Grade-changing costs Beaufort principal his job

An item in the Island Packet reported Friday that the principal of Beaufort High School, Dan Durbin, had resigned immediately at the request of Superintendent Valerie Truesdale "for changing grades."

But there's clearly a bigger story here.

Truesdale says Durbin violated district policy and state law in changing 200 grades for 33 students over the past two years. Durbin never denied making the changes. He chose to resign last week when given the option to resign or be fired by week's end.

In nine years on the job, Durbin built widespread admiration from parents and students. Parents have spoken out in his favor, and students, among other signs of support, protested his resignation by sitting in the school atrium on Durbin's last day until he urged them to go to class.

Mmm. Shades of Dead Poets Society.

The Island Packet takes the editorial position that Durbin's forced resignation is an object lesson, and therefore a good thing.

Parents, too, need to accept the reality of the school district's correct decision and move on in a mature manner.

This is what is often called a teachable moment. In fact, for many of the school's 1,450 students, Durbin's exit may provide their most lasting lesson from high school.

The lesson is that rules are made to be followed, not broken. Rules apply to all, even the principal. And a day of reckoning is coming for all who break the rules. All choices -- good and bad -- have consequences. And in the end, there will be accountability for those choices.

Indeed. Choices have consequences.

And some consequences are slower in coming than others. In this case, Durbin changed grades -- and no one disputes that his intentions were good -- and the consequence upon that discovery was relatively quick.

Durbin maintains his choices were based on the good of the students, and we've yet to see anything to contradict that.

He said each case differed, but many of the grade changes involved struggling students who did extra work or somehow proved they earned a break.

"I hope the message I sent students was that you're not just a number," Durbin said last week. "If you try hard and work hard, we'll work with you."

He went on to say, "I was trying to motivate a kid, trying to help someone get through. But maybe that blinded me and made the rules less important."

Circumspect.

But the Island Packet recognizes that Durbin was no ordinary principal, that he may have been, in fact, an inspirational and catalytic figure.

But at the same time, Durbin is credited with bringing order to the school and a level of community support that is all too rare in public education.

We're struck by his statement, "I'm not sure that the role of principal hasn't passed me by. To me, it's about nurturing, about building up students to be the best they can be. But the new job of principals is about numbers, statistics and test results. I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm just saying that isn't me."

This, too, should provide a teachable moment for those who set school policy.

Are systemic changes needed to accommodate the human element in education? Are school policies, mandates, regulations and expectations reasonable -- or are they too often feel-good mandates made by people who have never tried to teach a classroom full of children? Does anyone other than Congress think every child at every grade level will test above average by date-certain if federal law mandates it? By focusing all energies on test scores, are we leaving children behind?

Numbers, statistics and test results.

Does this sound like your school district, wherever you live and teach? Are numbers, statistics and test results more important than any other elements, intelligences or passions you bring to the table?

I'm fascinated often by the quality of readers' comments that accompany these online news stories. In the case of Durbin's forced resignation, readers unloaded several barrels.

Even a Durbin detractor cast this instance as a larger matter than a grade-changing principal and the consequences of rule-breaking.

So let's bring this back to the subject at hand. Dan Durbin could be a pain. He and I locked horns more than once. But Dan was always a man on a passionate mission. He saw that need to help and never ever backed down.

Given the bureaucracy of modern education - and the history of this BCSD, a man like Dan Durbin was bound to draw the ire of a District office that has no room for dissenters and larger than life views of the opportunities of his students.

Unlike the Packet/Gazette - I'll take 10 Dan Durbins for any single Valerie Truesdale any day.
...
Dan Durbin was an agent of change. The old guard of education slapped down Durbin because of their fear.

Another advises that grade manipulation is, in fact, ordered by the district office, and a protocol exists for the process of grade-changing.

There are proper channels for submitting students' changed grades. Here is a portion of an email sent out in one of our BCSD schools:

"Good Morning! A reminder to all staff - the lowest grade that can be entered in Powerschool for any student in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade is a 60 for the first three quarters of the school year. If you have entered a grade lower than 60 please change the grade by overriding it in your gradebook (Powerschool) and send an email to your guidance counselor informing them of the change so that grades may be locked in."

