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Stepping Stone Faces Closing; State Monitoring Agency Recommends Shutting Down East Side Charter School

Posted on: Thursday, 26 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Peter Simon

Buffalo's Stepping Stone Academy Charter School should be closed after this school year because of dismal academic performance, a state monitoring agency recommended Monday.

If that recommendation is upheld by the State University of New York next month, Stepping Stone, at 909 E. Ferry St., would be the first Buffalo-area charter ever shut down.

"This school has posted some of the worst [test] scores of any school in the State of New York," James D. Merriman, executive director of SUNY's Charter Schools Institute, told SUNY's Charter Schools Committee on Monday in Albany.

If Stepping Stone is closed, its 600 pupils, now in kindergarten through eighth grade, would have to find new schools to attend beginning in September.

The Charter Schools Institute issued a preliminary report recommending the denial of Stepping Stone's application to renew its initial five-year charter, which expires after this school year.

While Stepping Stone will have the opportunity to challenge that recommendation, it clearly faces long odds. Neither SUNY's Charter Schools Committee nor the full SUNY board -- which makes the final decision -- has ever overruled a Charter Schools Institute recommendation, Merriman said.

Even so, Merriman promised Stepping Stone a full and fair hearing before the report is finalized.

>No formal action

The Charter Schools Committee did not have a quorum Monday and took no formal action. But Randy Daniels, committee co-chairman, voiced strong support for the recommendation.

"When charters fail, they should be closed," he said. "When [traditional] public schools fail, they should be closed and reconstituted."

Stepping Stone Principal William Boatwright said he will press for a more favorable final Charter Schools Institute report and a license renewal based on recent improvements in test scores and instructional practices.

"While we certainly understand the role of the Charter Schools Institute, we're disappointed in their findings," he said.

Institute officials will meet with Stepping Stone leaders Feb. 1 and finalize their report around Feb. 10, Merriman said. SUNY is expected to make a final decision at its Feb. 28 meeting.

Heather Groll, a Buffalo Public Schools spokeswoman, said Stepping Stone pupils are welcome to enroll in the city's traditional public schools.

"We applaud the CSI for addressing this situation so that these students will have the opportunity to achieve academically," Groll said. "[Superintendent James A.] Williams will be personally reaching out to Stepping Stone parents to discuss how we can help bring their students back in the Buffalo Public Schools should it become necessary."

Donald A. Van Every, the Buffalo Board of Education's North District member, said the traditional city schools have enough space to accommodate Stepping Stone pupils. "This is not something that will overwhelm us," he said.

Merriman said just one of Stepping Stone's 67 fourth-graders passed an English language arts state assessment test in 2004, and just four or five passed the test the following year. Despite that poor showing, he said, the school lacked an effective remedial program for pupils in grades 5 and 6.

>Team visited school

A 10-person state team visited Stepping Stone for 31/2 days earlier this school year, and its findings led to the conclusion that the school improvement effort was not strong enough to merit a new license.

"The remedial efforts were at best insufficient," Merriman said. "Despite a lot of good will and hard work by a lot of good people, they simply had not been able to make these changes."

A 2004 state review of Stepping Stone found administrative disarray, little individualized instruction, serious disciplinary problems, unchallenging classroom work and distracted and disengaged pupils.

Regardless of the SUNY decision next month, Stepping Stone will continue to operate through the end of the school year, Boatwright said.

"We will continue to have school," he said. "The children are our highest commitment and priority."

Stepping Stone was sending letters of explantion home to parents Monday, Boatwright added. "We definitely need their support and involvement," he said.

Stepping Stone is managed by Edison Schools, a national management firm. An Edison representative did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

Stepping Stone has school uniforms and offers an extended school day, 90-minute classes in both English and math, and Spanish language instruction beginning in kindergarten.

SUNY so far has shut down four charter schools in other parts of the state but none in the Buffalo area, where 15 charter schools now enroll 5,600 students.

e-mail: psimon@buffnews.com

Source: Buffalo News

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