The school district of University City is headed in a new direction, and officials are asking residents for help.
On Tuesday, July 15, Superintendent Joylynn Wilson and members of the district’s administrative staff held the first of a six-month series of community meetings aimed at developing the district’s future goals for the next five years.
The first meeting, held at Barbara C. Jordan Elementary, drew more than 100 parents, teachers and residents ready to roll up their sleeves and eager to help the district strategize on how to get better.
“I’m surprised by the turnout,” said Rose Smotherson, who has a child at Brittany Woods Middle School. “I’ve been to other meetings like this, and it was less than half of this participation.”
Wilson gave a candid overview of the challenges facing the district and laid out four imperatives for improvement – student achievement, family/community involvement, facilities and finance – as part of the comprehensive school improvement plan.
Although the district has made significant strides, it still has a long way to go. In recent years, U. City schools have faced a steady decline in student enrollment, inadequate facilities, uncompetitive teacher salaries, increasing staff turnover and budgetary concerns.
“If we don’t do something different, we could ultimately end up like some of our surrounding districts – unaccredited,” Wilson said. “And we don’t want that.”
The district has projected a $1.53 million budget deficit, partly due to increasing teacher salaries, for the 2008-2009 school year.
“That’s OK for next year because we have a fund balance of $7.64 million,” said Chief Financial Officer Scott Hafertepe. “But that won’t last forever.”
Most of the district’s $39.13 million in funds comes from local taxes and donations, while teacher salaries and benefits account for 80 percent of the budget. Hafertepe said the district has not had a tax initiative since 2001.
Hafertepe said the district does not want to have to cut anything that will impact academic achievement, including successful academic programs.
One option will be to shuffle resources to schools that need more help, he said. They will try to benefit from programs that the district already has in place for students not doing well.
Much of Tuesday’s two-hour discussion stemmed around increasing student achievement at grades 7 through 11. Middle schools did not meet MAP standards for mathematics or communications, and high schools did not MAP standards for mathematics for the 2007 school year.
“We really need to direct resources toward the middle school and high school levels,” Wilson said.
As a whole, the district met only 7 of the 14 accreditation standards set forth by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education last year.
“That’s disheartening to me,” longtime U. City resident Maxine Smith said of the APR results. “U. City could be a model school district, but it takes a lot of long range vision.”
Wilson said that not meeting MAP standards at the middle school level has been the case historically. She said although the district’s accreditation is not in jeopardy now, it could be down the road. Therefore, the district has requested its accreditation review early to find out exactly where it stands.
“It’s hard to share this data and to see the dismay on the faces,” Wilson told residents. “But this community wants and deserves to see the whole picture.”
The district also has faced a 27 percent drop in student enrollment from 1996 to 2008. Teachers in U. City earn less on average than teachers in other county districts.
District officials said the district is struggling with increasing poverty levels in families as well. About 74.8 percent of its elementary school students are on free or reduced lunch.
Marva Miller, a member of the facilitating team, said the key to getting the district together is engaging parents.
“We need to maintain as much contact with the parents as possible to get scores up,” said Miller, who has children at Flynn Park Elementary and Brittany Woods Middle schools.
Still, Wilson said there are so many good things happening in and around the district, such as its rich cultural diversity. Students at Flynn Park Elementary, for example, come from over 98 different nationalities, she said.
The U. City School District is made up of an early childhood education center, six elementary schools, one middle school and a high school. As of January 2008, the district had a total of 3,275 students with African Americans making up about 87 percent.
The six-month initiative, called “Look Inside, Look Ahead…Make U. City Schools A Destination,” is being initiated by a 23-person facilitating team co-chaired by U. City alumni Nicole Adewale and David Harris.
Adewale said it was impossible to identify the district’s most pressing concern because all four imperatives are interrelated. But the plan is ultimately designed to enhance student achievement and performance levels.
Each imperative will be discussed in greater detail in the coming forums, which will run until the beginning of December. Each meeting will be held first on a weeknight and then repeated on the following Saturday morning. For those unable to attend, meetings will be recorded and handouts will be available on the district’s website.
District leaders will compile recommendations and put them into a final report to go to the Board of Education in December.
Wilson said she was more than satisfied with Tuesday’s turnout because it shows that the community is deeply invested in its schools. But the key is to keep that momentum through December, she said.
“I say to you there is still hope, and we can do this,” Wilson told residents.
To download a complete community engagement calendar, visit www.ucityschools.org. For more information call 314-290-4016 or email destinationucityschools@u-city.k12.mo.us.
