Pueblo City Schools meets with state school board to discuss progress
Pueblo City Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Constance Jones reassured the Colorado State Board of Education that she has a plan to improve student performance.
Jones met with the board for about an hour in Denver on Thursday as the district prepares to enter its fifth year on the state’s accountability clock. District 60 is accredited with a priority improvement status, the second-lowest ranking for a school district. If the district does not improve before the summer of 2016, the state will intervene, which could force certain schools to close, be turned into charter schools or innovation schools.
“I believe this time next year we’ll hopefully be celebrating some of our early successes,” Jones told KRDO NewsChannel 13 after she made her presentation to the board.
Jones said she’s focused on turning six to 10 low-performing schools into innovation schools for the upcoming school year. The district currently has three. She described innovation schools as having autonomy in being able to set their curriculum. Jones said innovation schools also have the option to extend the school day and school year.
“We’ve seen success with the three innovation schools, so it would give us the opportunity to just build upon that strategy to improve our school system,” Jones said.
If District 60 doesn’t improve by next year, the state school board could remove its accreditation.
“At this time, we don’t believe that a formal loss of accreditation in a district has a direct impact on graduation rates or graduation ability in schools,” said Peter Sherman, executive director of school and district performance at Colorado Department of Education.
Sherman said a loss of accreditation may not affect graduating students, but it will hurt the image of the district.
“There are still a lot of challenges and a lot of students in various Pueblo schools that are not being served well, that are not learning to their potential,” Sherman said.
Nearly half of the schools in the district are ranked as priority improvement or turnaround — the two lowest rankings. Jones said she needs more time to turn things around.
“It’s all about time because children of poverty, children who are coming from disadvantaged homes, they don’t come to school with a rich vocabulary and background knowledge,” Jones said.
Jones also said that she’s looking at turning two of the district’s empty schools into early learning centers. Jones said schools like Spann Elementary and Somerlid Elementary could be used for expanding the district’s early childhood program, but she added that she’s trying to find partners and the money to do it.
