Baker Middle School qualifies as a candidate for the second round of the federal School Improvement Grant process that Tacoma Public Schools adopted in 2010 for Giaudrone, Hunt, Jason Lee and Stewart middle schools.
Due to low test scores in reading and math and a lack of improvement over the last three years, Baker Middle School has dropped into the lowest 5 percent of schools in Washington.
To help fund improvement strategies at Baker, the district intends to submit a letter of interest to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction by Friday to move forward in the SIG process. That letter does not commit the District to participation, nor does it finalize the selection of a model.
The options for Baker include the same four federal models available in the first round of SIG schools:
- Turnaround. Replace the principal and at least 50 percent of the staff.
- Restart. Open the school under a third-party education management organization, such as a charter school. (Note: Since Washington state doesn’t allow charter schools, this isn’t an option for us.)
- Closure. Transfer students to other high-performing schools in the district.
- Transformation. Reform the entire instructional environment, develop teacher and school leader effectiveness, reward teachers based on student performance, increase community engagement and extend learning time.
The Tacoma School Board must assign a model to each school by March 5, because the district must submit a grant application by that date to OSPI to receive funds to help implement the school improvement.
“Restart and Closure would not be appropriate to Baker Middle School. The Transformation or Turnaround models would most probably be considered,” said Superintendent Art Jarvis.
While previous SIG funding covered a three-year period for Tacoma’s middle schools, the current process provides a competitive grant process for one year of funding between $50,000 and $2 million. Funding for additional years would be dependent upon further congressional authorization.
OSPI has scheduled a webinar for January 20, for districts interested in participating in this year’s SIG process. We will participate in that webinar and continue to develop plans for Baker’s future.
For more information, contact the Public Information Office at 253-571-1015.