Page One

Berkeley High School has released a blueprint for reform four weeks before a crucial visit by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a Burlingame-based accrediting group which has threatened to withdraw its seal of approval if BHS does not make progress in 11 areas first identified in 1999. 

Superintendent Michele Lawrence and members of the Board of Education say the plan marks a significant step forward, and they expressed cautious optimism about continued accreditation.  

But district leaders and high school staff say they have concerns about weak spots in attendance, security and the ninth-grade program. 

“I think the report is well-written and comprehensive,” Lawrence said. “The test will be whether the committee sees that what we say is being put into practice.”  

The current accreditation runs through June.  

See BHS/Page 12 

A WASC team will visit May 19-21 and recommend either terminating accreditation, or extending it by one, two or three years. The WASC commission will review the recommendation and issue a judgment at its June 24-25 meeting. 

WASC has called, among other things, for a unified approach to address the “achievement gap” separating white and minority students, a well-structured planning process, greater cooperation among staff, a new safety and attendance-taking plan, better communication with the community, and improved staff development. 

In March 2001, the organization issued a report criticizing the district for making “spotty” progress in the 11 problem areas.  

After discussions with WASC officials earlier this school year, district officials decided to break up the 11 areas into five, manageable general categories: governance, attendance, discipline, staff development and the ninth-grade program. 

The new plan makes recommendations in all five areas. Some of the highlights include: 

• the introduction of double-period math for struggling ninth-graders 

• an improved curriculum for the ninth-grade Identity and Ethnic Studies course 

• better attendance-taking  

• improved intervention for truant students 

• monthly staff development workshops 

Some elements of the plan are already in place. Earlier this year, for instance, Lawrence put a “shared governance” structure in place at the high school which includes the four co-principals, 12 department heads, the directors of BHS schools-within-a-school, a pair of teachers and a smattering of others. 

“We imposed a governance structure on the school that has allowed it to move forward,” said board President Shirley Issel, arguing that the new team has worked effectively to address several of the concerns raised by WASC, including the basic call for a well-structured decision-making process. 

But science teacher Aaron Glimme, who battled with administrators over science cuts earlier this year, argued that the shared governance structure has not provided an adequate forum for voicing teachers’ concerns. 

BHS also plans to implement a new safety plan in May. Lawrence said measures will include closing down the campus when classes are in session and providing designated areas for students who do not have classes during a given period. The hope is to cut down on students wandering throughout the campus. 

The board has already voted to lay off the high school security manager Barry Wiggan next year and turn over administration to a pair of discipline deans, first installed in January. But that plan has its critics, who claim the deans do not have Wiggans’s expertise. 

Lawrence said her chief concern is attendance. 

“I think we have a ways to go,” she said, arguing that the school needs to do a better job of monitoring attendance-taking and pursuing truant students. But, she said attendance shortcomings should not prevent continued accreditation. 

School board member John Selawsky said BHS has made real strides in improving governance and communications. But he said the school has much work to do on the ninth-grade program. 

“It has been kind of a weak program and I think it still is,” said Selawsky, who has a son in the ninth grade. “I think we could be challenging (the students) a bit more than we do.” 

Selawsky said he was encouraged by plans to offer double-period math and strengthen the Identity and Ethnic Studies course. 

BHS co-principal Mary Ann Valles said staff has already started to bolster the IES curriculum. She added that plans to expand an orientation program for at-risk, incoming freshmen from one week to four marks a positive change. 

Valles said she hopes WASC recognizes the value of these programmatic changes and the overall commitment to change. 

“I have to believe we’ve made so much progress on collaboration, on working together toward common goals,” she said. 

Contact reporter: 

scharfenberg@berkeleydailyplanet.net