NL must push forward with magnet plan

Now planned and awaiting a final state and city agreement are three pathways — science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); international studies, which also includes dual language students; and arts.

W hile the execution has hardly gone smoothly, the plan to transform New London into the state’s first all-magnet-schools district remains the best opportunity to diversify the student body, provide adequate funding and, most critically, improve student performance.

The plan is to essentially turn New London into a regional school system. From elementary school through high school graduation, students will pursue academic pathways that tie the subject matter they are learning to a particular interest. In the process, all students are exposed to core subject matter.

This opportunity, along with newly constructed or renovated schools, is intended to attract students from surrounding communities, with those outof-district students making up at least 25 percent of enrollment in city schools. With those students comes tuition paid by the sending towns and increased state aid in support of the initiative.

The theory is that overall student performance will improve on a rising academic tide, with educators pushing to provide the quality education necessary to attract out-of-district students. Parental involvement, another component of successful schools, increases as well with students enrolled in schools of choice.

But moving from theory to reality has proved a challenge for the city. A plan to utilize the Garde Arts Center for the performing arts pathway fizzled, along with the $31 million grant to provide educational facilities there.

It was disappointing to see the surprising retirement last year of Superintendent Manny Rivera, a New London native with a successful administrative record of accomplishment. He had vowed to see the transition to the magnet district to its conclusion. Rivera cited personal reasons for retiring. He then subsequently won election to the Board of Education, where he can contribute in a different fashion.

It has taken city officials and the state Department of Education far too long to reach an agreement on the educational details of New London’s all-magnet plan. That, in turn, has held up the start of construction for the $98 million renovation of the high school and the $50 million overhaul of the Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School. The state won’t approve funding until a clear plan is in place.

The good news is that appears to be getting much closer. On Thursday the Day Editorial Board sat down with Mayor Michael Passero, interim Superintendent Stephen Tracy, and Rep. Chris Soto, D-New London, who has served as a liaison between state and city officials to drive the process forward.

Now planned and awaiting a final state and city agreement are three pathways — science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); international studies, which also includes dual language students; and arts. Jettisoned was the leadership pathway, though to some degree it rolls into international studies, said Tracy. The state saw four pathways as too many for the small district, adding administrative overhead and costs, Tracy said.

Despite not having a final plan, the school system is not starting from scratch. The Science and Technology Magnet School of Southeastern Connecticut is well established and successful as a branch of New London High. The Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School and Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School are attracting students from throughout the region. In a New London student body of about 3,000 pupils, 650 — 22 percent — are from outside the district.

That diversity does not exist, however, at the C.B. Jennings Dual Language and International Elementary Magnet School, populated largely by city children, particularly from its Hispanic community. Meanwhile, the administration has yet to integrate Harbor Elementary School into the magnet concept.

And until New London completes the renovation of its high and middle schools, which is probably somewhere around 2023, it will be a challenge to keep out-of-district students in the New London program post elementary school.

The ultimate test is whether academic performance improves. But that cannot be fairly tested until the program is fully implemented. And despite the challenges that remain, New London and the state need to work towards that end — full implementation — and city residents would do well to support it.