Other decisions are tied to Amendment 1
As the November vote quickly approaches there are other decisions besides who will run the country that should be on the minds of Bibb County school board members, plus the two new members — Bob Easter and Sundra Woodford — who will take their positions in January. The board has already passed a resolution in opposition to Amendment 1, which would allow the state to form an Opportunity School District to take over what it deems are failing schools.
The state’s definition of a failing school is one that has scored below 60 on a 100-point scale called the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). But there is a catch. The state Department of Education has been making adjustments to the CCRPI since it first started using the measurement in 2012 to replace the CRCT. And the state is still adjusting and adjusting and adjusting.
The state would have the option to close the schools, allow the districts to operate them under contract, turn them into charter schools or run the schools. The OSD schools, run by a superintendent, could say goodbye to State Board of Education rules, regulations, policies, procedures and provisions, but not federal, state or local rules or court orders. Conceivably, the OSD could walk into a school, fire everybody while at the same time controlling all state and local money going to the children attending that school.
So what issue is on the minds of Bibb school board members? Remember the E-LOST that passed last year? There was $35 million in that proposal to build a new Northeast High School/Appling Middle School complex on the northeast site on Upper River Road. Appling is on the takeover list. The new $16.7 million Veterans Elementary would also be on the list due the merger of two schools. The question: Do you go ahead with plans to spend $35 million in tax dollars on a school the state could turn around and give to a for-profit school management firm? Ballard Hudson, also on the takeover list, is new as well. It opened in 2008, Southwest High School’s new campus opened in 2009. Decisions, decisions, but none as hard as the Northeast/Appling scenario.
There is no doubt the students in the northeast zone deserve better. The present facility is 46 years old with the exception of the gym. But there is a clause in Senate Bill 133, which is the enabling legislation behind Amendment 1, that says that if the state takes over a school and decides to close it, the local school board can’t use the facility as a school for three years. Certainly that would be a drastic situation but a possibility board members have to consider.
It’s hoped that if Amendment 1 passes our local legislative delegation will have enough political clout with the governor to keep Bibb County schools from being part of the coup. They should be able to convince the governor that Bibb has righted itself. With the limit of 20 schools the OSD can consume each year and a maximum of 100, there are plenty of other schools to look at, but at this point it becoes a political question, that will change in 2018 as a new governor is elected.
While proponents of the measure say local boards have had their chance to improve schools, the state has never given local districts the freedom to operate outside of its rules as they would be allowed to do as an OSD school. The other option for the state, one not popular under the Gold Dome, is to fully fund the Quality Basic Education Act that has been in place since 1985. That’s not a knock on just this General Assembly or this governor. No General Assembly or governor — and there have been five governors since QBE was enacted — has fully funded the formula created by the legislation.
Voters can decide which way they want to go Nov. 8. Amendment 1 is posed as a “who can be against that” kind of question, but the devil is in the details and the above details are just some of the ones the Bibb board has to consider.
This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Other decisions are tied to Amendment 1."