he said, “even Christian clubs. But the GSA started because a few students didn’t feel safe. I urge all of you to stop preaching hate and urge the school to implement the zero tolerance policy for bullies that’s already in place.”

Robert Weidlich, father of four with two students at FCHS, challenged Director of Schools Amie Lonas for saying the Supreme Court had already ruled on the legality of the club. Weidlich also challenged the authority of the 1984 Equal Access Act to withdraw federal funding from Franklin County Schools if the club was banned. “I’m not going to stand for my kids being subjected to homosexuality in public school,” Weidlich said in closing.

“The GSA is not a gay club. I’m a heterosexual,” said 14-year-old Kevin Hambrick, a FCHS freshman who joined the GSA at the first meeting on Jan. 19. Hambrick apologized to “Christians and GSA members for the misconduct they’ve received.” “The reason we have a club is to end demeaning treatment and dehumanization of the LGBT community. You can tear our signs down, you can tear the tears out of our eyes. I fought to be here. We need this club.”

Attorney Peter Trenchi of Sewanee, who works regularly with youth groups and children, spoke about the importance of peer contact and counseling for youth who lead challenged lives. “School may be their only safe place. This is where children learn appropriate interactions.” Citing the Bible, Trenchi said, “Love overcomes fear.”

The board reviewed the application and criterion for school clubs drafted by school administrators.

School board representative Adam Tucker from Sewanee suggested the provision prohibiting “conflict of interest with other clubs,” should be clarified to refer to “conflict of interest about use of facilities.”

Caroland said when clubs were allowed to meet needed to be clearly defined.

The board also discussed whether clubs should be required to take minutes.

School administrators will be advised of the board’s recommendations, but approving clubs and setting criterion for their establishment will remain the prerogative of the schools.

“School principals approve clubs,” Caroland stressed, citing board policy. “The school board is not involved in the process.”

“I’m pleased the club will continue,” said GSA faculty advisor Jennie Turrell, who lives in Sewanee and teaches art at FCHS. “There were concerns,” Turrell said. “Look at all the people here. Now we can begin the good work.”

In her director’s report, Lonas said Governor Haslam has recommended increased educational funding for teachers’ salaries ($100 million), health insurance ($30 million) and technology ($15–$30 million).

Discussing testing, Lonas said she had just learned earlier that day the state online testing system had experienced technical failures, and all testing would be done by pencil and paper.

Lonas said the state recently offered schools the option of using a paper-and-pencil testing format instead of an online format, and the Franklin County school principals chose to stay with the online system.

“Teachers have worked very hard to prepare students,” Lonas said. “They’ve been doing all their practice online.”

The board approved several personnel-related policy revisions. Most involved rewording for clarification purposes. There were three substantive changes.

The 30-hour orientation program requirement for new teachers was dropped. “The requirement was excessive,” Lonas said. “We’d prefer teachers spend their time in the classroom.”

The revised substitute worker policy provides for hiring substitutes when non-teaching staff are needed for enrichment and remediation practices. The revised substitute teacher policy clarified reemployment and termination procedures for substitute teachers.

The school board will meet for a working session on March 7. The next board meeting is scheduled for March 14 at South Middle School.

School Board Considers Technology to Detect Sexual Predators

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the Nov. 2 working session, the Franklin County Board of Education considered installing Raptor visitor management software designed to detect sexual predators at two county schools on a pilot basis.

Director of Schools Amie Lonas and Brian Norwood recently met with Raptor representatives. Norwood is assisting Transportation and Safety Director Ellis Counts, who will retire Jan. 1.

“The school resource officers (SROs) brought the technology to our attention,” Norwood said. He provided the board with an overview of the program.

At all county schools presently, to-be visitors must request admittance via an electronic notification device before the office will unlock the doors. With the Raptor technology, visitors would be required to scan their photo ID at a kiosk located immediately inside the entrance. The software then searches more than 700 websites for sexual predator information. If the software shows no matches, the system prints a visitor’s badge with a photo ID and information on the visitor’s intended destination within the school.

In the case of an alert, the system summons an SRO and informs the visitor an error code registered, requiring the visitor to go to the office. The SRO will then take action as necessary.

The software can generate detailed reports and databases on visitor activity; automatically notify other schools in the system of suspicious activity, such as a vehicle cruising the parking lot; send a call for police with a single emergency button; and be input with checkout data for children indicating which adults have permission to pick them up. Add-ons to the basic system allow for background checks and volunteer tracking. The basic system costs $1,600 for each school and an additional $480 annually per school after the first year.

Lonas asked the board to consider installing the basic software on a pilot basis at Franklin County High School (FCHS) and Clark Memorial 

Elementary, the largest high school and largest elementary school in the district. FCHS has two entrances, making the total cost for the pilot installations at both schools $3,970.

Lonas stressed the school system was “not interested in policing” or gathering other information about visitors beyond the sexual predator criterion.

Norwood said many other schools in the region use the software, including Lawrence, Maury, Rutherford and Williamson counties. In the first two weeks of use, Maury County identified a to-be visitor as a sexual predator.

