Leaders in Baton Rouge public schools on Friday debated a series of ambitious goals, including nearly doubling the number of second-graders who read on grade level and reversing historic declines in overall enrollment.
Those and other goals are outlined in a 19-page draft plan for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System shared Friday during an all-day retreat held at LSU’s Peabody Hall.
The draft is the product of three months of work, largely by Superintendent Sito Narcisse and his senior cabinet. The school board also participated during monthly retreats.Â
Upon approval by June 20, the final plan will replace a version that’s rarely been used since it was adopted in 2013.
Salt Lake City-based Arbinger Institute served as the hand-picked facilitator for the process. Mike Merchant, a consultant with Arbinger, said Friday that the strategic plan slated for approval next month will set only one-year goals, but will be updated annually.
“This is not a perfect plan,†Merchant said. “We don’t know enough to get a perfect plan. That’s why it’s a one-year plan.â€
Friday’s retreat was billed as the session where “stakeholders†would have a chance to weigh in on the latest version of the plan. But attendance by such stakeholders was limited to a few well-known community figures and several educators who serve on advisory councils set up by Narcisse.
The community figures present included Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member Ronnie Morris, East Baton Rouge City-Parish Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Pamela Ravare-Jones and Brandon Smith, LSU’s director of community and education partnerships.
While a handful of members of the general public who have attended past retreats also showed up, the event was little publicized; there were no signs on Peabody Hall saying where in the building it was taking place.
School officials, however, plan more events, including two town halls, aimed getting more feedback from the general public, as well as districtwide survey and focus groups.
The audience on Friday had a lot of suggestions for changes to the 19-page draft plan.
Merchant repeatedly broke audience members into small working groups, which focused on four general areas or “cornerstones.†Namely: student achievement, employee development, operational excellence and exemplary customer service.
One of those groups, for which teacher Derek Wheeler served as the presenter, questioned an objective to dramatically increase to 90% the share of employees who miss no more than 10 work days a year. This past year, only 54% managed to do that
Wheeler said 90% is too ambitious a goal given where the district is now. Instead, the district should improve that rate by, say, 5% a year and should also offer incentives and dig deeper into the root cause of absenteeism.
“What causes people to miss days?†Wheeler asked.
A group looking into student achievement suggested a greater focus on annual academic growth targets to reduce the ranks of schools in the district with D and F letter grades.
As the session wrapped up, Narcisse said he intends to follow the plan approved closely and use it as his guide in decision-making going forward.
“Our wonderful city is going to do some amazing work when this plan is done,†he said.
Below are some of the ambitious objectives in the draft plan released Friday:
- 85% or more of second graders reading at or above grade level by spring 2025. Currently only 46% meet this mark.
- 70% of students who take Advanced Placement exams scoring a 3 or better by spring 2024. Currently only 40% do.
- 85% or more high schools earning overall ACT scores of 17 or above by spring 2025 . Currently only 25% do, or four out of 16 high schools.
- 33% annual increase in prekindergarten seats. That would mean going from 2,400 now to about 3,200 in a year.
- 95% of employees returning to work the following year. Historically only about 88% have.
- 3% annual increase in total enrollment, which currently stands at 40,735. That would require adding more than 1,200 students next year.
