Friday, July 26, 2002
|
Friday, July 26, 2002 |
|
Confusion reigns in school choice issue By JOHN
THOMPSON
With less than three weeks to go until school starts, some parents in Coweta County remain confused over which school their children will attend. Earlier this month, the Coweta County Board of Education passed a policy allowing parents at five elementary schools to send their children to different schools this fall. For the 2002-2003 school year, Arnco Sargent, Atkinson, Elm Street, Eastside and Jefferson Parkway Elementary School will offer voluntary school choice under the guidelines of the Reauthorized Elementary and Secondary School Act of 2001. The act allows all students in schools who fail to make adequate progress after identification the option to transfer to another public school within the system with transportation provided by the system. But Coweta Schools Public Information Officer Dean Jackson said only two schools, Jefferson Parkway and Elm Street, may now be eligible to allow students to transfer. The confusion apparently starts at the federal level and filters down, Jackson said. Originally, Jefferson Parkway and elm Street were the only schools identified in the county on the "needs improvement" list. But just before this month's school board meeting, the three additional schools were added, so the board passed a policy addressing transfers at all five schools. Now, unofficially, the school system is hearing the state may go back to the two original schools. "I know it's confusing for our parents, but they know just as much as we do," Jackson said. As soon as the school system gets the correct information, it will be disseminated to the parents, he added. So far, the school system has not been overwhelmed with a great number of parents asking for their students to be transferred, Jackson said. Students from Arnco Sargent will be allowed to transfer to Western, while students from Atkinson and Elm Street Elementary may transfer to Newnan Crossing Elementary. Currently, Students from Eastside may transfer to Willis Road and students from Jefferson Parkway may transfer to Northside Elementary School. The list expanded recently to five schools because of new standards released recently include schools placed on the "needs improvement" list that made adequate progress during the 2000-2001 school year, as well as those which had not. Schools are placed on the list if they do not demonstrate improvement as measured by a percentage of growth on the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), which is administered every fall. Superintendent Peggy Connell administered a similar school choice plan in Talladega County Schools. "It's not a difficult situation," she said. "In fact, in my experience, parents appreciate the choice before them and yet remain committed to their schools."
|
||