School board passes Pearce repurposing plan
Concerned citizens continue to speak out about a repurposing plan to keep Austin's Pearce Middle School open. Monday, the Austin Independent School District School Board passed that plan.
The Texas Education Agency decided to close the school last month due to low performance.
At the special called school board meeting, it seemed everyone who spoke had an opinion and suggestion for the destiny of Pearce Middle School.
Click the link to view the AISD’s repurposing plan for Pearce Middle School.
• The 40-page plan includes certain nonnegotiables, including a daily advisory period for students, interdisciplinary instruction, integrated technology and greater professional development for teachers.
• The repurposing plan also calls for each grade level to have a focus on becoming a family environment with more personal attention to each individual student.
• In addition, students are encouraged to come up with a nine-year college, career and life plan, in order to decrease the dropout rate in high school.
• More support for English language learners also is included in the plan.
"We are on the road to improvement, we just need time," Pearce PTA President Charlotte Dotson said.
The meeting wasn’t the b beginning of this discussion. Before Monday night, nearly 500 parents, students, staff and community members responded to surveys asking which direction they'd like to see Pearce go.
Fifty-eight percent said they wanted to move forward with the repurposing proposal for this school year, so the school could reopen this fall.
"The community is behind this 100 percent,” community member Allen Weeks said. “People just want a high-quality neighborhood school that is for all kids."
Weeks is president of the St. John Neighborhood Association, a group that helped turn around Webb Middle School around when it was facing similar problems two years ago.
AISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is optimistic about the plans which involve a greater emphasis on science and a focus on dropout prevention and recovery.
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“I will make sure that it is implemented well because we are determined to realize that there will be a new day for student success at Pearce Middle School,” Carstarphen said.
But time isn't exactly on Pearce Middle School’s side, with school staring in less than a month.
"Right now time is really of the essence,” Dotson said. “I mean, you hear it over and over, but August 24th is when school is supposed to start. So what is this the 3rd [of August]? It’s time to move."
The school board passed the repurposing plan unanimously, and the next motion is in the hands of the commissioner. That decision is supposed to come in the next couple of days.