This Week News

12/27/2007

David J. Cross

ThisWeek Staff Writer 

Columbus City Schools could see a change in the way it houses its students in the future.

At the Dec. 18 Board of Education meeting Superintendent Gene Harris proposed the district reconfigure both its elementary schools and high schools.

Under the plan, elementary schools would house students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, while high schools would serve seventh- through 12th-grade students.

If the proposal is accepted, schools in the Linden area would be the first to convert to the new configuration. Sixth grade classes could be added to four Linden elementary schools — Hamilton, Linden, South Mifflin and Windsor — as soon as next school year.

In the 2009-10 school year, seventh-grade students would move from the elementary schools directly into Linden-McKinely High School.

Harris said there have been some concerns over younger students socializing with high school students. She said seventh- and eighth-grade students would be on a high school campus, but separated either by an independent building or similar approach.

Currently, the district utilizes several school configurations, though the most common one is for students to move from elementary school, to middle school and then high school, said Jeff Warner, a district spokesman.

Harris said the shift would promote community connections, reduce building operations costs, overtime and reduce bus transportation.

Educationally, she said it will help students graduate from high school by reducing the impact on students when they move from one school to another.

“The research evidence suggests that the impact of students transitioning from one school to another is largely negative,” Harris said.

The next step in the process is to evaluate whether the Linden-area schools will move to the reconfiguration.

Harris said a feasibility study needs to be undertaken in the upcoming weeks. A district-wide study is expected to take place in the upcoming months, Harris said.

Harris’ proposal followed a presentation by a Linden task force that was charged with finding ways of curbing a decline in student enrollment in the area.

Members of the task force made several recommendations. Among those was the grade reconfiguration.

“The Linden area would give us really good information,” Harris said after the meeting.

As proof the proposal could work, Harris pointed to Rochester City Schools in New York. It is comparable to Columbus schools in both demographics and challenges.

Harris said Rochester reconfigured its school system in 2004 and is now one of the best districts in the U.S. despite a high mobility and poverty rates for students.

One questions board members asked, was whether the new configuration would affect the district’s facilities master plan.

“We would absolutely make use of all the buildings and all things we have planned,” Harris said.

In addition, Harris proposed the creation of three pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade campuses, one with a performing arts focus and two with science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine focuses.