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Written by Henry Johnson
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Tuesday, 26 January 2010 |
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Imagine you have just completed the eighth grade and before you is a diverse spread of high schools to choose from. Ranging from community comprehensive schools like Grant ,to focus schools that might include schools for urban engineering, political sciences, international studies or the high school for Recording Arts, dubbed the “Hip Hop” high school by the media. You would be guaranteed acceptance to your community comprehensive school and the opportunity to apply to any of the focus option schools. In the fall of 2011, given the school board passes these proposals, these possibilities will coagulate into reality.
The PPS district has chosen to address inequity in our high schools by systemically redesigning them. Their outline includes three components—community comprehensive schools, focus-option schools and charter schools. The core curriculum for community schools is uniform and meets the Oregon Universities’ admission requirements. As the plan is written for community comprehensives now, its core curriculum consists of a 5th year of world language, visual arts, performing arts (band, choir, drama or theater), and a full array of required and elective courses. The curricula for focus options are designed and proposed by interested community groups on the condition that they meet Oregon standards of graduation requirements but engage students in learning about a specific vocation. Proposals for focus options will be available in the spring and due sometime in the summer, when the selection process begins. Lastly, PPS charter schools, such as Alliance or Meek, will continue to exist as they do now.
In February, Superintendent Carole Smith will introduce her resolution about the foundational elements of the high school redesign to the school board, and we will vote on it. As the student representative on the board, I will cast a symbolic vote on the resolution while the seven publicly elected board members I serve with will decide whether to pass it or not. After this vote, PPS will present proposals to the school board, staff and community on location of community comprehensive and focus high school campuses in late March. Around May or June, the board will vote on where to locate our community high schools. Finally, in the fall of 2011, new community comprehensive and focus option schools open. Also in the fall of 2011, school boundary revisions and changes in student assignment policy will begin implementation in a time frame consistent with any changes in the use of campuses
However, for students currently enrolled in high school, these changes will not be experienced but rather implemented in a rolling fashion that starts with an incoming freshman class in 2011.
If the high school redesign plan looks flawed or unreasonable to you, please contact board members, PPS staff or me. At this stage, the plan is simply a broad outline, but decisions on details and locations of school closures or reassignments will be made by the end of next semester, assuming the board passes it. Keep in mind that regardless of this plan, there is severe inequity in our public high schools and it must be reconciled one way or another.
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