Local schools cited for poor performance: Officials disregard state rankings, citing old scores from antiquated system

Being named to the list serves as a means of notifying parents who might be interested in transferring their students to a better performing school, but since state education officials moved away from valuing API scores last year, so have local officials in believing the rankings hold much value.

Redwood City Elementary School District John Baker, in an email, said the most recent list has little bearing on the district.

“Redwood City School District is a schools of choice district, so we support the open enrollment option that is triggered when a school appears on this list,” he said. “In fact, many students from John Gill and Garfield already exercise the option to attend another school in the district.”

The most recent rankings reflect data collected in 2013, as state officials suspended API in favor of developing a system which better gauges students learning under the recently implemented Common Core standards.

State officials are obligated to publish the list of California’s 1,000 low-achieving schools under the Open Enrollment Act, enacted in 2010, as a means to pave the way for student transfers.

Baker added the district has invested significant effort in improving the education offered at the schools named to the list since the data was collected.

“We have done a lot of hard work since then at both John Gill and Garfield. We have found that many families are choosing to stay at these schools because they are pleased with the teachers, administrators and support systems in place,” he said.

A notice posted on the California Department of Education’s website encourages those concerned by the rankings to consider the time that has lapsed since the data used for the list was collected.

“Anyone using the list below as information about the achievement of a school or the possible transfer of a student, should know that many changes have occurred since the creation of this list,” said the notice. “A school on the list with a low API may have improved their assessment results and a school with a higher API may have decreased in their assessment results.”

Cheryl Olson, superintendent of the San Bruno Elementary School District, said in an email school officials have been committed to improving school performance at Belle Air Elementary School since the school’s poor performance was initially discovered.

“That information is several years old, and we are working very hard to make sure our students succeed and continue to improve as we navigate the new testing system and teach our students to think and write critically, as well as have meaningful discourse about a topic or concept,” she said. “As we cultivate these necessary skills in our students, their abilities and achievement will continue to increase.”

She said the school has also developed a new assessment system designed to gauge learning milestones, and ensure the threshold of student achievement is constantly pushed forward.

The recently implemented practices will improve education opportunities in San Bruno, said Olson.

“I see great things in store for Belle Air as well as our entire district as we learn to use additional effective instructional practices, methodologies, strategies and curriculum with our students,” she said.

Shawnterra Moore, superintendent of the South San Francisco Unified School District, also noted in an email the information which led to formation of the list is antiquated, but said school officials remain committed to improving student performance at Los Cerritos and Spruce elementary schools.

“Two of our nine elementary schools made this list but have and will continue to engage students in ways that support innovation and creative thinking,” she said.

She said few parents in the district request school transfers, based on the Open Enrollment Act, despite poor scores of some schools in the past.

“Many of our parents recognize the great teaching and learning that’s happening at their schools, despite some of the hurdles our children have to overcome,” she said. “We are proud of the dedication of our teachers and the work that our students are producing. We will continue to challenge and prepare them for future endeavors.”

Other San Mateo County schools on the list include Garnet Robertson Intermediate School in the Bayshore Elementary School District, Alvin Hatch Elementary in the Cabrillo Unified School District, Benjamin Franklin Intermediate and Thomas Pollicita Middle schools in the Jefferson Elementary School District, Pescadero Elementary and Middle School in the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District and Ronald McNair Academy in the Ravenswood City Elementary School District.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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