Cedar Hill Superintendent assures gifted-talented results

by Staff of of TODAY Newspapers

Dealing with gifted and talented math students was a major part of the Oct. 8 Cedar Hill School Board meeting.

By the end of the meeting, Superintendent Horace Williams guaranteed that Permenter Middle School would have an algebra teacher.

Two parents of Permenter gifted and talented students raised the issue in public forum. Gifted and talented program issues were previously discusses at the September board meeting.

Morgan Sanders said he had concerns with class structure at Permenter Middle School.

Sanders noted his son was a gifted and talented student. He said his child had taken eighth-grade math last year in sixth grade at West Intermediate, but a rule at Permenter was requiring him to take seventh-grade math this year. Sanders said he was speaking for every “overachieving” student.

Robert Riggs said his son was also a seventh-grader at Permenter after having been a sixth-grader at West. He said his son's gifted math class had 37 students, before being informed that he was being placed in the same situation as Sanders' son.

“My concern is he won't be challenged and will reach his limit of being pushed in the seventh grade,” Riggs said.

Assistant Superintendent Homer Carter then talked about gifted and talented program issues and math curriculum issues.

Carter first said that the math class in question was down to 29 students and should be down to 25. He said that he believed class size and placement issues should remain a school-level decision.

Educational consultant Marta Mountjoy then addressed the board. She said one issue was students getting information they had already resulted in boredom.

She said she had several ideas for a verbally-oriented gifted and talented program to build on what Cedar Hill already had in place.

Trustee Randy Gaubert asked if Permenter eighth graders would eventually be taking algebra 1. Carter said eighth-grade AP math covered pre-algebra, and, after testing, offered the option of moving them into algebra. Students will get high school credit, but are informed that their students can not take algebra 1 a second time in high school.

“And, before we put the rigor in there, these students have to understand it's not just math, but English, social studies and science,” he said. “We're working directly with the teachers Š for that rigor.”

“As we delve closer and deeper, we find we have systems that are broken, and it's not a quick fix,” Superintendent Horace Williams added. “We are in the process of making sure we have a true gifted and talented program. We don't this year, and it was too late when we realized it to (do that this year). We're trying to do it right Š and we're asking you to be patient.”

Trustee Randy Gaubert asked if a seventh-grade algebra aptitude test at Permenter showed students were ready for algebra. Williams said that theoretically, that was the case, but the district thought the best path for students was to take the AP pre-algebra class to better get all the skills listed on the Texas Educational Knowledge and Skills, the basis of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

The next question was, who would teach an algebra 1 class at Permenter.

Williams said that the district would hire a teacher specifically for just that class from Cedar Valley College, if necessary.

“It will happen,” he said. “Tomorrow.”

Trustee Mike Marshall, after congratulating Carter for things the district had already done, agreed with Williams.

“By the end of business tomorrow, we ought to be beyond this,” he said.

“We've had fire and brimstone, but we're going to get out of this the right way,” he said later.

Trustee Terrell Nemons said part of the issue was about parents being able to make informed decisions about what educational track they thought was best for their children.

Other concerns, this time at the elementary level, also drew public forum comments.

Lisa Purdue, the parent of a first-grade student at Bray Elementary, said she was concerned the district had not hired an additional first-grade teacher there. She said research showed that smaller class sizes most notably benefited disadvantaged and minority students.

“Were the 48 first-grade children at Bray considered (with) all of their needs?” she asked.

Laura Beal, another parent of a Bray first-grader, said other parents she had talked to said that class size at Bray was just one more straw to some of them, in some cases the straw that broke the camel's back.

She supported the district's effort to reach out to underachieving students, but implored them to reach out to talented students, too.

“In an effort to raise the floor, I implore you not to allow the ceiling to collapse,” she said.

At the same time, students lower in mathematics achievement levels need help.

Jerry Cotton, an associate dean at Cedar Valley College, then introduced Daryl Ruff from the college to the board

“Way over 80 percent of people coming in Š have to start with remedial math,” Ruff said. “More than 60 percent will start in pre-algebra or basic arithmetic.

“As Jerry said, this isn't just a Cedar Hill or Cedar Valley problem.”

He said one of the biggest math skills lacking in many students was the ability to handle fractions.

Later, in his financial report, McSwain said that at the November meeting, he would have a laundry list of furniture the district purchased for needs discovered since the start of the year. He then said he would have the latest numbers needed for the school district's portion of the costs for the joint city-school district governmental center now under construction.

Director of Maintenance and Operations Bill Pinson said that a special team of his had found roof leaks at Lake Ridge Elementary. In one maintenance issue, the board approved a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system for the physical education section of the high school. In response to a question from Trustee Valerie Banks, he said the district had contracted with Trane for a $3,000 study of the district's needs at the high school. He said all units at the high school were at least 18 years old. Due to the location of the unit, the district will have to use a helicopter to remove it and to install the new one.