Delay could cost Ky. schools federal dollars

TEST SCORES' ARRIVING AFTER CLASSES BEGIN DILUTES OPTION TO LEAVE FAILING CAMPUSES

HERALD-LEADER STAFF REPORT

Jul. 26, 2003

Failure to tell parents and taxpayers which schools and districts aren't meeting federal standards before their classrooms reopen could cost Kentucky money.

State officials said it will probably be October -- weeks after schools start -- before it gets results from tests that students took last spring. The scores will be used to determine whether schools made gains required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Therein lies the quandary. The state hasn't received permission to delay notifying the public, said Jo Ann Webb, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education. Timing is critical to allow parents the option of transferring their children to better-performing schools.

"They can't postpone making" the determinations, Webb said yesterday. "Prior to the beginning of the school year is what the law requires ... to give parents time to make any decisions they need to make."

States that don't comply risk losing federal dollars -- Title I funds -- funneled to schools based on the the number of low-income students who attend, Webb said. Kentucky received about $128 million in the 2002 fiscal year.

State Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross said the state has received a different message in its communications with the federal agency. "That's not what they're telling us," she said.

"It's not that we don't want to do that," Gross said of scoring schools before the start of terms. "Logistically it may not be possible this year."

Last year, 28 Kentucky schools did not meet federal standards because they failed to improve on state exams two years in a row. The state was allowed to delay identifying the schools until mid-September.

Since then, Kentucky's plan for complying with the No Child law received federal approval even though issues remained to be resolved. Kentucky, for instance, still has to set the goals against which schools' scores in math and reading will be measured in future years.

A July 1 letter from the department noted that Kentucky needed to finalize its policies and provide a timeline that enables it to "identify schools in need of improvement ... prior to the beginning of the 2003-04 school year." The letter also said Kentucky must identify school districts in need of improvement.

Kentucky had pledged to work with its testing contractor to release full scores -- or at least preliminary results -- for math and reading before schools open. Final results would include students' performance on essay-like questions. But schools labeled federally failing with the preliminary scores could escape that designation after the final ratings are released.

Those on the federal list receive state assistance, an audit to identify improvements that can be made and money for changes. Schools are required to provide transportation for children who transfer to better schools with room for additional students. Supplemental services, such as tutoring, also have to be supplied for some students who remain.

No statewide figures were compiled, but the transfer option apparently hasn't been overwhelmingly popular with parents. At four Fayette County schools -- Tates Creek, Yates and Cardinal Valley elementary schools and Tates Creek Middle School -- 153 have moved or will move this fall, said Carmen Rader-Bowles, the district's Title I coordinator. Transfers weren't allowed until January.

None of the roughly 130 students transferred from Millersburg Elementary in Bourbon County, said interim principal Joseph Sheroan. About 25 percent of the school's students received additional services. The school received about $75,000 in federal funds while Fayette's received $465,183 to help pay for extra services, training for teachers and other expenses.

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