Turnaround officer: State intervention in Bibb schools would be a partnership, not a takeover

Bibb County Board of Education members will likely decide next month whether they want to agree to a partnership that will allow the state to intervene at three of its lowest-performing schools.

The first cohort of Georgia schools that Eric Thomas, the state's "chief turnaround officer," wants to work with includes Veterans Elementary, Appling Middle and Ballard-Hudson Middle. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary was initially considered but was recently replaced by Ballard-Hudson. Superintendent Curtis Jones said Thomas requested the change after seeing the support that Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary is already receiving.

"We have a lot of support that's happening at elementary schools. People are less likely to support middle schools for some reason," Jones said. "Now that we have two middle schools, I think it gives us a great opportunity to see how this initiative may help them."

The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement identified 104 low-performing schools on its Turnaround Eligible Schools List in November, and some are being selected for state intervention under the First Priority Act.

During Thursday's Bibb school board meeting, Thomas said the state will not be taking schools over but rather partnering with them to create and implement personalized improvement plans.

"We're not talking about removing principals, we're not talking about removing staff. It's really more of a transformation model, more of a support model," Thomas said. "Our role really is to help schools and the district to stay focused on the things they identified they need to stay focused on. .... We're not here to tell people, 'This is what you should do in your school.' "

It's the Bibb district's understanding that there would be no additional cost to the system if it works with the state, said Stephanie Hartley, Bibb County's communications director

The state will provide a full-time coach who's dedicated to helping the schools and district reach their goals and also cover things such as professional development training, Thomas said. State funding would also be used for agency partnerships that the state coordinates, Hartley said.

One big goal is to make support services from outside agencies more cohesive, so all are working toward common goals in the schools, Thomas said. In addition, districts often take on too many initiatives and goals, and the state will help them pare down those lists and decide what to tackle first.

"It's really about what are the two or three things at the school level or district level that's going to make the difference and working to make a home run on those two or three things and trying to institutionalize and create a culture around those things," Thomas said. "And then you bring in the next thing."

To work with the state, the district must amend its Strategic Waivers School System contract with the State Board of Education. Jones anticipates the recommendation for the amendment will be presented to the Bibb Board of Education during its Feb. 12 meeting. If board members pass it, the contract will be sent to the state board for approval.

If a district isn't receptive to intervention, "the pool of willing partners is still relatively strong," Thomas said during the Georgia Partnership for Education in Excellence conference on Jan. 5. However, the language of the First Priority Act does grant Thomas the authority to require participation if he thinks it's needed.

"I'm very interested in doing the partnership, and I think it can work," Jones said. "I believe that if it's a true partnership, at the end of the three years, our students will make improvement, the state will know that we've worked with them, and if they don't make the level of improvement that's in our SWSS contract, they're going to know we've done all we can do to make it work."

Board Treasurer Daryl Morton told Thomas he's "supportive of true partnerships" with the state but there may be some initial reluctance based on past history. The First Priority Act followed 2016’s failed Opportunity School District amendment, which would have allowed the state to take control of public schools deemed to be failing.

"Certainly, we will partner with anybody who will bring resources to the table that are going to help us do a better job," Morton said. "I realize this is still a new program, a work in progress. What I'm looking for is something that's going to enhance what we're already doing and increasing that focus."

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Turnaround officer: State intervention in Bibb schools would be a partnership, not a takeover."