Dr. Jason Adkins, Superintendent 1710 Alabama Avenue Jasper, AL 35501 Document Generated On November 3, 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the School System 2 System's Purpose 4 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 5 Additional Information 6
Introduction Every school system has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the school system makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school system stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school system, and the kinds of programs and services that a school system implements to support student learning. The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a school system with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the community will have a more complete picture of how the school system perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the school system to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis. Page 1
Description of the School System Describe the school system's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the school system serves? Walker County is located approximately 35 miles northwest of Birmingham nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Walker County's schools are situated over 791 square miles of the county consisting of predominately rural, "blue-collar" working communities. The population is approximately 66,000 consisting of 91% white, 6% black, 2% Hispanic, and 1% other (i.e. Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, etc.). The median household income in 2012 was $37,408 with 19.8% of the population below the poverty level. Our school system is governed by a five member board of education that is elected to six year terms. The primary responsibility of the board is to formulate policy that directly impacts educational programs and to promote and improve student learning in a quality, safe environment. The day-to-day operations of the school system are entrusted to the superintendent of education who is elected to a four year term. The superintendent's primary responsibility is the implementation of board policy and administering educational programs to meet state and federal requirements along with the expectations of the school community. The Walker County Public School System serves all of Walker County with the exception of Jasper City, which has its own school system. Our system consists of sixteen schools including five high schools, three middle schools, four elementary/junior high schools, and four elementary schools. Additionally, the system has one career technical education center, which is home to our alternative programs, and we receive federal funding to maintain a Head-Start program for students under five years of age whose families meet the financial qualifications. There are 972 employees, of which 584 are certified personnel while the other 388 serve as support staff (i.e. bookkeepers, maintenance, bus drivers, aides, lunchroom workers, etc.). Our student enrollment has consistently remained at approximately 8,000 students over the last three (3) years. The enrollment currently stands at 7,950 with 7,659 students in K-12th grades with an additional 291 students enrolled in the Head-Start units. We currently have 1 ELL teacher, 1 full time ELL paraprofessional/interpreter, and 1 part time ELL paraprofessional/interpreter serving 55 ELL, 22 FLEP, and 2 migrant students attending 13 different schools. Our individual school enrollment is as follows: Carbon Hill Elementary/Junior High; 573, Carbon Hill High; 401, Bankhead Middle; 360, Cordova Elementary; 360, Cordova High; 542, Curry Elementary; 529, Curry Middle; 282, Curry High; 531, Dora High; 511, Lupton Elementary/Junior High; 507, Oakman Elementary/Middle; 679, Oakman High; 397, Parrish Elementary; 197, Sumiton Middle; 517, Sumiton Elementary; 643, and Valley Elementary/Junior High; 630. The student demographic has remained consistent over the last three years and is reflective of the Walker County area with 91% white, 5% black, 2% Hispanic, and 2% other (i.e. Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native, etc.). The free/reduced percentage consistently averages 65% of the student population each school year, and Title I school-wide services are provided at all of our elementary and middle schools. The financial condition of the Walker County School System has drastically improved since 2011, which resulted in an increased fund balance. This balance increased from approximately $624,000 at September 2011 to approximately $7,000,000 at September 30, 2014. This was accomplished through the closing of our system's five (5) smallest schools and consolidation efforts throughout our system. Our system now consistently meets the state of Alabama's requirement to maintain a one month operating reserve. This process also allowed our system to restructure its debt in order to obtain a $12,000,000 bond issue in fiscal year 2012. This bond allowed for the construction of a new school in the Sumiton school community to alleviate overcrowding conditions, and provide upgrades to our most outdated facilities. The Walker County school community faces several challenges as we continue to move forward. For example, a sign of the local economy Page 2
