New plan sought for middle schools
The Petersburg school system is entering territory not seen by any other in Virginia.
Starting this month, Petersburg will begin requesting proposals to evaluate for a new, independently managed middle school program for the 2009-10 school year, Superintendent James M. Victory said last week at a Petersburg School Board meeting.
Although the city's schools made gains on Standards of Learning test scores, he said, they have "not met the benchmarks set forth in the memorandum of understanding" with the Virginia Board of Education in 2006.
The memorandum set a goal of having at least five of Petersburg's schools reach full accreditation by 2008-09 and to have all seven schools accredited in 2009-10. Only one school, Robert E. Lee, is fully accredited this year, one less than last year.
A restructuring committee reviewed research on successful programs outside Virginia to develop the new middle school program, said Dorothea Shannon, chief academic officer assigned by the state Education Department to Petersburg.
Although specifics of the program are unknown, "the ultimate decision rests with the School Board," Shannon said.
This much is known: The program is for students in grades six through eight and will be led by an outside educational organization. The program will be optional.
Parent Linwood Christian expressed concerns about the committee that was making decisions for the city's children. Shannon replied that the committee included members of the Petersburg community.
In order for the new program to be a success, "everyone has to buy into it; everyone has to be on board and not just because they just have to do it," said parent Gloria Brown. "We have to get the basics taken care of. If we're building stuff on sand, it's going to sink, so you have this big, beautiful structure, and you see it crumbling because the foundation was never secured."
The Petersburg School Board has until April to evaluate proposals.
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