The board expressed strong interest in the program and asked for more feedback from area schools using the software.

In other business Lonas summarized data from the Tennessee State Report Card, which provides academic performance and progress indicators comparing Franklin County schools to other schools in the state. She said it would be difficult to measure the effectiveness of any instructional changes made in response to this year’s report card, because next year’s report card would use a different assessment mechanism based on the Common Core curriculum.

In response to a request from Lonas, Sewanee school board representative Adam Tucker proposed revisions to the Student Transportation Management policy. If adopted, the revised policy would establish criteria requiring a bus driver involved in an accident to be tested for drug and alcohol use and to refrain from driving until test results were received. If test results are negative, the driver would be paid for the days off work. In addition, bus drivers not requiring testing under the criteria could request to be tested. The board will vote on the revised policy at the Nov. 9 meeting.

Lonas announced negotiations had resumed with the buyer who earlier expressed interest in purchasing the Oak Grove School property. The buyer made a $5,000 earnest payment.

The board will meet again on Nov. 9 at the Huntland School cafeteria.

Director of Schools Concerned about TCAP Testing Procedures

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

The testing procedure for the new Common Core curriculum is “technology heavy,” said Director of Schools Amy Lonas at the July 6 working session of the Franklin County School Board. Lonas, who began as the director on June 15, was discussing the challenges that the new assessment standard would pose. She also provided an overview of TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) results for the 2014–15 school year.

Under the Common Core assessment standard scheduled to begin with the 2015–16 school year, all testing to measure student achievement will be done on a computer. Lonas said the school system has enough computers to conduct the testing, but she expressed concern there were not enough computers to allow for sufficient “practice.” Schools would need to adjust computer lab scheduling to provide students with practice time, she said.

“Third-graders must be able to type” to take the test, Lonas said, pointing to an additional challenge.

Reviewing statewide TCAP results, Lonas said there were positive gains in math and science at all grade levels, gains in English at the high school level, and gains in language arts for grades seven and eight, but grades three through six showed a decline in language arts skills. Data for individual school systems was still embargoed, Lonas said, but performance in the Franklin County Schools usually followed state trends. Local school system data will be released the week of July 27.

The board reviewed several policy changes proposed by the Tennessee School Boards Association: changing the date of notification for teachers who would not be rehired from June 15 to five days after the last instructional day; providing for reassignment of a student abused by another student; and allowing students suffering from pancreatic insufficiency and cystic fibrosis to self-medicate. These proposed policy changes were added to the consent agenda for approval at the July 13 meeting. Also added to the consent agenda was a revised “use of facilities” form requiring non-school leagues that use the football field on Dinah Shore Boulevard to pay $50 per day.

The board revisited the revised corporal punishment policy scheduled for a second-reading vote at the July 13 meeting. The policy states disciplinary records must contain information on “the type of corporal punishment” used. 

Board member Adam Tucker, who drafted the revised policy, said the original policy contained the same requirement. Tucker suggested school principals be contacted to find out how they had been documenting instances of corporal punishment. The board discussed omitting the reference if there was no legal reason to include it.

Board Chair Kevin Caroland noted that the system was spending “thousands of dollars a year” because of late fee assessments on utility bills. Franklin County Deputy Finance Director Cynthia Latham said frequently the bills were not received until the due date. The board will discuss the issue with Winchester Utilities, in hope of finding a solution.

Lonas announced that interviews would be conducted this week for the position of principal at Sewanee Elementary School (SES). The Sewanee Leadership Team will participate in the interview process. The team consists of SES teachers Rebecca Bentancourt (kindergarten), Katherine Bruce (librarian) and Kim Foster (fifth grade). The team was assembled at the suggestion of retired SES Principal Mike Maxon.

SES Teachers & Parents Meet with Tucker • Many Concerned that Testing Has Gone Too Far

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

“I’m feeling mandated to death,” said Rachel Reavis, a fourth-grade teacher at Sewanee Elementary School. During a Dec. 2 forum with Adam Tucker, Franklin County Board of Education District 5 representative, Reavis said it is a juggling act for teachers to give students a well-rounded education and meet the overwhelming testing requirements. About 30 attended the event, hosted  at the school by the SES Parent-Teacher Organization. The topic of greatest concern was the amount of mandated testing. 

Parent Janna McClain, a former academic interventionist in Murfreesboro, said her son will take nine mandated tests this year in pre-K. “Who thought that was a good idea? As a parent it would be helpful to know what it is our teachers are being forced to do,” McClain said. “I think the rationale is to prepare for these tests that are connected to dollars, so we have to do more and more tests,” she added. “I understand mandated testing, but I don’t want my child tested nonstop.”

Tucker, who lives in Sewanee and was elected to the school board in August, is an attorney for the city of Murfreesboro. Tucker said he welcomes ideas from the public and wants to see what can be done at a local level to reduce excessive or unnecessary testing. Reavis noted that even as a teacher it is difficult to understand what political body is requiring what testing program. 

