Category — Grant Monitoring

The failure of R.E.A.L Prep Charter School should come as no surprise to PPS leadership. They were warned about their lack of charter school oversight back in 2009. Do you remember the audit conducted by PPS own internal auditor Dick Tracy?

Among his findings:

Lack of timely financial reports inhibits assessment of charter school financial stability. Three of seven charter schools failed to submit annual audited financial reports as required by charter contracts. Consequently, it is not possible to fully assess the budget performance and financial position of all charter schools for the year ending June 30, 2008. Of the four schools submitting audited financial statements, three had positive ending fund balances and reasonably healthy balance sheets.

Dick Tracy recommended:

1. Develop more specific and measurable goals for charter school performance. In coordination and collaboration with each charter school, the district should help each school identify a core set of operational and academic goals that will be incorporated into charter school contracts. The goals should be specific, measurable, and time-bound with the primary focus on improving student achievement. The district and charter schools should consider developing a common set of student achievement goals that all charters share and a school specific set of goals that relate to the unique programs and objectives of each charter school program. The district should also consider obtaining technical advice from PPS Research and Evaluation to aid development of measurable student achievement goals. As charter school operational and academic goals change over time, modifications to charter contracts should be made.

2.  Develop and implement a more rigorous accountability system for monitoring and assessing charter school performance. The district should develop specific methods and procedures for ensuring more complete compliance with charter school contracts that will result in better performance monitoring and more timely improvement of performance problems. Elements of a progressive accountability system could include informal discussions and reminders, technical advice and assistance to address financial or performance concerns, periodic visits to the charter school, written notice of non-compliance with contract provisions, public hearings or meetings to discuss performance or compliance issues, and monetary incentives. Improved accountability provisions should be incorporated when negotiating charter contracts during initial approval or renewal, or, with approval and collaboration from the charter school, during current charter school terms.

District leadership responded:

Dick Tracy, Performance Auditor

Portland Board of Education

501 N. Dixon St.

Portland, Oregon 97227

Dear Mr. Tracy,

Thank you for your work reviewing the performance and impact of the seven schools operating under charter agreements with Portland Public Schools. As you have found, it is very difficult to pin down both the charter schools’ direct impact on achievement of students attending these schools and their impact on other PPS schools’ enrollment and resources.

We find the data you compiled intriguing, and offer our own thoughts about the audit results below. We also very much appreciate the recommendations contained in the audit, and at the end of this response include our commitment to follow through, particularly in building strong partnerships with charter schools and improving our tracking and accountability for those schools – and those students.

The letter was signed by Carole Smith

Another promise unfulfilled!

So what will happen with Marshall’s Voluntary School Choice grant funds now that the PPS board has approved the complete closure of Marshall High School?  Remember, the Voluntary School Choice grant is a $6 million grant that targets Marshall, Jefferson and Roosevelt.  Marshall students no longer have a choice to attend Marshall.  Among the Voluntary School Choice grant goals:

“Phase II of Portland’s Voluntary Public School Choice program will focus significant resources on ensuring equity in neighborhood choice by supporting less successful local high schools in their long-term plans to attract students (neighborhood and beyond) to innovative and rigorous focus options that include access to higher education.  Current choice options allow high school students in more prosperous areas to access colleges and universities, but these opportunities are limited at Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Marshall High Schools. 

Phase II will contribute to the increase in enrollment in higher education within one year of high school graduation by 5% across the district and 10% for the targeted high schools.  At the current time, there is a significant gap in the percentage of students from targeted district high schools who graduate from high school in the Spring and enter college in the Fall as compared to their fellow students in more affluent and academically successful high schools. Phase II of Portland’s Voluntary Public School Choice project will implement both programs and safeguards so that all students may select their home schools as credible options and that all of these schools operate on a level playing field, preparing their students for academic success through high school and into college.”   

Despite the fact that Marshall has been on the chopping block for quite some time, Kelley Duron (PPS Project Director) fails to mention that in her third year report to the federal government:

“During the ’09-10 school year, Superintendent Carole Smith launched a massive effort to engage the community in the district’s efforts to redesign the high school system to better serve all students in PPS. VPSC sponsored a series of phone surveys and in-person focus groups to shape the overarching “look” of the new system. In addition, we provided funding to facilitate more than a dozen community meetings which attracted hundreds of Portlanders to give their feedback in the early shaping of the proposal. VPSC provided support for research on succesful focus options, site visits to local vocational technical schools, and temporary clerical support for redesign staff.

The high school redesign proposal was submitted for consideration to the Board at its April 25th meeting. It includes recommendations for eight comprehensive community (neighborhood) high schools plus two focus option schools. The proposal under consideration by the Board includes some boundary changes and policy changes regarding the ability of students to transfer between neighborhood catchment schools. The Board is expected to vote on adoption of the high school system design plan at its June 21st meeting”.

Considering that Marshall was one of three schools targeted by the grant, don’t you think it would have been important for Kelley to have mentioned that Marshall High School was recommended for closure?

