Improving student reading comprehension, beefing up technology in the classrooms, and addressing overcrowding with a building plan are goals Director of Schools Patrick Cripps would like to see accomplished as part of a five year plan for education in DeKalb County.
Director Cripps shared his vision with members of the Board of Education and County Commission’s Education Committee last Tuesday night, February 23.
The issues were raised during Cripps’ annual performance evaluation by the school board. “They (School Board) asked about what in a five year plan I would like to see,” said Director Cripps. ” While giving priority to reading initiatives and improved technology, Cripps said a building program must also be considered. “I’d probably do the reading (initiative) as number one (in a five year plan), technology, and then we really do need to start looking at the feasibility of building a school or schools,” he said.
The purpose of Tuesday night’s meeting was simply to share ideas among school board members and county commissioners on meeting existing and future school needs without any specific commitments. “This is just a planning process. We want to see what you guys think about schools and building projects and what you’ve heard from constituents in your community. I think it’s important we get their feedback as well,” Director Cripps said.
“We want to open some channels and doors with the county commission and start working together. We welcome any suggestions or anything to move forward,” added School Board Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III.
While the consensus of the committee was for a feasibility study to be done at some point in developing a building plan, members expressed their opinions on what they believe is needed in meeting needs.
“We’re growing. Our active school population right now is at 2,958 students. We know Smithville Elementary School is overcrowded. It is probably the oldest school in the system. We’re looking to improve facilities. What I would like to see within the next few years is for us to be able to start the building process. Getting a school added to our district. I am not saying what we want right now because I think it’s got to be a joint process involving the community because we can’t do it alone. When you look at the number of K-5 students, you’re looking at Northside with 620 students and Smithville Elementary has 595. Northside actually takes some of the second graders from Smithville Elementary,” Cripps said.
Anita Puckett, Assistant Principal at Smithville Elementary School and a Fifth District County Commissioner said she prefers building a new Pre-K through 5 school and also converting SES and Northside into Pre-K through 5 schools . According to Puckett, DeKalb County needs to be prepared for an influx of new students if the state funds mandatory pre-kindergarten in the years ahead. “I feel more confident in the K-5 schools and from what I’m hearing from State Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen be prepared for more Pre-K because (when it comes) it’s going to be mandatory county wide and statewide. There are more spaces that will need to be filled. I’d much rather see another Pre-K through 5 being built and changing Smithville Elementary and Northside Elementary to pre-K through 5th grade. All three schools would then be Pre-K through 5,” said Puckett.
Seventh District County Commissioner Larry Summers said he would like to see a new Pre-K through 8th grade school built and for Northside to be expanded to Pre-K through 8th. This would give the county three Pre-K through 8th grade schools including DeKalb West School and Smithville Elementary School could be closed. ” I think one of our shining stars is the West School and the continuity of students going in at the first grade and staying with their friends all the way through 8th grade. There is no changing schools every few years. Why don’t these kids and parents up here (Smithville) deserve the same thing we have down there?. I’m willing to vote to build a new K-8 school. I think that’s the way to go. To have three of them and get the hometown school system,” said Summers.
“The ideal model would be the West School because its 400 students and it’s K-8. But if you do one K-8 school up here you’re looking at 1,700 kids in one school. You can’t do that. But if we do two K-8 schools it would be an average of 870 students without growth,” said Director Cripps.
Infrastructure needs at the high school will also eventually have to be addressed according to Director Cripps. “We’re going to have to look at that (high school) on down the road. It was built for 400 people. If you come in the hallways (between classes) now you had better be going the same direction the kids are going or you’re going to get trampled.”
“Response To Intervention (RTI) is also being mandated now. They’re making us put teachers in schools but we have no where to put them. We have seven teachers now at the high school that don’t have a classroom. They go from classroom to classroom,” said Cripps.
Fourth District County Commissioner Jonathan Norris said he favors a feasibility study to determine the overall infrastructure needs of the school system including the elementary, middle, and high school level. “I think the first step is going to have to be a feasibility study. Larry may be right. Anita may be correct. We are all going to have a different opinion. But we have to plan for more than one thing in a 10-15 year span. If we’re already at 50% beyond our capacity at the high school and our middle school is already at max capacity, if we build all the Pre-K through 5 schools, they (students) still have to go somewhere (in later years) or we’re going to be right back in this situation,” said Norris.
” It begins with an honest non-agenda plan for what our needs are. I think we need an expert (to conduct feasibility study) but I guess I’ve always had a little bit of a problem with an expert being the same one that wants to do the contract to build the building. I really want somebody who can come in and analyze our needs, traffic flows, etc. and doesn’t have a chip in the game as far as building a school,” said Third District County Commissioner Jack Barton.
In addition to the building program, Director Cripps wants to get computers into the hands of more students within the next five years.
“We have a lot of technology in the school system but we’re nowhere near where we want to be,” said Cripps. “One of my goals would be for us to provide a one to one device (for students). Counties are using those now which helps with textbook costs. I’ve looked at the costs of books versus ipads and I’ve called other districts to see how they implemented their one to one devices. I know we can’t do it all at one time but I would like to see us slowly begin to implement computers (one to one devices) for students to take their thinking above what it is now. What I have been told by other districts is that assignments can be created that can be done without the need of Internet at home. One of the coolest things I’ve seen from some of the districts is if you’re a teacher you can actually video record your lesson and provide that to your students and if they are out they can do the lesson at home. That’s another advantage of having the one to one device. We did a rough number for the high school on what it would cost to get every student a one to one device plus the charging carts and programs and it was about $280,000. That’s where we would like to start is at the high school and then add the other schools as we go along because everything is computer based now. We keep a textbook for six or seven years but within two years it’s out of date. This is one reason why schools are going away from textbooks and to computers,” said Director Cripps.
In addition to Director Cripps and School Board Chairman Evins, others attending the committee meeting last Tuesday were School Board members Jerry Wayne Johnson, Jim Beshearse, Kate Miller, Doug Stephens and Shaun Tubbs, County Mayor Tim Stribling, and County Commissioners Puckett, Summers, Norris, Barton, and Jimmy Midgett.