Some of the tests are mandated by the local school district as part of reading and math programs, while other tests are state-mandated but co-opted by the federal government to determine allocation of funding and judge performance levels of schools, teachers and students, Tucker said.

“The pendulum has swung to excessive testing,” said SES principal Mike Maxon. “There needs to be a balance.” Certain programs that involve mandated testing also require additional interventions in specific areas, which can be detrimental because it draws students away from other core subjects and creative learning.

“With many of these kids the way to reach them is through art, through something that is the nontraditional classroom and [you can’t reach them if] you’re pulling them from that class,” Tucker said.

Not only are students pulled away for interventions, but teachers are spread thin, as well. The need for education interventionists at SES was a popular sentiment for many in attendance. 

“If this is the future of education with federal and state mandates, we’re going to need reading specialists, math specialists, interventionists, not calling on the music teacher, the art teacher, the guidance counselor to be offering these interventions,” Maxon noted. “You only have so many hours in the day.”

Erin Cassell, vice president of the Sewanee Elementary PTO, has four children in school and said over-testing impacts their self-esteem. It “makes some of my children feel less than others,” Cassell said. “That’s an issue for me, because they’re not less, they’re just different and have different strengths and weaknesses. Their value as a student is tied to a number on a test, and that’s not true.”

Tucker said there is valuable data generated that can help students and teachers improve, but there is more to a person than a test score.

“I would hate to see a student reduced to a number, with that number representing their value as a student, as a person, or their ability to achieve, to perform, to have a career, to be happy, and it shouldn’t come to that,” he said.

Other topics at the forum included:

Tucker briefly discussed the need for an increase in funding for schools from the Franklin County government. County Commissioner Helen Stapleton, who represents District 5, said she fully supports increasing funding. The county has not increased school funding for more than 10 years, and the school board does not have the authority to generate money through taxes or referendums. Tucker said Tennessee is one of only 11 states that does not allow school boards’ funding control.

One parent said there was too much waste of food during the Thanksgiving lunch at Sewanee Elementary last week and suggested using the leftover food for compost and implementing a program similar to Project Green Fork in Memphis.

Tucker talked about the state’s report card for Franklin County schools and said Sewanee Elementary outperforms the average school in Tennessee on the TCAP.

He also spoke about the search for a new director of schools. Current Director Rebecca Sharber is retiring this summer. The Tennessee School Board Association is conducting the search and had received 10 résumés prior to Thanksgiving. The school board will begin the interview process in late February or early March.

Franklin County Schools Get Report Card : Tucker Calls Results “Disconcerting”

by Kevin Cummings,  Messenger Staff Writer

Franklin, Grundy, Marion and Coffee counties all spend about the same amount of money on public education, but there are differences in the outcomes. On the state’s annual “report card” for schools, the Tennessee Department of Education gave Franklin County schools a grade of “A” in social studies and “Bs” in math, reading/language arts and science. The rating is based on a three-year average of TCAP scores for grades 3–8. The state’s scale for an “A” is between 55 and 99 percent and for a “B” it is from 50 to 54 percent.

Grundy County earned the lowest grades in the area, with “Cs” in three subjects and a “B” in math. Marion and Coffee posted marks similar to Franklin County. 

Adam Tucker, a member of the Franklin County Board of Education, said he is concerned that Franklin County is below Tennessee averages in state-mandated test scores and student growth/improvement.

“While some of this may be due to the district’s implementation of certain curricular requirements earlier than other districts across the state, this fact is still disconcerting,” Tucker said.

Rebecca Sharber, director of Franklin County schools, gave a presentation on the state’s report card at the school board meeting on Nov. 10. She said in an interview on Nov. 11 that she was pleased that “we are holding our own” in academic achievement, but is also concerned with academic growth. “We’re not as good as we want to be, but people are working hard,” she said.

The report card also measures improvement on TCAP scores from previous years. In this area for grades 4–8, the state awarded Franklin County “Ds” in science, reading/language arts and social studies. The state gave a “B” in math, which was the only subject that reflected a slight increase in the report.

The other three counties posted better grades for improvement, with Coffee County earning the top score with a “C” in reading, a “B” in science and “As” in social studies and math.

The state did not award letter grades at the high school level, but a comparison of graduation rates shows Franklin County at 89.1 percent for 2014. Both Coffee and Grundy counties had slightly higher graduation rates than Franklin County. Marion County had the lowest rate of the four, at 84 percent. 

In a comparison of the average composite ACT scores for the last three years, Franklin County scored an 18.6, with Marion and Coffee slightly higher. Grundy County’s average ACT score was 17.6.

“Ultimately, the report card presentation addressed how students are performing on the various state-mandated assessments,” Tucker said. “It did not address the more important questions of why these scores are what they are and what interventions are needed to improve student performance on these tests and, more importantly, overall student learning.”

Tucker asked Sharber to make a presentation at the Dec. 8 school board meeting to look at what district administrators and teachers are doing with the report card data to improve learning and achievement.

