Teachers, officials spar over high school reform

It's been more than a month since an East Chapel Hill High School teacher submitted a petition signed by 47 faculty members protesting an integral piece of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Board of Education's high school reform effort.

Michael McElreath, a social studies teacher, and his colleagues asked administrators to cancel plans for optional theme-based academies.

His petition came months after he served on a high school reform subcommittee that suggested high schools be divided into smaller schools, allowing students to build relationships with teachers and classmates.

"The larger committee adopted plans that smaller learning communities would be the centerpiece of the reforms," he said. "I felt like we did it: We got the go-ahead."

But when the superintendent's final recommendations came out in April, optional career academies were the main focus and not McElreath's mandatory smaller communities.

He said the architecture of East particularly lends itself to the creation of smaller learning communities. The school has three areas, each of which is equipped with an assistant principal and counselor's office, teacher resource rooms, four science classrooms and a computer lab.

McElreath said teachers and students should be divided among these "sub-schools" so that students interact with the same teachers and classmates throughout their four years.

When he went to the school board on April 22 after the publication of the final reform recommendations, McElreath was told by Superintendent Neil Pedersen there was nothing in the plans that prevents a school from building smaller communities while at the same time offering theme-based academies.

McElreath then asked that teachers be included immediately in the plans for high school reform. He made suggestions for inclusion of faculty after the board meeting, like replacing time spent in teacher meetings with time devoted to planning new school communities.

He said that as of yet, the board has not addressed his request or his suggestions.

Lisa Stuckey, vice chairwoman of the school board, said the board already has asked high schools to form smaller learning communities and research the idea in general.

"It's a little bit of an open question if a high school wanted to go further (with sub-schools)," Stuckey said. "The board has not addressed that specific question."

The board prefers to act on issues as a group and meetings are the best opportunity to do so, Stuckey said in regard to McElreath's comments to the board in April.

"We don't act on public comment unless the matter is already on our (meeting's) agenda," Stuckey said. "So it would need to be back on agenda for us to address it."

McElreath still was not pleased with the board's overall response.

"(Students) shouldn't have an option when they're ninth graders to go the math or science route versus a less rigorous route," he said. "(Theme-based academies are) going to have the potential to further segregate our school. ... The kids that are already doing well in school will pick the more rigorous curriculum."

By giving the learning communities a theme such as math, social studies or economics, McElreath said less motivated students will opt out of entering the academy.

Stuckey said the academies, which are "not entirely flushed out," were not envisioned to reach only advanced students.

"I think they would appeal to a range of students," Stuckey said. "The courses in them would be designed to meet a variety of academic needs."

Stuckey gave the example of a health academy that would serve students interested in the health industry, and not only those interested in becoming doctors.

Judy Jones, a biology teacher at East, agrees with many of McElreath's views and also served on a subcommittee during the early planning stages of high school reform.

"You don't first set up the topics of the community and then make kids choose," Jones said. "You bring kids together, and then together as a team, you decide on the focus of the community. I personally don't like having kids pick a major so early."

East Principal Dave Thaden said he doesn't see McElreath's concerns about segregation as being a problem yet.

"It's always a danger, but since the academies aren't described as being academic or nonacademic, it's not a concern right now," Thaden said. "It might be one later, though."

Thaden did not comment on what he was doing to work with McElreath but said that high school reform is something the school board is pursuing. He added that he was working with the school board and the superintendent on a 32-point proposal on high school reform.

"We're not pursuing one topic at the exclusion of the other 32," Thaden said of the academy portion of the proposal.

Jones gave Thaden high marks for his efforts in the process.

"He's very open to having discussion," she said. "Again, there's only so much money, and I don't know what else he can do."

Money has been as much of a source of conflict as the difference in opinion. The proposed $150,000 budget for high school reform was cut from the final district budget - money that mostly would have funded substitute teachers to give teachers time to plan for the changes.

"If you're not going to fund teachers having the time to do the planning necessary for reforms, you're going to end up with a piecemeal effort that's not going to really reform high school," McElreath said.

Despite the disagreements, Jones emphasized that the city schools, particularly the high schools, are excellent institutions of learning.

"We have a wonderful school system," she said. "We have wonderful administrators and teachers. People can disagree on different styles of educating students, but they are trying their best to create a place where children can learn."

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.