Buena Vista on ‘restructure’ list

BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Consistently poor academic performance will require Buena Vista High School to be "restructured," though officials aren't saying exactly how, according to The Saginaw News.

The high school has not made "adequate yearly progress" for five consecutive years as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, according to The News.  The school dropout rate was 19.6 percent in 2009, and the graduation rate was 56.7 percent, The News reported. About 6 percent of juniors taking the MME in 2009 reached "proficiency" in math and about 15 percent in English, according to The News.

New state law offers several restructuring options, including replacing the principal, converting the school to a charter public school, or changing the curriculum and instructional methods, Sharif M. Shakrani, Michigan State University College of Education professor, told The News.

"My prediction is that something will be done at that school by this fall, but what it is, I don't know," Shakrani said. "The history, in Michigan, has not been one with a whole lot of meaningful restructuring of schools."

Superintendent Sharron Jenkins Norman did not return phone calls and also canceled a meeting with The News, the paper reported. A district teacher who asked not to be identified told The News that educators have been told the school must develop a restructuring plan.

Board member Randy Jackson told The News that the district is waiting for information from the state and that it hopes to retain local control of the school.

SOURCE:
The Saginaw News, "State, federal mandates call for Buena Vista restructuring," May 23, 2010

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "The shell game of making AYP," March 18, 2009