Pho?o by Tevin Suiuon
Concerned parents discuss what changes they would like to see included in the
reformation models at priority schools next school year during a town hall meet
ing held at Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy last week.
Simington
Emory
Models announced for
remaining priority schools
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem
Forsyth County Board of
Education has announced
the education models that
will be implemented at the
remaining ten priority
schools in the area.
Last month The
Chronicle reported that the
school board decided to
implement the federal gov
ernment's restart model at
Cook Elementary, which
means it will operate with a
new principal, new staff
and new instructional
modeh .Until now, not
much has been said about
what changes would be
made at the remaining pri
ority schools.
Along with substantial
changes to education mod
els, priority or low-per
forming schools also
receive additional grant
money to help turnaround
pffnrtc
During a town hall
meeting with parents and
teachers last Thursday,
school board officials
announced that Ashley
Academy, Petree Elementary
and Philo-Hill Magnet
School will operate under
the federal government's
"transformation model."
The designation means the
schools will have new prin
cipals during the 2016-17
school year, but will keep
the majority of the current
staff.
While Essie McCoy,
current principal at Petree,
will take over at Philo-Hill
Magnet School, the new
principals at the other
schools have not yet been
announced.
There are likely to be
program changes at the
transformation schools as
well. Superintendent
Beverly Emory said the
upcoming school year will
be a planning year for the
transformation schools to
turn things around by the
start of the 2017 school
year.
"We want to give the
administrators at these
schools time to decide how
they want their schools to
be different. We decided
that the transformation
model was the best fit for
the students at .these
schools."
The other seven schools
in the district that require
reform will keep their cur
rent principals and staff,
but seven turnaround prin
ciples will be applied at the
schools. Those schools are
Easton, Forest Park and
Kimberley Park
Elementary Schools,
Mineral Springs Middle
School, and Carver,
Kennedy and Winston
Salem Preparatory
Academy at the high
school level.
According to Chief
Academic Officer Kenneth
Simington, some principles
that will be implemented at
the schools include a
review of the principal's
performance, review of
teachers' effectiveness,
redesigning the school day,
week or year, strengthening
the instructional program,
and providing ongoing
family and community
engagement.
"When implementing
these principles, we are
focusing. on student per
formance and ways to cre
ate growth." said
Simington. "We also will
be looking to get input
from the teachers and par
ents to help decide what
these schools will look like
next school year."
Many teachers in atten
dance raised questions
about transitioning through
the different models they
have been assigned. Carver
High School math teacher
Jonathan Stowe said facul
ty members deserve to
know what the end goal is.
Stowe mentioned teachers
and other staff need to
know that in the future a
new model will not be
implemented at the
schools.
"How does Carver go
from seven turnaround
principles to not being a
priority school anymore?"
asked Stowe. "These are
the types of questions we
need answered. If we don't
know what our end goal is,
we can't tell the parents."
Simington said while
the goals for each individ
ual school are different, the
board does not plan to
implement a different ref
ormation model at any of
the schools that have
already been assjgned a
nlan.
Following a brief ques
tion and answer session;
parents and teachers got
into small groups to decide
what changes they would
like to see implemented at
the priogty schools. Both
parents and teachers agreed
that incorporating commu
nity organizations into the
education process would
help a great deal, especially
in the schools that have a
high poverty rate.
Dakeisha Williams, a
parent at Winston-Salem
Preparatory Academy, said
because of the type of fam
ilies at the priority schools,
the board needs to find dif
ferent ways to communi
cate with the parents.
"We have to find more
ways to reach the parents
of these children," said
Williams. "The board
should be reaching out to
community organizations,
non-profits and even
churches to help turn these
schools around. This has to
be a group effort."
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Photo by Tbvin S tin son
Hundreds gathered
at Green Street
United Methodist
Church on
Monday, April 11,
to protest House
Bill 2, which went
into effect earlier
this month.
HB 2
from page AT
in federal court, but
must first go through an
approval process that could
last more than six months.
During the protest,
Wake Forest University
law professor Sidney
Shapiro discussed the legal
impacts of the law. Shapiro
said HB2 may run afoul
with federal law.
According to Shapiro,
one of the country's lead
ing experts in administra
tive procedure and regula
tory policy, there are' a
number of statutes that pro
tect people from discrimi
nation on the basis of sexh
al identity. He also men
tioned that a lawsuit has
been filed by the American
Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) claiming failure
v V
by the state to protect resi
dents.
"These changes make
North Carolina the most
repressive state in the
See related
story on page A8.
union," he said. "While
there are a number of law
suits already filed against
HB 2, citizen action is the
best and quickest way to
changing state policy."
Criminal defense attor
ney David Freedman noted
that the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down a simi
lar law in 19%.
In the case Romer v.
Evans, the court ruled that
Amendment. 2 of the
Colorado State Constitution
violated the equal protec
tion clause; Records state
Amendment 2%singled out
*
homosexual and bisexual
persons, imposing a broad
disability by denying the
right to seek and receive
specific legal protection
from discrimination.
Freedman said the rul
ing in Romer v. Evans can
be used to persuade a fed
eral court to overturn the
law.
"HB 2 is a mistake, but
I am confident that the
Constitution will set us
free," Freedman said.
Tuesday afternoon.
Gov. Pat McCrory asked
the General Assembly to
reinstate people's right to
sue in state court for dis
crimination. He also signed
an executive order that
expands employment poli
cy for state employees to
cover sexual orientation
and gender identity.
i
k.