A couple of parents have tried calling the US Department of Education’s Voluntary School Choice Program Officer but she hasn’t returned our calls.  Parents in the Marshall community are due a “voluntary choice” or taxpayers are due a refund.  Maybe if a few more parents call and email her she will feel compelled to respond.  Here’s her contact info:

Jeanne Gilroy

US Department of Education Program Officer

(202) 205-5482 or via e-mail at jeanne.gilroy@ed.gov

In 2007, PPS was awarded a  5-year ($6 million) Voluntary Public School Choice grant targeting Marshall, Jefferson and Roosevelt.  We’re only halfway through the grant and the superintendent has decided to close Marshall. 

The grant narrative is 54 pages long.  Here are the highlights:

Project goals – generated by needs, supported by data, and consistent with scientifically-based research, best practices, and successful national models – are to:  (1) expand and enhance choice options and access in high-need and low-performing schools and neighborhoods, (2) develop and implement choice beyond secondary school using the K-16 model and linked to the community-led Connected by 25 initiative, (3) expand the role of parents in school choice and their access to information, (4) expand support to students to ensure success before, during, and after choice, and (5) complete a comprehensive web-based choice process for replication outside of the district and state.

 Upon completion, Portland Public Schools will be able to: 

•             accommodate the academic plans of students and their families in all four quadrants of the city, including district and non-district school settings,

•             offer a comprehensive array of scholastic opportunities linked to improved achievement,

•             develop partnerships with higher education to fully implement a K-16 model,

•             align schools and programs to the community-led Connected by 25 initiative,

•             increase parent and community access to educational options through technology,

•             expand quality choice options across and beyond school district lines,

•             improve and expand targeted professional development for instructional staff,

•             provide focused supports for students as they adjust to new school environments, and

•             finalize a student-needs-driven lottery and choice system that will be provided to the U.S. Department of Education to distribute upon request.

Objective 1a.  Replicate or initiate a minimum of two successful focus choice options operating within the district onto school campuses within the three clusters that previously have been underserved by choice during each year of the grant project.  The process for the selection of program, targeted school site, and optimal timing will be developed within the first six months of the grant period by the Project Director, School Choice Advisory Team (SCAT), Parent Resource Committee, Program Initiation Coordinator, and the Choice Expansion Team, representing all key constituents including parents, students, and the community. 

Objective 2a.  Phase II will contribute to the increase of the high school graduation rate across the school district by 5% and of the targeted high schools (Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Marshall) by 10% by the end of the grant period.  The project will add a minimum of two focus options per year within the geographical areas supported by the targeted high schools, intended to provide increased opportunities, innovative and strategic approaches to curriculum, direct links to higher education and meaningful work, closer relationships between students and instructional staff, and significant increase in rigor and relevance. 

Objective 2b.  Phase II will contribute to the increase in enrollment in higher education within one year of high school graduation by 5% across the district and 10% for the targeted high schools.  At the current time, there is a significant gap in the percentage of students from targeted district high schools who graduate from high school in the Spring and enter college in the Fall as compared to their fellow students in more affluent and academically successful high schools. Phase II of Portland’s Voluntary Public School Choice project will implement both programs and safeguards so that all students may select their home schools as credible options and that all of these schools operate on a level playing field, preparing their students for academic success through high school and into college.   

Objective 2c.  The percentage of high school students who enroll in and successfully complete college-level courses (through dual enrollment and/or college classes) will increase by 20% each year of the grant at the targeted high schools (Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Marshall).    

Phase II of Portland’s Voluntary Public School Choice program will focus significant resources on ensuring equity in neighborhood choice by supporting less successful local high schools in their long-term plans to attract students (neighborhood and beyond) to innovative and rigorous focus options that include access to higher education.  Current choice options allow high school students in more prosperous areas to access colleges and universities, but these opportunities are limited at Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Marshall High Schools. 

 Quality of the Project Evaluation                                                              

The evaluation of Portland’s Phase II project will provide information that will assist in expanding the district’s school choice program while assuring that teaching and learning are improving. Some key questions that will be addressed by the evaluation include:

•             Does the Portland Public Schools school choice program promote educational equity and excellence? How is such equity and excellence demonstrated and promoted throughout the district?

•             Are opportunities for school choice equitable for all student populations? Are opportunities previously less available to higher need and lower performing schools and neighborhoods similar to opportunities for other schools and neighborhoods throughout the district?

•             Is adequate support promoting student success available through all stages of the school choice process, including before, during and after choice?

•             How do student transfer choices and district transfer policies and options affect student achievement? How is student achievement similar or different based on such school characteristics as school improvement status (under NCLB guidelines) and the types and quality of support available in the schools?

Will the superintendent be giving the federal money back?

I’ve added a new category to this blog…Grant Monitoring.  Given PPS history of not using grant funds as they were intended to be used, I thought it would be helpful for the community to assist in monitoring grant funds.

PPS school closure history has already cost the district to lose $1.1 million.  Do you remember when Beth Slovic wrote about this? 

The district is headed down that path again with the Voluntary Public School Choice grant.  The grant targets two of the schools that are now facing closure…Marshall and Jefferson.