Bruce Randolph Middle School received “unsatisfactory” rankings on state tests for the third straight year, making it the second Denver middle school to face a possible shutdown.
But education officials said Tuesday that they hope sweeping leadership and teacher changes at the school this year will be enough to skirt the law that forcibly converts traditional schools into charter schools after four years of poor performance.
“It’s not the same school now,” state education Commissioner William Moloney said. “There is different leadership and a different program.”
Last spring, the former Denver Public Schools superintendent made a zero-hour effort to change the school enough to “start over the clock” to avoid a charter conversion.
The school got a new principal, who was allowed to hire new teachers.
At issue is how the state – or a district or a school – defines “change.” Does a new principal mean the school is changed and deserves another three years? What about giving it a new name, a new grade configuration and a more experienced staff?
Van Schoales, an executive vice president of the Colorado Children’s Campaign, believes the changes at Randolph could be enough but said there should be objective data that show a school is improving.
“It shouldn’t be dealmaking between superintendents and commissioners and the governor,” Schoales said. “The state needs to reserve the right to take over a school. There should be a detailed set of indicators that suggests that a school is turning around.”
Last year, Rep. Rosemary Marshall pitched a bill in the legislature to give districts the flexibility to change unsatisfactory schools enough to avoid a charter school conversion.
Her measure was vetoed by Gov. Bill Owens.
Marshall said Tuesday that she hopes to craft a more narrow bill in January that would give the state board final oversight.
“I think districts need as much opportunity as possible to address their respective community,” she said.
Owens spokesman Dan Hopkins said the governor agrees, but “we always have to see what the final legislation looks like.”
At Randolph on Tuesday morning, principal Kristin Waters, who was about to hang up pictures of kids who read every night last month, said she was staying out of the politics.
“I’m really just trying to focus on what we’re doing here,” she said.
The school has moved into an almost-obsessive focus on getting seventh- and eighth-graders to grade-level and beyond in reading, writing and math, she said.
Teachers take reading and writing assessments several times a month and try to tailor instruction to what the students need. Waters said the specter of a charter conversion makes her sad, but if that were the case, she and her staff joke they would apply for charter status and continue doing what they’re doing.
“It is so different than what it was when I got here,” she said. “I’m confident that the right things will happen. The kids deserve that.”
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-820-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com.
Best and worst
HEAD OF THE CLASS
Schools rated “excellent” that showed “significant improvement”
Elementary schools
Douglass (Boulder Valley Re 2)
High Peaks (Boulder Valley Re 2)
Mesa (Boulder Valley Re 2)
Monarch K-8 (Boulder Valley Re 2)
Merino (Buffalo Re-4)
Belleview (Cherry Creek 5)
Cottonwood Creek (Cherry Creek 5)
Cheyenne Mountain (Cheyenne Mountain 12)
Gold Camp (Cheyenne Mountain 12)
King-Murphy (Clear Creek Re-1)
Cory (Denver County 1)
Slavens (Denver County 1)
Steck School (Denver County 1)
Core Knowledge Charter (Douglas County Re 1)
Northridge (Douglas County Re 1)
Timber Trail (Douglas County Re 1)
Riverview (Durango 9-R)
Hackberry Hill (Jefferson County R-1)
Shaffer (Jefferson County R-1)
Lewis-Palmer (Lewis-Palmer 38)
Palmer Lake (Lewis-Palmer 38)
Valley View (Mapleton 1)
Maybell (Moffat County Re:No 1)
Peetz (Plateau Re-5)
Paradox Valley Charter (West End Re-2)
Middle schools
Aspen Community Charter (Aspen 1)
Cheyenne Mountain Charter (Cheyenne Mountain 12)
Eagle County Charter (Eagle County Re 50)
Kim Undivided High (Kim Reorganized 88)
Barone (Meeker Re 1)
North Park Junior-Senior High (North Park R-1)
Liberty Common Charter (Poudre R-1)
Paradox Valley Charter (West End Re-2)
High schools
Lake City Community (Hinsdale County Re 1)
Crestone Charter (Moffat 2)
Peetz Junior-Senior High (Plateau Re-5)
Ridgeview Classical Charter (Poudre R-1)
AT THE BOTTOM
Schools rated “unsatisfactory” that showed “significant decline”
Elementary schools
Center for Discovery Learning Charter (Jefferson County R-1)
Middle schools
Randolph (Denver County 1)
Center for Discovery Learning Charter (Jefferson County R-1)
Frontier High (Poudre R-1)
High schools
Las Animas A+ Distance Learning (Las Animas RE-1)
Life Skills Center of Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs 11)
Frontier High (Poudre R-1)