So, which is it? Beaufort County doesn't tolerate grade-changing, or it does tolerate grade-changing under prescribed circumstances? If grade-changing is dishonest, it's dishonest -- right? After all, grade-changing cost a man his job.

Another focuses on the details that aren't public:

Are we, IP/BG readers, to take Valerie Truesdale's word without sufficient details and story background?

And another asks a question that haunts a great many district administrators across the state:

How many years and at what level did Valerie Truesdale and Jackie Rosswurm teach a classroom full of students?

What's going on in Beaufort these days? Are there issues to unearth there?

Four-year-old L.B. Moran of Beaufort awaits his answer

According to yesterday's edition of The State newspaper, anyone visiting the state Department of Education can pick up a copy of a letter that Su-Pretendent Mick Zais sent to the U.S. Department of Education regarding his refusal of its $144 million in federal funding to pay for educators' jobs in our state. That letter, according to the article, includes this line -- "underlined and in bold type": "South Carolina can meet our educational challenges without micromanagement by the federal government."

I addressed the context in which such an asinine statement as this one lives in our beloved state, following faithfully in a long tradition of demagoguery rooted in animus toward the federal government and an unfounded yet hyper-inflated sense of superiority among our sister-states. We do love to watch our ideological warmongers beat their breasts and hear the tinny jingling of their medals.

Sadly, however, our children continue to suffer.

It's in this light that I invite General Zais to consider the case of L.B. Moran, a visually-impaired four-year boy living in Beaufort. His older brother, R. Lee, already attends Port Royal Elementary School, and his parents, Joseph and Candi, have been trying to enroll L.B. in that school since April, and indeed met with special services representatives from the Beaufort County School District on multiple occasions in April, May and June.

Here's a child living in one of South Carolina's oldest communities, General Zais; its first attempted settlement predates Charleston by 108 years. His parents are clearly actively engaged in their child's education. And the little boy clearly has special needs -- he is legally blind -- that qualify him as an at-risk child.

Port Royal Elementary School began its school year on Monday, the same day that a few dozen educators gathered outside the Rutledge Building to protest the Department's decision -- supported by Her Excellency Nikki Haley, on a jaunt that day to Daniel Island -- to refuse $144 million in federal funds to pay for educator jobs.

But L.B. wasn't enrolled to attend school on that starting day. After meeting with district staff in Beaufort for the past four months, L.B.'s parents are "left with yet another meeting scheduled for August 25, 2011."

In frustration, L.B.'s parents have sent letters to Beaufort's superintendent, school board members and others to get their child enrolled in school. That hasn't yielded results, so they have begun to forward their letters to others, including Educating South Carolina, to bring attention to their struggle.

"What a disgrace," L.B.'s father writes. "How long does it take to establish an individualized education program (IEP)?"

Would someone kindly explain to our family why the BCSD "Special Services Coordinator" et al are unable to perform their duties, in a timely manner, and coordinate the educational special needs of a little boy from Port Royal?

Everyone knows the State and the BCSD have plenty of money set aside for special needs children, right? Back in June Mick Zais’ office was scrambling to head off the 11th hour loss of more than $100 million in federal money because it had not spent enough on special education in the past few years.

Having no more information than this, I wonder: Does BCSD have sufficient staff resources to address the needs of Beaufort's students and parents? Does Port Royal Elementary School have the "minimally adequate" resources to meet the needs of L.B. Moran? Has Beaufort County, and Port Royal Elementary School, suffered -- as the rest of the state has suffered -- staff cuts and budget cuts that leave it now unable to function effectively?

And how many children and parents are in exactly the same struggle as L.B. and his parents?

To right the state's fiscal ship, South Carolina's lawmakers and decisionmakers have cut thousands of educator jobs during the past three years, leaving fewer education professionals to meet greater needs. Is this one result of those decisions?

To protect corporate tax loopholes and other business exemptions in the state's tax code, lawmakers chose to cut funding for programs instead, leaving a per pupil expenditure of $1,788 -- down from its stratospheric high of $2,476 per pupil in 2008. Is that sufficient funding to meet the educational needs of each one of the state's children, including four-year-old L.B. Moran in Beaufort, for this year?

And, like Joseph Moran, I recall reading in the newspapers about the threatened loss of $111 million in federal special education funding -- money designated specifically for children with special needs -- in June. Our state su-pretendent was caught flat-footed, and plenty of folks, including lawmakers, wondered why. Yet he is still in office; he is what we have while we wait for 2014.

