WJCC Board Supports New Alt Ed Concept, But Wants To Learn More

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, December 08, 2010

About 20 speakers passionately spoke in an effort to save the Academy for Life and Learning from potential closure at the Williamsburg-James City County School Board meeting on Tuesday night.

But board members also spoke passionately, saying that they would like to help more students than the 40 currently served by the division’s alternative education program, called ALL. They weighed in on a proposal, prepared by Acting Superintendent Scott Burckbuchler and Assistant Superintendent for Academic Services Dianna Lindsay, that would disband the school in favor of hiring three middle school “deans” to serve as advocates for struggling students in the division.

The majority of the board said they supported the concept of deans, but want the conversation to continue, in hopes of better defining “at-risk,” finding alternative disciplinary actions to suspensions and ensuring the most children can be served at every level. Member Jim Kelly said he was conflicted, but said the members should be. “It’s something we should be conflicted about and something we should think all the way through,” he said.

Four years ago, the school division disbanded the Center for Education Opportunities, its alternative education program that served both students with disciplinary problems and students at risk of failing. In its place, the division created ALL, a school housed in trailers on the grounds of Eastern State Mental Hospital. At ALL, led by Principal Anthony Mungin, students wore uniforms and received one-on-one attention, along with lessons in character education. He advocated for separating the disciplinary cases from the struggling students, which resulted in a refocus of the program in 2008. Since then, the program has moved into the annex at the former James Blair Middle School.

In its four years, the school has shown success at turning around seventh- and eighth-grade students in danger of failing. On Tuesday, students, parents and community members shared stories of success, speaking emotionally about how ALL helped students pass SOLs or earn A’s and B’s for the first times in their school careers.

Student Jazzmine Bulluck told the board that she believes she is the student she wants to be at the ALL Academy. “ I went to James Blair last year and I don’t even think my principal knew who I was,” she said tearfully. “When I go to the ALL Academy, my principal actually speaks to me.”

Resident Sue Wilson said the academy has produced results where others have failed, saying, “The time has come to end this benign neglect of students.” She promised the community would be watching the board as it moved forward.

Joseph Hayes, a William and Mary student and president of a tutoring program called Project ALL, said ALL has a proven track record that should be valued. “It seems that it would be very irresponsible to let go of a successful program to start a program that has no proof of success,” he said.

Burckbuchler told the board that the “dean” plan would serve more children, but also cut costs in a time when budgets are increasingly constrained. As presented, the dean plan would cost $300,000. He also said the plan represents a “paradigm shift” from pulling students out of their home schools for alternative education to serving them more effectively in their regular schools.

Lindsay said she envisioned the deans as advocates for children who are struggling to keep up. “I don’t see this person as a disciplinarian or someone who doles out after-school suspension,” she said, adding that the current behavior specialists employed at the high school level would serve as models for the job description.

Board member Denise Koch said that many of the disciplinary cases the board reviews have to do with interactions between teachers and students. Lindsay acknowledged that teacher-student relationships are crucial to student success, and that students need someone who is “a mediator, arbitrator…someone who can talk for the student or the teacher.”

Lindsay said the deans’ duties would be wide and varied, and could include chatting with students during lunch, making home visits, working with guidance counselors and more. They would also work to establish individualized study plans for students and the division aims to have the deans serve at least 40 students in each school. She said the dean program is already used in several school divisions, including Boston’s schools, and WJCC’s would incorporate elements of the AVID and ALL programs.

Board members expressed concern about the lack of a definition for “at-risk” and wondered why the school division aims to serve 40 students per school. Lindsay said the number is based on how many students are currently served by ALL, and she believes the division has many more children not being reached.

In his statements, Board Chair James Nickols said nothing is as sweet in one’s mouth as the taste of success. To the audience of ALL students, parents and advocates, he said, “I think I was hearing that you have tasted the success of learning at ALL…what we want to do is have more children taste the success.”

The board did not make any motions to approve the proposal, which is still labeled as a draft, but Nickols previously said it is likely to come to a vote before a new superintendent is hired by the end of the month. To read the full proposal for the new alternative education plan, click here.