Thursday, June 11, 2009

District Faulted on Redesign Process

By Elaine D. Briseño
Journal Staff Writer
      The state has agreed with a group of Rio Grande High parents who filed a formal complaint in March saying they did not have “meaningful involvement” in the redesign of the school.
       The complaint, filed with the New Mexico Public Education Department on March 27, said Albuquerque Public Schools failed to make parents an integral part of the redesign process. They said although they were included to some extent, they had no “meaningful involvement.”
       The South Valley school was forced to make changes after it failed to meet federal guidelines for student improvement for several years.
       The complaint also said APS did not provide proper parental notification as required by the federal No Child Left Behind.
       The Education Department agreed.
       It said APS did not make sure all parents received prompt notice of the redesign with information on how they could be involved. “Verbal representations and e-mails to individual parents do not satisfy this notice requirement,” the ruling said.
       It gave “two-way communication” as an example of meaningful involvement.
       Eduardo Soto, APS' associate superintendent of high schools, said Tuesday that the district disagrees with the state's findings and that APS contends there was plenty of opportunity for meaningful involvement. The school's redesign plan, he said, includes parent suggestions.
       “It's important for the community to know that we did have meaningful input from parents,” he said. “It's important to give our side to (the Education Department) and paint the entire picture.”
       An APS spokeswoman said Wednesday that the district was meeting with lawyers to consider its options.
       As part of the proposed redesign plan, teachers would undergo 30 hours of training this summer. Students would have more choices in the classes they take and assignments they complete, teachers would work in teams, and more emphasis would be placed on school projects.
       Esther Rivera, one of the parents who filed the complaint, called the decision “monumental” for parents with students in APS because the state affirmed their right to participate in their children's education.
       “All of the district's smoke and mirror tactics have not changed the honorable nature of our cause to empower parents and establish a platform to truly address the education needs of the children in our community,” she wrote in an e-mail.
       APS contended that it offered enough involvement by holding a community meeting, including parents on one of many committees that submitted ideas on the redesign, and giving parents the opportunity to submit suggestions to principal Linda Torres.
       But the state said although APS mailed a notice to parents that the school was to be redesigned, the notice did not explain how parents could become involved in making changes at the school.
       The state, though, did not require APS to restart the process, as parents had hoped. Instead, it directed the district to change the way it notifies and involves parents from now on.
       The ruling outlined steps the district must take to rectify the situation, including holding a meeting by June 22 with the principal and other district personnel to discuss how it will ensure “meaningful parental involvement.” Parents, not the district, will get to choose representatives to be involved.
       The district also must revise its Parent Involvement Plan by Sept. 1.
       Board member Dolores Griego, whose district includes Rio Grande, did not return a message left on her cell phone Wednesday. Griego had said in April that the district provided plenty of opportunity for parent involvement and that it was only a small group of parents who were disgruntled.
       

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