York City schools could be affected by proposed second state school-recovery process

(York) — The York City School District already has state intervention as a result of past financial problems, but if a legislative proposal passes, some of its schools could end up in a second state-controlled process that could conceivably revive talk of charter schools.

Senate Bill 6 would create the Achievement School District, a state-run district that would have the ability to take over individual schools that fall among the state’s lowest-performing. It would also give school districts some additional powers to take action in those schools. The bill has passed the Senate and now sits in the House education committee.

The state already has a recovery program, which York City School District is in, but that’s for districts deemed in financial distress. The Senate bill would focus on academic performance.

Sen. Lloyd Smucker, the prime sponsor of the bill, said that if the state is going to drive additional money to needy schools, as a proposed funding formula would do, there’s also a need to make sure those schools are improving.

“If we are going to provide additional resources, we ought to also provide as many tools as possible,” to improve performance, he said.

But some have questions about the tools the bill would provide and how it would work in districts that are already seeing state intervention.

A new state school district 

The bill, which has a House counterpart, would create two categories of schools — intervention and eligible.

Intervention schools would be those in the lowest 5 percent of elementary or secondary schools in their School Performance Profile (SPP) scores. For those schools, local school boards would have the power to bring in outside management organizations, hire uncertified staff if deemed qualified, close a school or transfer it to the Achievement School District.

Schools classified as “eligible” for transfer to the Achievement School District would be those scoring in the lowest 1 percent of elementary or secondary schools on the SPP for two years in a row, or those that have been intervention schools for three years in a row starting in 2013-14.

The Achievement School District, if it took over a school, would take steps that could include replacing the principal and half the staff of a school, contracting with an outside company to manage the school, converting the school to a charter school or closing the school and transferring students to a higher-performing school. It could also authorize a new charter school with guaranteed admission to students served by the eligible school.

In York: two forms of state intervention?

Tentative lists provided by Smucker’s office — which cautioned the lists could change — show some York City elementary schools could fall into those categories. The school district was declared in financial recovery by the state in 2012 and is already working under a recovery plan that covers finances and academics.

Carol Saylor, York City’s state-appointed chief recovery officer, said she has questions about Senate Bill 6, including whether the state education department would have the capacity to do what the bill requires.

“The big question is what impact and specifically what impact on York, since it is already a recovery district,” she said.

The bill includes a provision saying it would not apply to districts that have a state-named receiver. That’s the next step if the recovery process isn’t working, and a move that the York City district fended off early this year.

Sen. Rob Teplitz, D-Dauphin County, wanted to exempt districts with a recovery officer — Harrisburg and York City — but his proposed amendment failed. He has been working with House Democrats to propose the same amendment there, he said.

Having two forms of state intervention “would create some very odd dynamics,” he said, adding that a child could attend one school run by the district and move to a school run by the state.

State Rep. Kevin Schreiber, D-York, also said it would make more sense not to have competing efforts.

Smucker said he’s still open to considering whether it would make sense to exempt districts with chief recovery officers, and there could be opportunity to discuss that with the bill in the House.

But, he said, if there’s a recovery officer and a good plan in place, he hopes there would be improvements. And the new state district would have discretion over which schools to take over.

Charter focus?

Schreiber said he would like to have a hearing or get a better analysis of the bill and its implications. He said he thinks there are good intentions, but he’s not sure he sees many tools for turnaround in the bill, other than turning schools into charters.

The York City School District’s previous recovery officer pushed for converting schools to charters as a means of turning around financially and academically, but heard opposition from the community. But when Gov. Tom Wolf took office, he, too, opposed that idea and made a change in recovery officers.

Schreiber said in his quick review of the Senate bill, he’s not sure it addresses the root problem in struggling districts: the needs of children in poverty.

“The bill definitely looks like it favors charters as the solution to turning around the district,” Schreiber said, adding that he’s not sure data supports that as a solution.

But Smucker said the bill contains other important tools, namely the ability to skip the state charter appeal board and close down poorly performing charter schools with an appeal directly to Commonwealth Court. It also allows schools to make staffing decisions based on factors besides seniority, which Smucker said has been a factor in some successful school turnarounds.

Contact Angie Mason at 771-2048.

At a glance

Bill: Senate Bill 6, aimed at the state’s lowest-performing schools

Intervention schools: Those in the lowest 5 percent of elementary or secondary schools as measured on the School Performance Profile

Eligible schools: Those in the lowest 1 percent of schools as determined by SPP for two years in a row, or those that have been intervention schools for three years in a row.

Achievement School District: A state-run district, headed by an executive director and a state board. It would have the authority to take over intervention schools — between five and 15 a year — to make improvements through measures such as conversion to a charter school, replacing staff, contracting with an outside company or authorizing a new charter school for an eligible school’s students.

Exempt from takeover: Schools in districts with a receiver; schools converted to a charter in the last three years; schools opened in the past three years; schools that exclusively serve a historically underserved population; a school with a college matriculation rate exceeding the district average; a charter school academically outperforming the authorizing district.

Online: Read the bill at legis.state.pa.us.

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This article comes to us through a partnership between York Daily Record and WITF.