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KC Schools Hope Ideas, Efforts Revamp Image, Education: District Works With Community to Find Answers

Posted on: Sunday, 29 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Joe Robertson, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Jan. 29--Matt Davis believes that the Kansas City School District and its ambitious plans to revamp its schools might actually win families back.

He believes, so his family -- with two children in private schools -- has hesitated on moving plans, waiting to see what kind of public schools might come to their southwest Kansas City neighborhood.

But Lawrence O'Dell knows just how deeply the district has broken the confidence of many of its families.

He decided, in the middle of the school year, to take his son out of Kansas City schools and enroll his ninth-grader in the Independence School District -- even though it meant giving up a chance at a college scholarship. A series of district initiatives -- consumer surveys, new school plans, major program audits, community-backed instructional reforms and the search for a new superintendent -- is aimed at families like these as they decide whether to stay or go.

The district is working to reverse a decline in enrollment and the increasing disproportion of poor families who lack the financial flexibility to choose other schools.

The Davis family listens to new ideas about a proposed math- and science-themed school in their neighborhood, seeing collaboration between the district and the community to create schools that people want. They, and many of their neighbors, see a chance to not have to scrape together money for private schools or abandon beloved neighborhoods for Johnson County.

"There is a huge, pent-up demand for a new product," Davis said. "It makes me tingle to think about it."

The O'Dells worry that they have suffered for the faith they placed in Kansas City schools.

O'Dell's son is giving up a college scholarship promised through the Kauffman Scholars program to qualifying Kansas City graduates. O'Dell and his new wife opted with heavy resignation to take up her Independence residence after they decided their ninth-grader, who earned three A's and a B on his last report card, simply wasn't reading as well as he should after 10 years in the Kansas City district.

"I could see he wasn't really learning," O'Dell said. "I felt so bad. I felt so responsible for his education."

Even in the past five years -- relatively stable years in the district's turbulent history -- the district's decline has continued.

Enrollment dropped by more than 2,000 students, while the proportion of students in families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch rose from 74 percent to 80 percent.

A recent district survey and focus groups showed that some of the district's new ideas interest families attending district schools and those attending other schools.

Many parents whose children don't attend district schools -- 34 percent at the high school level and 43 percent at middle school -- suggested they might be willing to give some of the new school ideas a try.

Before the year is out, the Kansas City district will have invested in several things: a superintendent search, an expansive facilities study to examine the best uses of buildings that probably will include consolidation and closing options, and major audits through the Council of the Great City Schools.

That is in addition to the millions of dollars committed by the Gates Foundation and local supporters to the academic reform initiatives Achievement First and Prep-KC.

"This is fairly ambitious stuff," David Smith, Kansas City school board president, said of the district's endeavors. "And there's not a lot of evidence of what works to turn things around."

But Smith knows the district also has to repair its image as well as its substance.

Among those same parents, 71 percent of the middle school families and 86 percent of the high school families doubted that the district would stick with any new concept long enough to let it work.

"What scares me is there have been numerous efforts in the past," Davis said. "Do I think it will work? I have no idea. But I certainly want it to."

Perception and reality

Pat O'Boyle moved to Kansas City from Dallas 10 years ago and didn't know the local public school history when he picked his home in the city's southwest quadrant.

He had no children then, but they were in his plans. He remembers knocking on neighbors' doors to ask about schools.

He kept hearing about St. Elizabeth's, St. Peter's ...

"But where is the neighborhood's public school?" he kept asking.

"No one had any idea."

Certainly the Kansas City School District has real concerns. Test scores lag. Families complain of bureaucracy, of tangled enrollment processes.

But people like O'Boyle think that the district also suffers from a lack of self-promotion.

Issues of race aren't what dissuade most families, Charlie Tryban said. His family, like most in his southwest neighborhood, is white. And the district is nearly 70 percent black.

"We moved into the city," he said. "We appreciate every aspect of the city. We would appreciate the cultural diversity."

The Trybans -- with five children younger than 7 and another on the way -- would rather not be looking for a new home outside the district.

"If fliers came to our doorstep about a new neighborhood school, I'd be checking into it for next year," he said. "But they need to redefine how they do things and make it known. The perception is it (the district) is a nightmare."

Similar situation

Minneapolis is facing some of the same challenges as Kansas City, and the public school district there is doing some image repair of its own. The message has been to let each school speak for itself.

For 20 years, Minneapolis' public schools have been opened without enrollment boundaries in response to that city's desegregation efforts and its own negative perceptions and declining enrollment.

Overall, enrollment is still falling, but some pockets of the city are drawing middle-class families back, said Jackie Turner, the district's student placement director.

The district experienced more success attracting families when the onus of promotion was thrown to each school, she said. People don't connect with a central office. They want to know schools.

A new district Web site puts all the schools on display, with detailed test data, demographics of students and teachers, and updated surveys of school climate, safety and customer satisfaction.

Principals promote programs. Recent alums publish testimonials.

"Why hide it?" Turner said. "Parents who are active choosers are going to ask for it anyway. We're not pitting schools against each other. We want the mentality where a principal says, ‘If not my school, let me tell you about another school.'

"Parents are sophisticated choosers. We had to raise the bar. We have to sell."

Although Kansas City's Web site provides links to state data on each school, descriptions and promotions of the schools are uneven at best, parents say.

Davis said he only recently heard some parents in the district praise their elementary schools.

"And I thought, ‘What? I had no idea.'"

Schools build their reputation when they develop academic themes that connect with a supporting community, said Kristin Arnold, the center director at the Austin, Texas-based education think tank, Edvance.

"Schools have to be symbiotic with the community," she said. "And they need to share and market successes together."

The Kansas City district is trying to learn what kind of schools its community wants, officials say.

Gates funding provided for the survey with the Corporate Communications Group of Overland Park, which shed some insight on what families would like to see come out of all this remodeling.

They like the ideas of early college preparation, math and science, and high technology in smaller settings.

Many recognized that the ideas would have to take a districtwide view and guard against providing extraordinary opportunities for only some of the district. That would breed resentment.

The survey also shows that the majority, while liking the ideas, don't think the district -- with its history -- can pull it off.

"I know public education has been burned by the ‘Idea of the Year,'" Smith said. "But I think the right vision and leadership and execution will garner support. I'm not giving up on the people here in Kansas City who have a strong interest in the public school system."

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To reach Joe Robertson, call (816) 234-4789 or send e-mail to jrobertson@kcstar.com .

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

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Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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