Bertram Discusses Schools Answers Queries on ‘Newsmakers’
By MIZELL STEWART III, Courier & Press Editor 461-0799 or stewartm@courierpress.com
EDITOR’S NOTE: In his first year on the job, the new superintendent of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. developed a strategic agenda that calls for new investments in early childhood education, instructional technology and school facilities, including construction of a new high school in northern Vanderburgh County.
Vincent Bertram appears this week on “Newsmakers,” a new weekly interview program produced by WNIN-PBS and the Courier & Press. The following is an edited transcript of that interview with Courier & Press Editor Mizell Stewart III. The full program can be seen today at 11:30 a.m. on WNIN-PBS9.
Q: Voters are expected to decide the financing package for the strategic agenda. What will voters decide in November?
A: Well, basically there will be a question on the November ballot that asks if voters approve of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. selling bonds and entering into lease agreements to construct a new North Side high school, middle school, as well as major investments in many of our inner-city schools – Cedar Hall,
Lodge and Lincoln elementary schools and Glenwood Middle School.
We have committed to eliminating portable classrooms and the trailers that are at many of our schools – so we’ll do permanent additions at those facilities. (There also will be) a number of other things across our district, including a technology center that will really highlight our need for modern technology and the access our children need in this technological world.
Q: Let’s talk a little bit about the beginning of your tenure here. You joined the school corporation last May. Is there a story or a situation that you experienced upon your arrival that is emblematic of what you believe needs to happen in terms of changes you are trying to make in the EVSC?
A: I think there are a number of things that became very apparent to me early on. One is the inclusiveness we need to have in the EVSC and really reaching out and understanding that schools can’t do this work alone – that education is about community, and we had to include the community. We had to find a way to give people a voice and to really understand the needs and expectations of the community at large. So what we did was to set out with a series of community forums, individual and group meetings, and then we came up with a strategic agenda that we presented to our board on Dec. 10.
Q: But.. as you came into the district, as you began interacting with teachers, with administrators, with students, with people in the community – was there an encounter that began to shape your thinking about where the school corporation needed
to go?
A:Well, I hope that many of those things were embodied in our strategic plan and addressed from that perspective. I think the things that were perhaps most pronounced in those conversations were dealing with equity issues and diversity issues within our school district. I kept hearing from people the concern around those particular areas and really looking at the access to technology and other things in some of our inner-city schools versus some of our rural or suburban schools. And diversifying not just along racial lines but ethnicity, background (and) the types of experiences that perhaps we were lacking.
Q: It’s interesting you mention that and you are engaged in a conversation about a key part of the strategic agenda being construction of a new high school on the North Side. There are some who would argue that redistricting and better utilizing existing buildings would be the way to solve some of these equity issues.
A: One of the things we’ve highlighted through many presentations is that our demographics have shifted – and what we try to do is to get schools near where our children live. If you look at the upper half of Vanderburgh County, you draw a line at (U.S.) 41 and (Indiana) 57, which encompasses 121 square miles, we have one school in more than half of our county. So what we’re really doing is trying to accommodate the extraordinary growth that has already occurred and what we anticipate will happen over the next several years, particularly with Interstate 69 and the opportunity for growth that exists there that doesn’t exist in other places in our community.
Q: Is there a sense, though, too, that doing that might prevent those residents from choosing to move, perhaps, to Warrick County or take their kids out of the EVSC?
A: Well, of course. Certainly, we want to be an attractive community. Not just with respect to education, but the community as a whole. But education is a key driver in that. And when people are looking to move to a community (and) industries (are) looking to locate somewhere, education is at the top of the list. And making sure that we have quality education, quality facilities – and the facilities are where people want to move – that’s certainly a primary factor in our thinking along those lines. But when you are thinking about redistricting, there are a lot of variables… One is school choice
And one of the things that has happened under No Child Left Behind is that children that are in schools in (the) “improvement” (category) have the opportunity to “choice out” under the law.
Right now, we’re anticipating (the parents of) 800 children will exercise that choice starting in the fall of 2008… We can’t just redraw a line and say we’re going to send
100 students to a school in “choice” Those students have a choice not to attend there. So it really complicates things.
So the position we have taken is that rather than just closing those schools that have declining enrollment, we have done two things that address not only the educational piece but also a neighborhood issue. And that is that we’re investing in those schools. We’ve introduced four K-8 schools. We’re making major financial investments there. We’re putting technology in those schools. And we think that’s powerful.
Another key piece is that we’re putting early childhood education centers in the areas we believe we need them the most. Children come to us without high-quality early childhood experiences primarily because of a lack of access – and we believe that we can help solve that problem and really give children an opportunity to start school ready for school.
Q: You have faced some criticism since you arrived.. and one of the most consistent points that people have
raised had to do with the central office and the school administration The number of administrative hires, indeed their salaries and even their backgrounds.. Tell me about your thinking regarding some of those choices and what you believe the EVSC is
gaining from them
A: Well, there are a number of things. I think when I look at our central office, what we have presented as part of our strategic plan is, even called by the Courier & Press as a sweeping and bold initiative, we’re expected – there are high expectations in this community. We have to have the right people and enough people in place to carry out this work…
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