Last school year Franklin County schools spent an average of $9,030 per pupil, with 31.3 percent of that amount from local funding, 57.4 percent from the state, and 11.3 percent was federal money. In 2012–13, Franklin County spent $8,891 per student. The state average for 2013–14 was $9,346, according to the report card.

Grundy County averaged $9,280 per pupil, Coffee County spent $9,160 per student, and Marion County spent $8,687 per pupil. The state’s school report card is available at <www.tn.gov/education/data/report_card/>.

County Schools Rise and Fall in TCAPs

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

Recently-released standardized test scores show Franklin County Schools improved at the high school level, but dropped in three of four subjects on the TCAP.

Rebecca Sharber, director of schools, presented the district-wide scores at the Aug. 11 Board of Education meeting. The state expects to release individual school test results before the end of August.

On the TCAP, taken by students in grades 3–8, math was the only area to show an increase on the 2014 test with 43.9 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced compared to 42.9 percent last year. Science dipped from 61.8 percent to 56.4 percent and social studies declined from 85.6 percent to 82.8 percent. Reading scores dropped from 47.8 percent to 43.4 percent.

“We’re disappointed, of course, that the reading scores did not show county-wide improvements, given the rigorous new Reading Street program that was introduced. Math scores also fell, however, where we did not do anything different,” said Chris McDonough, Sewanee’s outgoing school board representative.

On the high school end-of-course exams, Franklin County students improved in four of seven subjects compared to 2013 and had slight decreases in two others. The increases came in English I, English II, Biology I and U.S. History. Biology I had the biggest increase with 3.6 percent more students scoring proficient or advanced.

Algebra II scores were down 1.3 percent, and English III scores dropped 1 percent. Student scores decreased the most in Algebra I with 52.4 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced, a 4.9 percent decrease from 2013. Students showed the most aptitude in English I with 65.5 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced.

“Naturally, the board wants the best education for county students. But all across the state, the improvement of scores has become an end in itself, at the expense of virtually every other legitimate education goal,” McDonough noted.

At Monday’s meeting, Sharber outlined eight strategies to increase scores, a few of which included more flexibility in the elementary instructional programs, continued focus on the least effective teachers and work with instructional coaches, learning from more successful school districts and adding more  technology.

In the area of technology, the school system is on the verge of issuing Chromebook computers to ninth-graders, which will be used in lieu of textbooks.

In other business at Monday’s Board of Education meeting: 

The board honored outgoing Seventh District representative Betty Jo Drummond, who lost her bid for re-election, and McDonough, who did not seek re-election.

“It has been a real honor to serve the county on the school board,” McDonough said after the meeting. “Dr. Sharber is a consummate professional whom I have learned so much from. The county could hardly have a better director, and her staff is equally impressive. I have enjoyed working with my fellow board members, as well. While we have disagreed on some matters, every one of them checks their egos at the door and puts county students first.” 

The Tennessee Association of School Boards gave a presentation and offered assistance in finding a new director of schools. Sharber is retiring at the end of June 2015.

County Schools Facing Financial Cliff

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

Franklin County Schools will have a hard time opening for the 2015–16 school year without additional county funding, said Kevin Caroland, chairman of the Franklin County School Board, at the board’s July 14 meeting.

“We’re headed for disaster,” he said. “We can hang our hat and say we hope they come through and fund it, but nobody’s ever seen it on this board.” Officials said the county has not increased school system funding in at least 10 years.

The board approved a budget at its July meeting without an increase in revenue after the county finance committee rejected a proposed budget with a 7-cent property tax increase. 

Most Franklin County commissioners oppose a tax increase. Sue Hill, a county commissioner and member of the finance committee, said that school officials can make deeper cuts, including eliminating jobs in the central office.

“I’m not for a tax increase right now,” she said. “Their fund balance can carry them right now. You have to take into account senior citizens living on social security who can’t afford to pay high taxes. I’m 100 percent for education, but there are things that can be cut.”

School board members said they have made many cuts already.

“I think we’ve bent over backwards and tried to do everything we can do to be good stewards of the money,” said board member Chris Guess. “The cuts that we do from here on out will be detrimental to students, and they will be detrimental to teachers.”

“In this budget [that Hill says] we can cut, you don’t have to run schools buses, you don’t have to do this or that, but at what cost do you do that? I’ve gone about as far as I’m willing to go,” Guess said.

The school system has a $42.4 million budget for 2014–15, of which the state requires at least 3 percent, or almost $1.3 million, be kept in a fund balance for unexpected expenses. 

The school system is spending about $1.8 million from the fund balance this year and officials said if there are no new expenses, there will only be around $650,000 in the fund balance going into 2015–16, far less than the state’s required minimum of 3 percent.

Chris McDonough, Sewanee’s school board representative, said after the meeting that even if the board cuts teacher’s paid insurance from 100 percent to 90 percent and changes Franklin County High School’s class schedule to reduce the number of teachers needed, there will not be enough money to open school in 2015.