is evident by the number of students qualifying for free/reduced meals. Our system receives the minimum tax mileage required by the state of Alabama (i.e. 10 mill) which is compounded by the lack of state funding for necessary resources (e.g. textbooks, technology, transportation, etc.). This requires the local education agency (LEA) to maintain financial solvency in order to provide resources and create local opportunities. The local economy has traditionally been dependent on the coal industry and related spin-off industries. The continued federal oversight and regulations has diminished this industry and the local economy along with it. Our system has recognized the need to prepare our students to become college or career ready and prepare for the 21st century workforce. We have partnered with our local business and industry leaders and the local community college to explore curriculum opportunities to make our students more marketable and employable as they graduate high school. Page 3
System's Purpose Provide the school system's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the school system embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students. Education in a supportive environment that equips students to be successful in life during the 21st century is the purpose/mission statement of the Walker County school system. Our vision is to educate students to become life-long learners, confident leaders, and productive citizens. Our system has three (3) basic values that we feel are imperative to accomplishing our purpose: quality educational practices, student achievement, and professionalism. Accomplishing our purpose begins with demonstrating quality educational practices by exposing our students to a rigorous curriculum with an emphasis on strategic teaching, student engagement, and providing meaningful and real life experiences. Our system provides opportunities for student achievement by assisting our students in planning, understanding, and pursuing college and career-ready pathways. We strive to have a vertically and horizontally aligned curriculum, and use a balanced and meaningful formative assessment to guide instruction and to allow students to monitor their own learning and growth. The values of quality educational practices and student achievement is only accomplished with a qualified, professional staff. We demonstrate professionalism through our professional behavior, qualities, and attitude. We provide both individual and school-wide professional development and growth, and participate in professional learning communities (PLC) that fosters collaboration among stakeholders and feeder patterns within our respective school communities. Our system embodies this purpose through our curriculum, expectations, and perpetual system-wide professional development. We have half-day sessions built in to our school calendar to improve instructional approach and delivery (e.g. content literacy, strategic teaching, etc.) emphasizing rigor and relevance. Title II funding is used district-wide to support district initiative at the district and local school level including professional learning community (PLC) collaborations among feeder patterns for vertical alignment sessions, and to visit other school systems in order to share best practices. We collaborate with business and industry and our local community college to expand the career technical curriculum to meet regional, high demand occupation opportunities while also cross-coordinating dual-enrollment courses to offer our students high school and college credit simultaneously. Our system has begun to think "outside the box" of traditional schooling by offering a "Twilight Knight" school that operates between the hours of 4:30-7:00 p.m. and a "Hope" Academy day school for our most at-risk students to attend a "true" alternative setting to meet graduation requirements. Additionally, we have expanded our system's advanced placement (AP) course offerings at three of our five high schools to expose students to a more rigorous, college-ready curriculum. Our system has taken advantage of state flexibility guidelines to transition our reading coaches to instructional coaches that work system-wide to assist with reading and content literacy skills. We continue to strive for continuous improvement to ensure our students graduate prepared for postsecondary life whether that is college or a career. Page 4
Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement Describe the school system's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the school system is striving to achieve in the next three years. The most notable achievement, and area of improvement, for the Walker County School System has been the consolidation of schools reducing our total number from 21 to 16. This consolidation effort allowed students in low socioeconomic communities with dilapidated buildings to attend school in more up dated or new state of the art facilities. This allowed student exposure to additional opportunities and course offerings they would not have had otherwise (e.g. pre-ap courses, AP courses, dual-enrollment courses, extracurricular activities, etc.). This effort saved the school system millions of dollars due to reduction in staff, utilities, and the future expense of providing maintenance and upgrades to out-of-date facilities. The general fund balance increased approximately $6.5 million during the consolidation process over the last four (4) years. As previously mentioned, this allowed our system to pursue a bond issue to construct a new school and provide upgrades to our most out of date facilities. Our system collaborated with the Bevill State Community College, Jasper City