High-tech program on back burnerFunding hurdles may keep school on hold until 2010 By Diette Courrégé (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Concrete plans for a high-tech school program on the peninsula have been in the works for nearly two years now, but it looks as if the earliest it would become a reality is 2010. The Charleston County School Board didn't approve any money in this coming year's budget to support development of Lowcountry Tech High, despite residents' repeated pleas to get the program under way. District officials have done relatively little during the past school year to further the program. A task force met several times, according to outgoing Chief Academic Officer Randy Bynum, and developed a job description for the program's director, a one-page overview of the program, a timeline for its startup and a preliminary budget. The first year of operation would require an estimated $1.2 million. The school board gave its OK last August for Lowcountry Tech High to share space with the new Charleston Charter School for Math & Science in the former Rivers Middle building, but the program seldom has been discussed since then. Board Chairman Hillery Douglas said the board ought to be committed to starting the program because many children would benefit from it. The board gave its support for the project, and he thought district leaders would pursue planning, he said. "I am disappointed at the rate that we are going about this, and I, too, have questions as to where we are," he said. "I'm still committed, and I'd like to see it happen." The Charleston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance have been strong supporters of the program and repeatedly have asked school leaders to follow through on promises. Initial plans called for the program to open in fall 2009. Charleston NAACP President Dot Scott said she's fearful the program will never open, and some school board members are to blame. Long before the charter school idea surfaced, officials promised the Rivers space for use as a high-tech program, one Scott said would be advantageous to many black students who have dropped out of school. The Rev. Ed McClain, chairman of the ministerial alliance, reminded the board June 23 of its promise to start the program. "We took you at your word that we could trust you to do what you said," but Lowcountry Tech High has been placed "on the back shelf because seemingly you have no intentions of honoring your word," he said. Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley said she's committed to starting the program, which will teach hands-on lessons to prepare students for technology-based careers in areas such as advanced security, automotive fields and aviation. But McGinley said she's not sure how the program will be funded. Plans call for Lowcountry Tech High to have more than $1 million even as officials are projecting a bleak funding situation. She said she will explore public-private partnerships and "progressive solutions" to pay for the program. "We think Lowcountry Tech is an important career academy for the community and students," she said. "The thinking we did on this concept is still valid. I'm committed to making it a reality." The school district got a grant from the World Monument Fund to begin planning Restoration High, a program to teach preservation arts, and the Broad Foundation matched that money. A project director, paid entirely from grants, will begin working with the school district in August to plan that program. McGinley said she hopes that person also will help develop Lowcountry Tech High. Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@ postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 15 comment(s)
Posted by belovedbliff on July 8, 2008 at 5:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Southeastern, are you still going to hold onto the notion that McGinley does not have "special interests" groups she is catering to? What a fiasco?
Let me break it down for you--the clientele at the charter school do not want vocational folk mingling with them.
Posted by planet_earth on July 8, 2008 at 7:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How rude!!! Rather than being so negative, bigoted, and hateful, please share with us what you are doing to help... or at the very least provide constructive criticism.
Posted by Early on July 8, 2008 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We have too many special programs now and the NORMAL schools don't get the proper funding as it is. There should not be a SPECIAL SCHOOL for this but incorporate the program in all schools eliminating wasteful spending.
Posted by shoelaces on July 8, 2008 at 8:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think having more Tech or Vocational schools is a fabulous idea. I would like to see it trickle down to the middle school level as this is where we tend to lose our children. Sadly, some are lost even earlier.
Gadsden - I agree (to a point)with some of your post. As a teacher in a low achieving school I can tell you that I am not a low performing teacher. I do what I can with what I am given and I move them as far as I can with very little help from parents and quite often little to no motivation from students. Not all of my students and families.
It's sort of like a chef being given a recipe, some ingredients, and an oven to cook with. I just don't have any support materials like spoons, pots, pans, or electricity to pull the "dish" all together. And I have to "cook" with one hand tied behind my back due to policies and politics.
As for this latest fiasco I don't have an answer or a reason. I know we have heard the budget crunch mantra most of the school year so it doesn't surprise me that this school won't fly this year.
A solution would be to add a few classes to the existing high schools, especially those in the LOW category, and enroll kids in them. It's a band-aid but it may be better than nothing.
Posted by shoelaces on July 8, 2008 at 8:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
EARLY - you beat me to the punch with incorporating classes into all schools as a "fix" to the problem for now. Don't we still have Garrett Academy of Technology?
As for the Johns Island school issue I don't have a solution there. That is where my children are slated to attend but WILL NOT. They are already elsewhere in the district.
There are so many neighborhoods popping up out here that something has got to change with the schools. None of the people I know who live on Johns Island would even consider sending their kids to schools over here.
I wonder what the requirements would be to go to Lowcountry Tech High? Would it be open to everyone or would families face a lottery system? Anyone out there know??
Posted by ln1959 on July 8, 2008 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gadsden,
Please provide me the information that you have on The good "black culture" of beating, raping and killing teachers". I truly don't remember hearing about black kids shooting up schools.
Shooting at the schools, maybe, but not of teachers. Now correct me if I am wrong, but all the shooting of teachers at the schools and other kids, have been done by white kids. Hell you all ever make movies of it. So who is glorifying it.
Whats the old saying. Fear and ignorance is Paralyzing.
Show me proof of the last time a black kid rape a teacher. Show me proof of the last time you have heard of a black kid killing a teacher.
I can show you proof of the last time a white teacher sleep with a while kid. Hmmm..whats that called.
I can show you proof of the last time a white kid shot a teacher.