“Last year, I talked to a school board chair from another county where they fought their commission and refused to open school without adequate funding—he said at the end of the day, it was a mistake. The job of the board is to run the schools, even with the increasingly paltry amount the commission gives us,” McDonough said. “Given all that, I could not in good conscience vote for the budget.”

The school board approved the budget on Monday by a 6-1 margin with Caroland voting “no” and McDonough abstaining.

In other business at the school board:

The board voted 6-2 to not sell 1,000 acres at the site of the former Franklin County High School for two years in the hopes that the state will fund a college of applied technology on the site. Guess and board member Mike Holmes voted against the measure.

McDonough, Guess and Holmes questioned the effectiveness of an elementary school reading program implemented last school year. Rebecca Sharber, director of schools, said TCAP test results, which are currently embargoed by the state, do not reflect an increase in reading and language arts scores. Sharber said changes will give teachers more flexibility in the reading program and a math program. 

McDonough said when TCAP scores are released, officials should review the reading program.

The board voted unanimously to reverse a previous decision and allow 13 Huntland-area students to ride the bus to Broadview Elementary, South Middle or Franklin County High School for two more years.

County TCAP Scores in Line with State Results

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer

Franklin County students performed very close to their state counterparts on standardized testing, according to the director of schools.

Recently released statewide results show an overall increase in scores on high school end-of-course exams compared to last year and a plateau in TCAP scores for grades 3–8 — within 1 percent of last year.

The state will likely release local scores after the start of the school year, but Franklin County Director of Schools Rebecca Sharber said she has seen the results. Officials can’t give specifics, but the county’s scores closely mirror state increases at the high school level, as well as increases in TCAP math scores, she said.

“I still think we can do better, but we just haven’t seemed to find the right mix of everything to do better,” she said.

Statewide on the TCAP, 51.3 percent of students were proficient or advanced in math, compared to 50.7 percent last year.

Sharber said there were fluctuations in other testing areas compared to the state, but many similarities, including a dip in reading scores. The statewide numbers show 49.5 percent of students were proficient or advanced in reading in 2014, compared to 50.3 percent in 2013.

Chris McDonough, Sewanee’s representative on the Franklin County Board of Education, said he has heard officially and unofficially, that county TCAP scores are down for science and social studies, but up for math. He said he hasn’t seen all the scores, but he is especially interested in the reading scores.

“This year saw the introduction of a new reading program followed with radical fidelity,” he said. “Many seasoned teachers disliked having their lesson plans dictated to them by the program, and I sensed a real loss of morale. My hope is that it was worth it, but at this point I cannot really say.”

Sharber said a significant problem with state standardized testing is it is not in sync with Common Core standards taught in the classroom. 

“…I think teachers are having trouble trying to determine how to not only teach what they’re supposed to teach, but make sure that children are taught on what’s going to be tested because that is kind of a moving target in Tennessee right now,” Sharber said.

This year the state legislature delayed a move to replace the TCAP next school year with a test based on Common Core standards. The state plans to seek bids from test makers and implement a new standardized test for the 2015–16 school year.

Sharber noted that she does not like standardized testing because it favors privileged children, and she has presented an alternate idea to Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and his team. She said she would like to see students take a pre-test at the first of the year and then a post-test at the end of the year to accurately determine what a child has learned.

“They said there’s nothing available like that so they’re not going to take the time to try to find somebody to create it, but I think that would be the fairest way to work with children and I think that would be the fairest way with teachers,” Sharber said.

This year’s TCAP was steeped in controversy after the Department of Education failed to release results in time for report cards. The state granted many school districts, including Franklin County, a waiver to exclude TCAP scores from students’ final grades.

For statewide standardized testing results, go to <www.tn.gov/education>.

Franklin Co. School Board Hears About New Reading Program

by K.G. Beavers, Messenger Staff Writer

The Franklin County school board met in regular session on Sept. 16 to elect officers, hear a report on the new reading program and to discuss system goals.

Kevin Caroland was elected chairman; Cleijo Walker was elected vice chairman; and Betty Jo Drummond was elected as the Tennessee legislative network representative.

Elementary Supervisor Fineé Downing gave an hour-and-a-half presentation on the new reading program, followed by a question-and-answer session. The new reading program was implemented two weeks before the start of this school year in order to raise reading scores across the county.

In the Aug. 5 school board meeting, Rebecca Sharber, director of schools, presented the testing results. Because most schools in the county had declined in testing results, Sharber is implementing five new strategies to help reach annual measurable objectives. These included more focus on instruction, especially in math and reading. A new reading program has been implemented at the elementary schools that requires 105 minutes of uninterrupted reading in all classes. In August, Sharber described this new reading program as an effort to support the schools as professional learning communities, where teachers will plan, assess, talk and collaborate on what is working well and which students are not learning. There are also instructional coaches and more help with technology.

As a district, Franklin County’s reading scores ranked (on a scale of 1–5, with “5” as the best) a “1” in overall, “1” in literacy, “2” in numeracy, and “1” in literacy and numeracy on value-added effectiveness. 

