DeSoto ISD school board planning community forum

by Daphne Brown of DeSoto TODAY

DESOTO — The news of DeSoto students' waning math and science test scores brought community leaders and residents to last month's school board meeting.

This month the board plans discussions with city council and the community to share the district's plan to address concerns.

A joint meeting of the board and council is an annual occurrence and is set for Sept. 15 at the district's conference center.

City Councilman Carl Williams was among those speaking during an Aug. 25 required public hearing on the 2007-08 academic ratings of each campus. Last month, the district learned a third of its 12 campuses, including the freshmen and high school campuses, were deemed unacceptable by state standards.

Williams said he would be available to assist the district in an action plan despite his limited knowledge of the state-mandated tests students must pass in order to advance through school.

“You can see my gray hair, so I'm a rather mature fellow and there were no TAKS tests in my day. There were just teachers and principals,” Williams said. “There were SAT and ACT tests required to get into college but now we have a state-mandated system aimed at I don't know what.”

Williams said he is available to lend the district support should action be needed at the state level and acknowledged the solution will take more than “superhuman teachers.”

Another gentleman, who arrived in the city three years ago following the death of nine siblings and his mother during Hurricane Katrina, said he'd almost rather go back to Louisiana, with its reputation of a substandard educational system, than remain in DeSoto. He has a son enrolled at the Freshmen Campus this year.

“What does he have to look forward to if the high school he goes to is unacceptable?”

Resident Jerry Hall said he's lived in the city for a long time and has seen the district deteriorate in the last five years.

“I heard we could have been unacceptable last year, but we weren't because of waivers,” Hall said. “I commend you on starting to do something about this but I'm saddened because I have two sons who graduated from this school system.”

He said he has always fought for the community but he would not want to be on the board facing the decisions ahead.

“You're going to have to make what I believe are some hard decisions and I hope you have the guts and the knowledge to do it,” he said.

Grant Atai said he saw the district's academic deterioration years ago.

“I saw this district sinking seven years ago,” Atai said. “It was heading in the wrong direction then.”

DeSoto students, he said, should be competing with those in Highland Park and Plano.

“We are talking about children's lives, the future of this city,” he said.

The district's community meeting is set at 7 p.m., Sept. 18 at DeSoto West Middle School. Beth Trimble, the district's director of communications, said DeSoto School Superintendent Lloyd Treadwell plans a 15-minute presentation.

“We know what the problems are,” Trimble said. “It's just a matter of addressing them.”

She said it would be an opportunity for to share facts about the scores and the district's course of action.

“There will be an opportunity for a lot of questions and answers and getting factual information to the public,” she said. “In terms of what we can do, we'll be letting the community know how they can help.”

Some solutions include businesses adopting campuses and allowing their employees to become mentors and the city and apartment managers with public facilities setting aside areas and times for students to receive tutoring.