School System, Walker County Industrial Development Board, Jasper City Industrial Development Board, and the Walker County Chamber of Commerce to apply for career technical education competitive funds through the 21st Century Workforce Act. Our system took the lead in writing the grant proposal and was approved for $675,000 for equipment purchases to begin an industrial maintenance and precision machining program. This program was selected due to our regional, high demand occupation data that indicates local and regional employment opportunities. Bevill State Community College provides the instructor for this course along with dual-enrollment credit. The Walker County School System plans to continue capital improvements over the next three (3) years with potential projects pending in the Cordova, Curry, Dora and Oakman school communities. We look to continue technology upgrades throughout the system to provide our students with the necessary resources to be successful in the 21st century workforce. The upgrades will consist of replacing our entire system's infrastructure this year which will enable our schools to offer students the necessary WiFi to enable student's to experience 21st Century instruction and offer learning opportunities they have not been able to experience before. The next three years will be filled with new devices and innovative instruction and learning through technology. Our system continues to expand curriculum opportunities. We are currently exploring the development of a Pre-K program to replace Head-Start in order to provide more students the opportunity to attend school prior to five years of age. We also plan to continue expanding advanced placement (AP) and dual-enrollment opportunities within both our general and career technical curriculum. We strive to continue improving our instructional practice with ongoing professional development and collaboration to meet the expectations outlined in the state of Alabama's PLAN 2020. We want to make certain every student is a graduate and every student is prepared meeting the ACT benchmark or having a necessary credential. Page 5
Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. Beginning in 2011 the Walker County School System's governing board and system leadership set out to change the conversation concerning our school system within the state of Alabama. Our system was struggling financially as we were one of thirty school systems required to attend special fiscal training sessions in Montgomery due to our insolvent budget. The lack of fiscal responsibility contributed to a lack of necessary resources (i.e. both human and capital) which was detrimental to our ability to achieve academic progress. The transformation began with making tough decisions to consolidate schools and reduce locally funded teaching units and other staff (i.e. central office) while simultaneously raising expectations in the classroom. The system leadership was determined to increase the rigor from a "testing" culture focused on minimum standards to one of preparing students for postsecondary success. Our system's employees rose to the expectations and we can proudly say the Conversation about Walker County has definitely changed. This began with our superintendent's nomination as a finalist for the 2013 State Superintendent of the Year. He became respected among his peers for his ability to navigate the consolidation efforts and return our system to financial solvency. This was followed with our system's repeated recognition by the Alabama State Department of Education as a "best practices" system. Our efforts concerning instructional approach and delivery with content literacy and strategic teaching, and our innovative process in overhauling our alternative school for at-risk students, resulted in our system referred to as a "model" system at both regional and state curriculum meetings. Our competitive grant proposal for 21st Century Workforce Development funding was also presented as a "model" proposal by the state of Alabama's Career and Technical Division when the grants were recently awarded. Our efforts to increase the rigor within our classrooms with the addition of advanced placement (AP) courses resulted in our system's recognition as one of only three Alabama school systems to make College Board's 4th Annual District AP Honor Roll in December of 2013. Our system continues striving to improve and provide a quality 21st century education to our students with the following goals outlined by our system's strategic committee: - The implementation of a fine arts curriculum (e.g. music, art, theater, etc.) by 2016-2017 - The implementation of 8th grade Algebra I and Pre-AP and AP classes in all high schools by 2016-2017. - Updating our infrastructure through funds from W.I.R.E.D to accommodate 1:1 or BYOD by 2016-2017 - A 1:1 technology initiative with laptops or Chromebooks for every student, or a BYOD policy by the 2018-2019 school year. - ALL students will graduate college or career ready by benchmarking on the ACT or acquiring a career technical credential (on-going) - An on-going evaluation of the career technical curriculum to ensure alignment with regional, high demand occupations and future needs of business and industry. This will be accomplished by attending Region 4 Alabama Department of Labor meetings, Walker County Industrial Development Board meetings, and Walker County Chamber of Commerce meetings Page 6
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