Albany has rejected reform plans for four Buffalo schools, arguing the paperwork isn't right. Education Commissioner John King has given the district until 5 p.m. Friday to make the applications conform to what the department wants.Rejected were plans for East and Lafayette High Schools, School 80, and Buffalo Elementary School of Technology. A letter from King to Schools Superintendent Pamela Brown has eight detailed pages of claimed deficiencies and necessary corrections.
The state rejected contracts for outside agencies to run School 80 and BEST and rejected contracts with Johns Hopkins University to run East and Lafayette, as well as the memorandum of understanding regarding Erie 1 BOCES providing vocational programs for students from those two schools.
"As I stated in my July 10, 2013 directive, if the above plans are not successfully implemented and/or academic results at East and Lafayette High Schools do not improve, I will consider requiring BPS to enroll all East and Lafayette students in schools in Good Standing, and/or recommending to the Board of Regents that the registration of these schools be revoked. For BEST and School 80, failure to address these issues may result in the suspension, termination, or nonrenewal of the schools’
School Improvement Grants," King said in the letter.
Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore says Albany should have provided the necessary information earlier.
"This is the kind of information that the district should have gotten in writing at the beginning of the process, not now. Having gone through this process when we were doing the teacher evaluations where we would submit something and it would be turned down and we'd ask the state, 'What exactly are you looking for?' and we got no direction, this is typical," Rumore says.
Rumore says only Buffalo, out of all of the state's low-performing school districts, is being required to produce a wide-ranging turnaround plan.
Calls seeking comment from Buffalo Superintendent Pamela Brown and school board President Barbara Seals Nevergold were not returned as of early Monday evening.
The following is a written statement issued by the superintendent:
"State Education Commissioner John B. King issued a letter today stating that a review of District turnaround plans for East and Lafayette High Schools show a need for further revisions. Commissioner King is expecting those revisions by close of business on August 23rd, and has suggested that BPS representatives travel to Albany to complete the revisions on-site with technical assistance from NYSED. Both East and Lafayette plans include Johns Hopkins Talent Development Secondary as the Educational Partnership Organization (EPO), while Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) would provide Career and Technical Training to students who care to enroll there.
Commissioner King has also called for revisions in the EPO contracts for Highgate Heights School #80 (Westminster Foundation) and Buffalo Elementary School of Technology School #6 (Research to Practice).
Members of my staff will make themselves available to complete all plan applications to fulfill the requirements of the State Education Department in order to bring School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding and extra supports to the above mentioned schools for the benefit of the students who attend them.
As the District continues our efforts toward achievement in Focus and Priority Schools, it is our goal to ensure that each child receives a world-class education and that all of our schools become Schools in Good Standing."