In Franklin County grades 3–8, the percentage of students meeting the goals for “proficient or advanced” decreased on all four TCAP tests. In reading, 47.6 percent were proficient or advanced, which is a decrease of 1.9 percent over last year. In math, 42.9 percent of students were proficient or advanced, a decrease of 1.7 percent over last year. In science, 61.8 percent of the students were proficient or advanced, down 1.6 percent over last year. In social studies, 85.6 percent were proficient or advanced, a decrease of 1.4 percent from last year.

The new reading program, created by Pearson Education, is called “Reading Street.” This program “supports achievement, is researched-based, scientifically proven and aligned with the Common Core,” said Downing. 

“The program is designed to teach, improve and enrich reading/language arts, writing, science and social studies,” she said. “This is a program that needs to be implemented with fidelity.”

As part of this new program, elementary students in grades K–5 have reading class 105 minutes a day. The 105 minutes is broken down into sections, including 30 minutes where the teacher reads the script to the children, 45 minutes of center activities and another 30 minutes of teacher interaction. Lesson plans are available to the teachers, but the materials for the workstation learning centers are not. 

“This program was rolled out rather hastily, and we won’t know until the end of the year whether we will see results or not,” said Chris McDonough, school board member. “I think a solution may have been to implement this program at the schools that are not doing well, not across the board, in order to get concrete evidence.”

“I do understand that something had to be done to raise achievement scores,” McDonough said, “but teachers have had a lot thrown at them in the last couple of years. There have been so many things changing in our education system, from evaluations to changes in tenure and salaries, and the way they are supposed to teach. They feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under them,” he said.

“I am worried about teacher morale at this point. This is something you need to be aware of. It is a chastisement to what they have always done,” said McDonough.

The question I have is how do we all get on the same page?” said McDonough.

Sharber noted that the county school system would have to figure out a way to make this work. 

“Principals have been asked if they need help with instructional supplies money,” said Sharber. “The teachers do have support from instructional coaches.” 

“There are those who don’t want the new program to work, and all I can ask is you do your best to help our children,” said Sharber.

“The first year of a program is the toughest year. We should really see an impact in three to five years. But we will see progress at the end of the year,” said Downing.

“The timing was not good to roll out another program,” said Chris Guess, school board member.

“Maybe we need more time. If we can’t meet a specific goal in two months, we need to make sure we are addressing those concerns,” said Caroland.

“This program is time-consuming and expensive when teachers have to make their own centers,” said Drummond. “I hope this does not affect their teacher value-added score at the end of the year.”

Guess asked if feedback was being given from administrators and teachers that could be used to enhance the program. Drummond noted, “nothing we are hearing could be used to enhance the program.”

A teacher in the audience said after the meeting, “I am a teacher with 40 years of experience, and I am being treated as if I were a first-year teacher. Most teachers don’t have a problem with the reading program or because they are afraid to work hard. The way the program is implemented is the problem. We are being treated as if we don’t know how to teach.”

System goals for 2013–14 include that all students will reach high standards, at a minimum of attaining proficiency or better in reading/language arts and math; and that all students will experience academic growth.

See <http://www.boarddocs.com/tn/franklin/Board.nsf/files/9BES5A6B9C1E/$file/Adoption%20%26%20Approval%20of%20System%20Goals.pdf> for more information on the system goals.

Franklin Co. Schools Cited as “Needs Improvement”

by K.G. Beavers, Messenger Staff Writer

The Tennessee Department of Education released district-level accountability statuses on Aug. 6, based on results from the standardized testing. Franklin County has been designated as a district that is “in need of subgroup improvement” in three areas: a students, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students.

School districts in Tennessee are held accountable on achievement and gap-closure between subgroups. According to the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), districts in need of subgroup improvement may have successfully attained their goals in achievement, gap closure or even both, while experiencing declines among particular groups of students. Ninety-six districts in the state were designated as in need of subgroup improvement. 

Districts can be designated by TDOE as exemplary for raising proficiency levels, narrowing achievement gaps and seeing growth within the subgroups. Five districts in the state achieved exemplary status for 2013–14.

Districts can have an intermediate status if they meet achievement goals but not gap closure, or met gap closure but not achievement. Thirty-two districts in the state were identified as intermediate.

Districts that do not meet their targets in achievement and gap closure are in need of improvement. Three districts were designated as in need of improvement, including Franklin County.

There are specific annual measurement objectives (AMOs) to achieve on testing each year because of the waiver Tennessee received from the federal No Child Left Behind. These AMOs include achievement benchmarks to be reached in third-grade math and reading/language arts, seventh-grade math and reading/language arts, and third- through eighth-grade aggregate scores in math and reading/language arts. Franklin County met its achievement goals except for grades 3–8 in both math and reading/language arts.

There are also specific benchmarks to reach in Algebra I, Algebra II, English II and English III. Franklin County declined in English II and English III. 

Achievement gaps between subgroups should also lessen in grades 3–8 math and in grades 3–8 reading/language arts, Algebra I and II, and English II and III.