Posted by belovedbliff on July 8, 2008 at 8:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gadsden, those comments were not made. If they were, please attribute them to some source. What was said exactly by a former Brentwood principal is that teachers should expect that those students would behave a certain way. Sadly, this was later reinforced when black assistant principals this year were quoted in the paper as saying that these kids have certain ways of behaving and attributed it to their black culture.
I thought what idiots, but, you see these are the kinds of people McGinley wants running the schools.
Posted by Early on July 8, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Haut Gap has closed it's doors. It want no outside intervention, guess they were made promises that were not kept. I say privatise these programs and incorporate them into trident technical College. This is what Florida did 30 years ago successfully. It takes the problems students out of the normal environment and puts them in a situation where they are not top dog and become submissive therefore opening a opportunity for learning a trade. It worked fairly well.
Posted by shoelaces on July 8, 2008 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Early:
Private schools don't pay enough and don't offer benefits for my family. And I don't want to take the easy way out of teaching. I like the challenges of my job. I like to see the growth my students make from August to June. I like hearing my principal tell me that I do a good job even when I am putting myself down. I don't like crying when I feel like a failure or the feeling I am beating my head up against a wall sometimes.
And my principal would NEVER say anything to us like that. Are there sometimes some different rules for the kids? Yes, but unfortunately sometimes the "one size fits all" doesn't fit kids. I don't always like it when I feel a student got away with something but then I have to think about their home life and how they are being brought up. I might be the only positive experience in their day....sad, but so true.
Beloved:
Wasn't it Dr. G JOhnson who supported the Brentwood issue? I know McGinley was part of that administration too. But it is sort of like when I did my student teaching. Yes, I was teaching and I was in charge for a short time but it still wasn't MY classroom. I didn't know what it was all about until I had my first job and my classroom. McGinley is in the driver's seat now. Let's see how her second year goes. I think she is on the right track. I am not in her corner completely yet.
And I don't care if we fired everyone at Calhoun Street and hired a bunch of new people. Some people still wouldn't be happy.
**Our kids will go to public school until I see a need to change that. And you can bet I will be there and be involved. There is not much worse than teaching a teacher's kid.
Posted by shoelaces on July 8, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gadsden:
Because the schools on Johns Island are inadequate.
Go to each school's web page and read their report cards and their school's populations. Why would anyone choose to send their child to a low achieving elementary school only to send them to a failing middle school and a failing high school? And I don't want my children to be in the minority when I see how minorities are treated at my school. And I mean WHITE when I say minority.
I don't know how or when the schools over here are going to change. I do know that I am not willing to sacrifice my children's education. Johns Island is growing so fast that the CCSD really needs to pay closer attention to it and figure out what they can do to bring the community into the schools.
**CCSD employees have the option of enrolling their children in the school of their choice. There are some exceptions to this policy.
Posted by LadyTarHeel on July 8, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gadsden: I went to public school, in North Carolina, but it was a public school and I turned out just fine. I'm actually quite successful in life. I have a BS in biology and am working on my terminal degree. Good things do come out of public schools, you just have to use what you are given to your advantage and if you want more, you have to go for it. I know I have participated in every summer program the state of North Carolina had to offer me (hence the reason I haven't had a summer break since the 10th grade).
I agree with the poster that said more Vocational and Technical programs in schools would help a lot. These types of programs teaches life skills. At my high school we had a vocational and technical program. I got my CNA license shortly after graduation through the program. They also offered cosmetology and auto mechanics so people could be licensed cosmetologists and auto mechanics upon completion of high school. I have a question though, why is the NAACP even bothered with this stuff? Don't they have bigger fish to fry, like figuring out why black men continue to kill other black me. I'm just saying.....
Posted by LadyTarHeel on July 8, 2008 at 10:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I just reread my post and my grammar is incorrect. I meant to write, "These types of programs teach life skills" not "These types of programs teaches life skills". I guess that what I get for typing so fast and not proof reading:o)
Posted by LadyTarHeel on July 8, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gadsden: Putting a condom on a banana is something you may want some students to learn. Even though I'm pretty sure they don't put it to good practice, which is evidenced by the surprising high teenage pregnancy rate. But that's a whole other topic. You do have a very valid point though. There is a book called "Sally has 2 Mommies"? I would object to my children reading that if I had any. No wonder you say the educational system is going down the drain. Tolerance is a good thing to teach, but making that required reading is going a little too far. But why would you say that they teach Spanish as a first language? Last time I checked Spanish was still considered a foreign language. At least it was when I was double majoring in Spanish and Biology.
Posted by ln1959 on July 8, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gadsden,
Yes, I feel for those young white kids, and Native American kids, that went through that kind of abuse. When I was in the 10 grade, I was the only black kid in my math class, so I know what they went through. But as most poster would say, lets not go back in the years.
Still you have not proven to me about the killing, and the rape, of teachers, that you so boldly stated. Yes, the statement may have been said, but it was not carried out.
Your futil attempt to prove your statement was very weak. Those other stories that your pointed out, are things that goes on all over the country in all races. If there is a minority of White, Black, Native, Latinos or Mexicans, there will be race problems. The thing with the Blacks, and Latinos, are we going to let you know that we do not appreciate it and march if we have to. So stop complaining and hiding behind your computer, degrading one race, because of your fear. Get out an protest it if you don't like whats going on.
This is America and you have the freedom of speech. I know this cause I spent 20+ years protecting it.
Posted by shoelaces on July 8, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Please....for some of our students ENGLISH is their second language...no idea what their first is.
Explain this to me. (Even though I already know the answer.)
Why is it that Mt. Pleasant can have such highly rated schools when other schools in the same district can't? Check out Sullivan's Island Elementary too. What are they doing differently that other areas are not doing???
LadyTarHeel, yes there are books like that. And trust me, McGinley would NOT be opposed to them.