GENTRY -- Though attendance was not what school officials had hoped, a Nov. 3 public meeting served as an update to the community on the Gentry School District's conversion charter school application.
Randy Barrett, school district superintendent, welcomed a group of approximately 15 patrons, parents and staff and noted this was the final chance to look at and discuss the plans for the district's conversion charter application before state action.
"This is one piece of what we are doing as a district," Barrett said of the charter school effort. "This will be our last effort locally before we move on to the state level. We have attempted to involve the community as much as possible," he explained.
Barrett reported that Gravette School District had chosen to abandon its charter request after learning that funding was limited or non-existent. He said Gentry had that same chance to retreat but chose to continue on.
"This never was about getting money from the state; it was about doing something to help all students have a chance to succeed," Barrett explained.
Judy Winslett, assistant superintendent, said the Gentry High School Conversion Charter had as its purpose "to deliver an education designed to prepare students for successful transition to opportunities beyond high school in career and college."
Winslett said the change in course, to include a conversion charter school, was to increase opportunities and options for students to have a successful future. She said the program would include innovations in the current educational model, such as internships, vocational programs taught by industry professionals and individualized instruction for students.
She cited information regarding the costs of obtaining a college education, as well as statistics indicating less than half of Gentry graduates go on to complete a four-year college degree. She said the conversion charter would allow the school district to prepare college-bound students for college but also prepare those not college-bound to obtain meaningful employment by helping to provide industry-specialized training and internships with local businesses and industry.
Winslett said the addition of a conversion charter school in connection with the high school would create more options for Gentry students, giving students the option to go on to college or to graduate with industry certifications and be more prepared to enter the workforce and fill needs of local industries for skilled employees. She said the program would allow students to clarify their goals for the future by allowing them to take college courses while in high school or learn job skills before graduation. She said the conversion charter would help provide the needed workforce for local industry, filling new job posts and vacancies resulting from retiring employees.
Students bound for college can already realize significant savings by taking advantage of "early college experience" courses available. She estimated Gentry students had, over the past five years, saved $91,000 in tuition costs by taking college classes while enrolled in high school.
Possible future courses of study to be included in the conversion charter program include a diesel mechanics program; a logistics program with classes in supply chain management, transportation management, inventory management and international logistics; and entrepreneurship. Winslett said general education concurrent courses from Northwest Arkansas Community College are already available on the high school campus.
Winslett said health-care pathway courses currently offered in connection with NWACC include an introduction to medical professions, certified nurse aide training, patient care assistant training and medical terminology. Possible expanded offerings could include electronic health records, anatomy and physiology, pathology, first responder training and medical coding. Information technology courses could include an introduction to computer information and an introduction to computer programming and code writing.
Requested waivers for the conversion charter include: 1. embedded courses; 2. use of non-licensed teachers or instructors with specialized skills and abilities; 3. school day attendance adjusted to allow flexibility for individualized instruction; 4. a waiver of clock hours for units of credit to allow for self-paced instruction; 5. allow for master grading rather than the standard grading scale used in traditional courses.
Al Lemke, a resident within the school district, suggested the aviation field and, particularly, aviation mechanics be added to the list of logistics offerings because of the proximity of airports and for those considering entering the military.
Cheryl Braun asked about the possibility of exchanges with other local school districts providing specialized training. Winslett said Gravette and Siloam Springs currently allow students from other districts to participate in their classes if there are open seats after district students sign up. She said a Gentry student is currently in the HVAC program at Gravette and that other students would be allowed to participate in Gentry's diesel mechanics' program if seats are available. She said Gentry had so many students interested in the CNA course that Gentry offered its own program this year.
Winslett pointed out that Gravette, Decatur and Gentry have formed an informal group known as the Western Benton Country Careers Consortium and have been closely working together to provide localized training for students on the west side of Benton County.
Linda Lemke asked if the careers programs were for seniors only, and Winslett explained that any student in grades nine through 12 could participate. Some core pre-requisite courses are necessary depending on the program, she said.
Charla Whitaker asked of the connection with the EAST Initiative, and Winslet said there is only an indirect connection to EAST, saying, "EAST is about using technology and 'out of the box' thinking to accomplish projects. Technology careers are 'high demand' careers. Programs like EAST expand the way students see the field of IT," she said.
Braun asked about industry-skilled instructors being allowed to teach without a teaching certificate on a "limited" basis. She asked if that meant that these instructors would only be eligible for short assignments or until an Arkansas Department of Education licensed instructor could be hired. Winslett said that "limited," in this sense, referred to the areas where this waiver would be applied. She said core curriculum teachers would still be required to be fully ADE licensed. Limited referred to industry-certified personnel who would teach specialized skills which are not within the normal purview of licensed teachers.
Winslett said the non-licensed instructors would be paid from a different salary schedule than licensed teachers. She noted that it would be extremely difficult and highly unlikely to find a diesel mechanics' instructor with a teaching license willing to be paid from the teacher salary schedule.
Charter status and waivers are granted for five years, according to Winslett, and would need to be renewed if the waivers and charter status are to continue.
"How do you encourage ninth graders to plan their futures?" Al Lemke asked.
Winslett said the students would be included within the character education program already at the elementary level, being taught such things as being on time and doing one's best. Older students will have opportunities for career exploration, with field trips to industries to see what is involved in specific fields and whether they might have an interest.
Linda Lemke told Winslett that Rachel White, Gentry Intermediate School media specialist, was already teaching students limited computer coding through games on Wonderful Wednesdays. She said that she had heard White encourage the students by saying "computers and computer programming will continue to be a great career opportunity."
Winslett said she would thank White for her efforts. Winslett said that part of the mission of the GHSCC was to "Communicate options and let [students] find the fun as well as develop a passion."
The school district will present its case for a charter school to the State Charter Authorizing Panel on Nov. 19, Winslett said, adding that school officials will present their request in person and that the district should hear by December if the application is approved.
"What happens if you are not approved?" Al Lemke asked. "Will you quit?"
Winslett said she could not conceive of quitting at this point.
"This is too important to our students to give up," Winslett replied. "I believe we will be approved but, if not, we will just have to attack from a different direction. I am so entrenched that I cannot imagine giving up."
Barrett agreed.
"The word 'charter' is a popular buzz word," Barrett said. "The governor is focused on making sure we are balancing the scale, preparing students for college and/or a career."
Barrett said that, at the fall administrator's conference in Little Rock last month, industry leaders plainly addressed school personnel and said, "You are not helping the economy of the state because you are not turning out hire-ready students."
Barrett said he felt that to be a push to rectify that issue.
"This charter is about setting aside a few rules to help a group of students be ready for the workforce upon graduation and to have the same chance as college-bound students to succeed in needed fields and in careers they enjoy," Barrett said. "Mr. Lemke is right that not every student is college bound and our economy needs workers as well. We hope this is a long-term plan in which we will expand the curriculum and join in student-sharing relationships with neighboring districts. We are excited and hopeful. I wish we would have done this 10 years ago."
General News on 11/11/2015