G’town board wrestles over strategy for being No. 1
Members of the Germantown school board wrestled for hours in a philosophical discussion Wednesday on the standards it takes to be considered the best school system in the state.
In the end, they found common ground by adding measurable goals to a staff-written strategic plan in the making for nearly 18 months.
Board members Ken Hoover and Mark Dely wanted measurable goals — ACT scores, graduation rates and other clearly defined targets that the board could sell to the community and check off each year.
To underscore the necessity, both pointed to numerous strategic plans they created in business.
The three other board members preferred the more general plan presented by Superinten- dent Jason Manuel. Under Goal 1: Maximize Student Potential, it says Germantown Municipal School District will “provide opportunities for students at all levels to engage with service learning” and will offer “rigorous classes and programs that promote the various student intelligences.”
Under Manuel’s plan, GMSD would adopt academic goals set by the state Department of Education, including gradual improvement in ACT scores and graduation rates, plus gains in math and reading — based on the previous year’s test scores. Like all school districts, it is also graded on how well it decreases the achievement gaps between high-scoring demographics and others.
The state’s annual measurable objectives are called AMOs.
“Since I’ve been in education, we have never hit all the AMOs,” Manuel told the board.
“It is rigorous,” he said, citing the example of a teacher working with special-education children. “If they get a 23 on the ACT, I have done something exceptional. When the state is setting AMOs, they are looking at the cohort (grade level) of kids. (A score of ) 21 may be the best we have because of the kids we have,” Manuel said.
“I hesitate to pick a number and say we are going to be the best. ... It isn’t a number.”
“I kind of disagree,” Dely said. “If we are not going to strive to be the best, why are we sitting here doing this?
“For me, it’s a tremendous mistake,” he said. “We need to be able to say our plan is to be the best non-magnet school in the state in terms of ACT scores.”
The difference in philosophy underlines, in part, the pressure the municipal school districts face in trying to set themselves apart. In Germantown, the pres- sure includes drops in enrollment as students from outside the city limits complete terms in schools where they were allowed to stay after the city and county schools separated. It also includes pressure to keep students at Houston High when next-door Collierville is building a $95 million high school that will open in the fall of 2018 with the latest in laboratories, technology and security.
“There is always underlying competition,” board Chairwoman Linda Fisher said on Thursday. “We do want to be the best. We have private schools out there. We have good municipal schools, we have optional schools in Shelby County Schools.
“You have to consider the child. You can push to have AP honors courses, dual enrollment and 60-plus clubs that you can choose from. But not every student is driven. Some may have learning disabilities. And not every home life is perfect ..... that is a huge consideration,” she said.
“It’s not like we are a store and you want to increase sales in this area by this much, and if they don’t succeed, you close the store.”
Board member Natalie Williams suggested adding several metrics to Manuel’s plan. Board members were happy with the compromise.
Fisher says the fissures are the result of the board members’ varied backgrounds.
“We all come from different places, and that is good. We all want the best for our schools.”
The board directed Manuel to rework the plan and bring it back for approval.
“I think this has been terrific,” Hoover said. “I look forward to having a similar discussion in the next few months on what it means to be the best school system in Tennessee.”