Post by gatormom on Mar 10, 2009 6:18:45 GMT -5
D204 board likes alternative middle school plan
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1468487,D204-board-likes-alternative_na030909.article
March 10, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
Plans for an alternative middle school are receiving rave reviews from Indian Prairie School District 204's board.
"I expect that this is going to take off," said Jeannette Clark. "I really do, because it is clearly a need."
The board referenced the new program in a Wednesday e-mail to residents regarding the district's controversial handling of the alleged, off-campus sexual assault of an 11-year-old Gregory Middle School student by two of his classmates, one of whom continues to attend the school with the alleged victim.
In the e-mail, the board suggests this program, along with passage of legislation proposed by state Rep. Darlene Senger, would make it easier for the district to deal with such a situation.
"The alternative middle school," stated the e-mail, "could provide a placement option for future middle school students for whom the regular setting is deemed unsuitable."
However, the one-year program would not include "students who have a pattern of physical violence." It is designed for students who have not been successful in the traditional middle school program.
Still, Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said the program would be an option for the district in situations such as this, especially if Senger's legislation were to pass.
Senger's bill would allow school districts to remove students charged with violent felonies from their regular schools and place them in alternative schools until the matter is adjudicated. She presented it in Springfield last week, but it failed to make it out of the Juvenile Justice Reform Committee.
The new alternative middle school is projected to be at least cost neutral, and perhaps even provide for significant savings.
According to District 203's calculations, the projected per-pupil expenditure of $10,000 to $11,000 for students in the program would be a bit higher than its average of $9,790. Still, it would be significantly less than the $20,000 to $30,000 per student the district must pay when it sends kids to out-of-district behavioral schools.
The alternative middle school would be located within Indian Plains Alternative High School, would use District 204's curriculum, and would serve roughly 30 seventh and eighth graders combined from the two school systems.
The intent is to provide a program for students who may benefit academically in a smaller, structured educational environment — one that is conducive to a variety of learning styles and helps students make appropriate choices and experience success.
"I guess the one overriding thing that we kept talking about is that for us, a middle school of 1,000 to 1,500 kids is the norm," said Kevin Meyers, District 204's director of secondary education. "Well, it's not, and we have a lot of students that struggle in that environment."
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1468487,D204-board-likes-alternative_na030909.article
March 10, 2009
By TIM WALDORF twaldorf@scn1.com
Plans for an alternative middle school are receiving rave reviews from Indian Prairie School District 204's board.
"I expect that this is going to take off," said Jeannette Clark. "I really do, because it is clearly a need."
The board referenced the new program in a Wednesday e-mail to residents regarding the district's controversial handling of the alleged, off-campus sexual assault of an 11-year-old Gregory Middle School student by two of his classmates, one of whom continues to attend the school with the alleged victim.
In the e-mail, the board suggests this program, along with passage of legislation proposed by state Rep. Darlene Senger, would make it easier for the district to deal with such a situation.
"The alternative middle school," stated the e-mail, "could provide a placement option for future middle school students for whom the regular setting is deemed unsuitable."
However, the one-year program would not include "students who have a pattern of physical violence." It is designed for students who have not been successful in the traditional middle school program.
Still, Superintendent Stephen Daeschner said the program would be an option for the district in situations such as this, especially if Senger's legislation were to pass.
Senger's bill would allow school districts to remove students charged with violent felonies from their regular schools and place them in alternative schools until the matter is adjudicated. She presented it in Springfield last week, but it failed to make it out of the Juvenile Justice Reform Committee.
The new alternative middle school is projected to be at least cost neutral, and perhaps even provide for significant savings.
According to District 203's calculations, the projected per-pupil expenditure of $10,000 to $11,000 for students in the program would be a bit higher than its average of $9,790. Still, it would be significantly less than the $20,000 to $30,000 per student the district must pay when it sends kids to out-of-district behavioral schools.
The alternative middle school would be located within Indian Plains Alternative High School, would use District 204's curriculum, and would serve roughly 30 seventh and eighth graders combined from the two school systems.
The intent is to provide a program for students who may benefit academically in a smaller, structured educational environment — one that is conducive to a variety of learning styles and helps students make appropriate choices and experience success.
"I guess the one overriding thing that we kept talking about is that for us, a middle school of 1,000 to 1,500 kids is the norm," said Kevin Meyers, District 204's director of secondary education. "Well, it's not, and we have a lot of students that struggle in that environment."