by Lauren Townsend for The Aha! Connection
On Monday, March 1, 2021 many DeKalb County School District (DCSD)1 parents received an email informing them their children’s teachers are being reassigned, effective this week. The letter cited that the Georgia Department of Education (DoE) reported several District 1 schools being out of the State Comparability Policy. “This policy requires Title 1 schools to have similar resources as non-Title 1 schools. Resources include staffing that decreases the teacher to pupil ratio.” The school must transfer teachers immediately to other DeKalb schools.
As you can imagine, parents, teachers and children are left with so many questions and concerns. Mainly, why now? With 3 months of instruction left, why not re-evaluate and re-assign after the school year is over? Why are teachers being moved in March (instead of October at the Full Time Equivalent Student (FTE) count or January after the comparability deadline)? According to the Georgia DoE, “If the Local Education Agency (LEA) does not achieve comparability by December 31, the LEA is in violation of the Title I comparability requirements and will be subject to withholding or repayment of funds in the amount or percentage by which the LEA has failed to comply.”
Page 26 of the Georgia DoE booklet on Title 1 schools also says the compliance adjustments need not consider “unpredictable changes in student enrollment or personnel assignments that occur after the beginning of the school year.” I think we can all agree that this year has been unpredictable and such action does not fall in line with the often-quoted DCSD unofficial motto, “Compassion over Compliance.” Richard Woods, Georgia State Superintendent, makes it very clear that the time to adjust for compliance is BEFORE the school year. His presentation also states that a timeline should be provided and that the process must begin one year before the district can expect for the adjustment to take place.
School administrators were told that the rush is from the federal government. It was said that state and county officials have been pushing back given the circumstances of this school year but that it must happen during the 2020-2021 school year. If the federal government could not mandate schools opening, how are they able to enforce this immediate reassignment? What would the penalty be to DCSD and is this all tied to CARES Act monies?
How did this happen? It is no surprise that District 1 hemorrhaged students as DCSD continued to prolong a face-to-face instruction option. Many families opted for private school or moved. The ratios are now unbalanced and teachers are being forced to change schools.
Parents are also concerned that District 1’s return rates will affect the number of face-to-face days. The DCSD re-opening plan has this disclaimer “The staggered schedule may differ by region depending on the number of students who are returning for in-person learning. The staggered schedule will be revised as re-opening progresses.” I have only confirmed teachers being reassigned from Austin Elementary School (ES), Dunwoody ES, Ashford Park ES, and Montgomery ES. Students begin staggered re-entry to buildings on March 9. Those returning are split into two cohorts with half in the building on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays. On March 29, all children returning for face-to-face instruction are supposed to be in school 4 days a week. If District 1 has a higher return rate and the combined cohorts are larger than the DCSD re-opening criteria, will all students returning be allowed to be in the schools together for 4 days? As of now, current speculation is that 40% of PCMS classes would not meet the return to 4-day criteria due to the number of students enrolled.
There are certainly more questions than answers. Representative Mike Wilensky has reached out to the State Superintendent’s office and DCSD District 1 representative, Anna Hill, has been in communication with county and state officials in pursuit of explanation to parent and teacher questions. There are more meetings today with the hopes of clarification.