Franklin County as a district closed the gap and met its black/Hispanic/native American (BHN) subgroup gap in all areas except for English III. For the economically disadvantaged (ED) subgroup, the gap was not closed in Algebra I or English II. 

As a district, Franklin County did not meet its ED subgroup target. For students with disabilities (SWD), the gap was closed in English II, English III and reading/language arts 3–8 aggregate. Franklin County met it SWD target in English II and English III.

For subgroup improvement, Franklin County improved for the white student subgroup in Algebra I and Algebra II. It declined in English II, English III, math in grades 3–8 and reading/language arts in grades 3–8. 

For ED students, Franklin County improved in Algebra I and Algebra II, but declined in the rest. For SWD, Franklin County improved in English II and English III, but declined in grades 3–8 math and grades 3–8 reading/language arts.

Those districts categorized as intermediate, need of improvement or in need of subgroup improvement have to have a strategic plan in place with TDOE by November. These plans include key strategies to achieve goals, implementation and desired outcomes.

For more information go to < www.tn.gov/education/>.

School Board Looks at Budget, SES Renovation

By K. G. Beavers, Messenger Staff Writer

The Franklin County school board met in a work session on Aug. 5 to hear the director of schools report, discuss the 2014–15 calendar and the superintendent evaluation.

Sewanee Elementary School volunteer Karen Keele was selected to receive the 2013 Tennessee School Boards Association South Central School Volunteer Recognition Award. In May, she was nominated for a school volunteer recognition award. Keele organizes a tutorial-enrichment program matching retired residents with students who need extra academic help at SES. As one of seven district award winners, Keele will be considered for the statewide award. The statewide award winner receives a $1,000 grant to the public school of their choice.

The end-of-year financial report “ended better than planned,” said Rebecca Sharber, Franklin County’s director of schools. The school board used approximately $618,000 of its fund balance to balance the budget, instead of the projected $2 million. 

“We don’t spend money just because it is there,” said Sharber. The school board is projecting a fund balance of approximately $2.6 million at the end of the 2014 fiscal year.

Sharber reported that the full county commission approved the Franklin County budget on Aug. 1. The budget did not include any tax increases.

SES principal Mike Maxon thanked the school board for approving the renovation project at the school. 

“We are in the process of wrapping a few things up such as the grass on the playground,” said Maxon. He said there would be an open house in the next couple of weeks, and all are invited to attend to see the renovated school.

Sharber reported on the standardized test scores for the district [see adjacent story]. The state looks at three main areas in testing: annual measurable objectives (AMOs) in achievement, gap closure and improvement between the subgroups.

Tennessee has specific AMOs to achieve on testing each year because of its waiver from No Child Left Behind. These AMOs include benchmarks to be reached in third-grade math and reading, seventh-grade math and reading, third- through eighth-grade aggregate scores in math and reading, and specific benchmarks in Algebra I and II, English II and III. Achievement gaps between subgroups should also lessen.

“There are places where we did well on the tests and some where we declined,” said Sharber. Overall, achievement scores declined on all four TCAP tests for grades 3–8. “Seventh grade was our bright spot, where we did better and improved on testing.”

At the high school level, there were gains in Algebra I, Algebra II and English I. The other four tests showed a decline.

For gap closure, Franklin County made improvement in the black/Hispanic/Native American subgroup. Franklin County did not meet a majority of gap closures or targets in economically disadvantaged or students with disabilities subgroups. Approximately 65 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, and 17 percent are students with disabilities in Franklin County.

In subgroup improvement, Franklin County only improved in nine areas.

“Overall we are not quite where we need to be,” said Sharber. “I would like to have higher achievement and grow every year.”

“Every year there has been something new from the state, including new expectations to meet,” said Chris McDonough, district five school board member.

“It is not surprising really that our scores have gone down when the government keeps introducing new standards and benchmarks to cause distractions,” McDonough said.

Sharber is implementing five new strategies this school year to help reach the AMOs. These include more focus on instruction, especially in math and reading. There will be a new reading program at the elementary schools, and 105 minutes of uninterrupted reading in all classes. The schools will be professional learning communities where teachers will plan, assess, talk and collaborate on what is working well and on which students are not learning. There will also be instructional coaches and more technology help.

The proposed 2014–15 school calendar will be changing. Since the PSAT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) is given when Franklin County is usually on fall break, the school board will vote on the request to move the break to Oct. 6–10 in their next meeting.

The superintendent evaluation was also discussed. The school board members rated Sharber on a scale of “1 to 5” (“5” being the highest) on six standards. Sharber received a “4” on most of the goals. 

The next school board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Aug. 12, at the board office, 215 S. College St., Winchester. The agenda will include policy updates, budget amendments and the Telemedicine program.

SES Misses Reward School Status In Spite of Scores

by K. G. Beavers, Messenger Staff Writer

Sewanee Elementary School officials recently received a letter from Kevin Huffman, the Tennessee Commissioner of Education, describing why SES was not designated as a “reward school” based on performance in 2011–12.

