Othello grade schools could go to K-8 format

OTHELLO — Othello School District patrons are being invited to a meeting April 16 to discuss a proposal to switch the district’s elementary schools to a kindergarten through eighth grade format. Othello School Board chair Rob Simmons said it would be the first of a number of meetings on the subject.

The new format would begin in the 2019-20 school year and would be phased in, said district superintendent Chris Hurst. The district’s four elementary schools currently are kindergarten through fifth grade; they would become K-6 schools in 2019-20, K-7 schools the next year, and K-8 schools the third year, he said.

Hurst announced the proposal to teachers Monday morning, and on the district’s social media during the day. The news brought a crowd to the regular board meeting Monday night.

“Obviously there are a lot of questions,” Simmons said, and added board members have questions too. “We’re going to be learning with the community, with the staff,” he said.

The proposal was prompted by the belief it will improve education in Othello, Simmons said. “I’m going to expect data. I want to see why it’s better. Obviously, his (Hurst’s) vision is that it’s better. I want to know why.”

Simmons said he heard some rumors the proposal is connected with the rejection of a construction bond proposal in February. “I just want to squash the thing about it is payback for not passing the bond. I don’t know how this would be payback, to be honest with you. This doesn’t solve any of our issues with the overcrowding.” The idea of K-8 reconfiguration has been among the options for some time, he said.

District patrons spoke in favor and against the proposal, three in favor and two against. The two who spoke against expressed concern about mixing junior high students with younger kids, and the potential for harassment. In addition, many discipline problems seem to start in middle school, said Isauro Pruneda, and he was concerned that moving kids out of the middle school would spread the discipline problems down to lower grades.

In his presentation Hurst showed district achievement test data from the last three years. In some years, in some subjects, kids did well, but in other years and other subjects the results were not as good.

“The question I have to ask all of us is, is that enough?” he asked. Hurst said teachers and administrators in Othello are doing good work. But “more than 50 percent of our students are not meeting standards.”

Hurst said the research shows that discipline and attendance problems decrease in K-8 schools – kids know teachers and know the expectations, and there are fewer middle school-age kids in each school. In answer to a question from Pruneda, Hurst said researchers have been studying the impact of K-8 schools for about 40 years. Some of the research is posted on the district’s website, and more will be added over time, he said.

Board member Mike Garza said he hoped district patrons and parents would get involved, and would be willing to evaluate the proposal on its merits. “I hear the invitation is out there.” No proposal is perfect, and board members know that, he said. “There’s going to be issues, and we’re going to address those issues.

“There are concerns and they’re legit. They’re totally legit,” and judging from social media they’re shared by a number of district patrons, Garza said. There won’t be a perfect answer, but “I’ve heard it repeated several times today, what we’re doing isn’t working. And to me, to a certain extent it is almost a cop-out to try and reinvigorate something. It can’t be an excuse – we need to do something, and when I say ‘we’ I mean the entire community.”

“It’s a long process, I think, of learning,” Simmons said. “Bring your concerns, just like this, so we can talk about that. I hope we have answers as we go along for the questions that get asked. I’m sure we will. I would expect that we could get some of these things answered.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.