That is, unless Haley is successful at turning the superintendency into an appointed, rather than elected, position. In that case, all may be lost for good; Haley has expressed her support for Zais, and could very well wind up appointing him to serve a second term if she gets the chance.

The worst irony of this unfortunate mess is that Zais, who holds the office of the state's chief advocate for public education and South Carolina's public schoolchildren, has every reason to understand what challenges the Morans are facing. Consider the "message" he delivered to the public on January 14 of this year, as he took office:

For too many years, we have sought to fix education from the top down. New standards are adopted. New tests are created. New curricula are purchased. Program after program has been promoted as the silver bullet that will fix education in our state. Some changes in public policy have resulted in passing the buck, yet again, to classroom teachers who invariably have to make more bricks with little or no straw.

My firsthand experience from years as a teacher at the United States Military Academy at West Point impressed upon me the need for strong and supportive leadership in educational institutions. The Dean of Academic Affairs didn’t come to my classroom and tell me how to teach organizational behavior, management, and leadership to the cadets. He expected me to use my knowledge and leadership experience to challenge and develop every student. In return, he and the staff at West Point provided structure and order so that real learning could take place in my classroom. The education leadership in our state needs to have as its No. 1 priority providing this same respect, support, and order for our teachers and students.

When I became the president of Newberry College, I committed myself to providing the best environment for teaching and learning that I could. Budgets were tight, but we focused on what was best for the students and aggressively pursued an agenda to transform the school. This included eliminating unnecessary programs, streamlining administration, investing in technology and facilities, and raising the level of professionalism among professors and coaches. We built a learning community with a plan for every freshman to graduate not only with a diploma, but with the life skills to be a successful professional, a member of the military, or to continue their education in graduate school.

As a child with a learning disability who attended ten public schools in twelve years, I know firsthand what a profound difference an excellent teacher can make. But in order to make that difference, teachers must be unfettered by rigid schedules, freed from time-consuming paperwork, and unencumbered by excessive bureaucracy. When that is accomplished, teachers can change children’s lives and dramatically improve expectations and achievement.

Pretty words, but L.B. Moran of Beaufort -- and hundreds of thousands of South Carolina's public schoolchildren, their parents and educators -- some still employed, others out of work -- are waiting for the pretty words to be turned into reality.

So, General Zais, tell us: Can South Carolina meet our educational challenges without micromanagement by the federal government? Or will it take an intervention from beyond our borders to ensure that our children have their educational needs met?

You're the man in the office. You tell us. This school year has already begun.

Beaufort parents don't want local schools closed

Four Beaufort parents told their school board last night that closing their local schools would hurt their children, and they opposed the proposed closure plan. It would seem that in the discussion of consolidation, parents should be consulted.

Susanne Baisch, a school-improvement council member at Port Royal Elementary, said the proposal would send her daughter to Port Royal for third grade, to Mossy Oaks Elementary for fourth, and to Beaufort Middle School for fifth.

"Finances aside, is this moving really good for our children?" she asked.

The residents also criticized a task force that voted 5-4 last week to recommend closing Port Royal and Shell Point elementaries, asking why several members abstained from that vote.

"The task force which needs to be implemented is one that is comprised of taxpayers and parents to review the school board district offices' expenditures, from coffee to salaries," said Port Royal Elementary parent Melinda Cato.

Port Royal Mayor Sam Murray also addressed the board.

"I'm holding my comments until the task force actually makes their presentation to you," Murray said. "But I do want to point out the fact that both schools you're talking about closing are in the town of Port Royal."

School board Chairman Fred Washington defended the task-force process and said if the school district has "extra capacity," officials would be derelict if they did not examine and address the issue.

"As much obligation as we have to parents, well, we also have some obligation to taxpayers who are not parents," he said.

Washington said parents should continue speaking out and -- if need be -- take their case to voters.

"We're elected folks," he said. "You determine if we sit here or not."

District superintendent Valerie Truesdale said the task force will give a final report to board members Thursday, unless it does not finish its work today.

The lesson learned by parents when schools are closed -- the lesson being taken from this situation in Beaufort -- is that elections have consequences.