Under the state’s new accountability system, schools must perform well in achievement measures and close achievement gaps between subgroups to be designated as a reward school. A reward school can be in the top 5 percent of overall performance in proficient and advanced achievement goals. A reward school can also be in the top 5 percent of schools where progress is achieved the quickest based on value-added scores, and growth in TCAP reading/language arts, math and science.

“We believe it is important to let directors and principals know if schools are close to achieving a high level of recognition,” the letter states. “Sewanee Elementary was on the cusp of being identified as a Reward School based on performance. In fact, your school performance was within the threshold of those schools identified as Reward but was excluded under our federal waiver rules because of achievement gaps larger than the state median in any subgroup area and achievement gaps that widened between 2010–11 and 2011–12.”

In 2012, Sewanee Elementary School had the highest scores in the county in achievement for grades 3–5 in math, reading/language arts, social studies, science and the fifth-grade writing assessment.

In 2012, SES had the highest TCAP scores in the county for all students scoring proficient and advanced in math, science and reading/language arts. Broadview Elementary had the highest TCAP score for all students in social studies. 

Between subgroups, SES had the highest percentage of proficient and advanced students, except for economically disadvantaged students. For African-American students in math and reading/language arts, Cowan Elementary had the highest percentage. Decherd Elementary had the highest percentage for Hispanic students in math and reading/language arts. 

“Even if you have a high score but decline in any area, that counts against you,” said Rebecca Sharber, director of schools for Franklin County. 

SES had a decline in two subgroup scores between 2011 and 2012 in reading/language arts. In 2011, 60.5 percent of economically disadvantaged students were proficient and advanced. In 2012, 55.3 percent were proficient and advanced. The state average was 37.5 percent; the county average, 40.10 percent. In 2011, 81.8 percent of SES students with disabilities scored proficient and advanced in reading/language arts. In 2012, 78.5 percent scored proficient and advanced in reading/language arts. The state average was 32.8 percent; the county average, 32.7 percent.

Sewanee Elementary Leads the Way in TCAPs-- Broadview & North Lake Named Reward Schools

by K. G. Beavers, Messenger Staff Writer

With Tennessee’s new accountability system to show progress in public school testing, there are new reporting categories including reward, focus and priority status. These new categories replace the No Child Left Behind status designations of target, school needs improvement, corrective action and restructuring. 

In Franklin County, North Lake Elementary and Broadview Elementary are reward schools based on performance. A reward school can be in the top 5 percent of overall performance in proficient and advanced achievement goals. A reward school can also be in the top 5 percent of schools where progress is achieved the fastest, based on value-added scores and growth in TCAP reading/language arts, math and science.

While SES had the top TCAP scores in almost all testing categories across the county, SES is not a reward school. 

“We did not meet the gap closure with our economically disadvantaged students,” said SES principal Mike Maxon. “That subgroup did not grow enough academically,” he said. 

SES also had a decline in two subgroup scores between the 2011 and 2012 reading/language arts TCAP test. In 2011, 60.5 percent of economically disadvantaged students were proficient and advanced. In 2012, 55.3 percent were proficient and advanced.

In 2011, 81.8 percent of SES students with disabilities scored proficient and advanced in reading/language arts. In 2012, 78.5 percent scored proficient and advanced proficient/advanced in reading/language arts.

“The issue for Sewanee was the gap between the economically disadvantaged and the non-economically disadvantaged. Also, if a school had measures that declined they could not be a reward school,” said Franklin County Director of Schools Rebecca Sharber.

For SES, 77.8 percent of all students were proficient and advanced in math, compared to 67.2 percent of Broadview and 66.4 percent of North Lake students. In reading/language arts, 77.8 percent of all SES students were proficient and advanced. For Broadview, 61.6 percent of all students were proficient and advanced. For North Lake, 67.7 percent of all students were proficient and advanced.

In science, 82.1 percent of all SES students were proficient and advanced, compared to Broadview with 75.5 percent and North Lake with 78.1 percent. In social studies, 93 percent of all SES students were proficient and advanced. For Broadview, 96.5 percent of students were proficient and advanced, while North Lake had 92.7 percent scoring proficient and advanced.

SES also led in TCAP scores between the subgroups, except for the economically disadvantaged subgroup in reading/language arts. 

In the fifth grade TCAP writing assessment, SES had the highest score in the county with a score of 4.5 out of 6. Cowan Elementary was next with a score of 4.4. Broadview and Decherd both scored a 4.2. North Lake and Clark Memorial both scored a 4.1. Huntland and Rock Creek both scored a 3.9. 

SES also had the highest grade in achievement, which is a measure of overall student performance. 

At the middle schools, North Middle School improved in math with 39.4 of all students scoring proficient and advanced. In reading/language arts, North declined slightly from last year’s testing results to 44.6 percent of all students proficient and advanced.

South Middle School improved to 32.4 percent of all students proficient and advanced in math. South had a slight decline in reading/language arts with 48.8 percent of all students proficient and advanced.

For complete information, go to <http://www.tn.gov/education/re​portcard/index.shtml>.