By Chris Yow and Lee Weyhrich
For The Tribune
PINSON — Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Craig Pouncey spoke with the Pinson City Council regarding the recent inclusion of Pinson Valley High School on the ‘failing’ schools list.
Pinson Valley High School. submitted photo
According to Pouncey, the issue is less reflective of the school and more reflective of what he calls the “injustice” of the Alabama Accountability Act. The act, which he classified as a “thinly veiled attempt at a voucher program” was enacted to allow scholarships for use at private and charter schools for students in failing schools. Unfortunately, the definition of “failing” the method of deciding which schools failed, and the misrepresentation of the test involved have unfairly labeled PVHS, Pouncey said.
Pouncey said the reasoning for the ‘scholarship program’ was to give students in these schools a chance to transfer to private schools with state funding, but Jefferson County students aren’t allowed to do so.
According to Pouncey, desegregation laws prevent them from doing so. The county is under a federal mandate that prevents the transfer of students from school systems with a high minority population. Pinson Valley’s student body is 51.6 percent African-American. The federal order, however, cannot force any student to continue their education in a public school.
Pouncey and Turner each stated the schools would now change their method of education, adding programs to focus more on passing these type of tests.
According to Pouncey, the issue began with the administration of the ACT Aspire to high school students. The school administrators and school board officials were led to believe the test would act as a baseline from which the school would be judged by in subsequent years, Turner said. The test itself was presented to the school and the board as something that would not count against them, he added.
Students at each school had to take the test on computers – something none of them had ever done before. The same test was given to every student, including special needs students who make up 16 percent of total students tested at Pinson Valley High School.
For a school tp be labeled as a ‘failing’ school, it had to score lower than 6 percent. According to the wording of the legislation, even if nearly every school in the state were somehow able to make a perfect score and the rest scored one point below perfect, those schools would be considered failing.
15 Comments
Brandy Hill
Can’t open the article .
Janice Archer Thomas
fix what is failing at PVHS and they will not need to transfer.
Dan Hodo
Teachers need to get back to teaching and get away from being friends and buddies. Drop the common core bullcrap and get back to real schooling. Now, before you start attacking me, I am not saying this goes for all teachers.
William Kennedy
Schools aren’t the problem. They’re a symptom of the the problem. The good people of Pinson need to take a long, hard look at their own house.
Kaysi Ivey
So so so glad we moved
Cole Stephens
Things have changed over the last 10 years
Ron Hyche
In ten years there have been five principals at this school along with many other changes.
Karen Dykes Jones
Everyone in this community, especially EVERY PARENT of a PVHS student, SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT THAT CITY COUNCIL MEETING. Yes, all caps! I’m membership chair of PTA for the 3rd year in a row, and the excuses I get for not joining are asinine. It’s $7 per person, shows the state we as a community care about our school, and
keeps you informed.
Ron Hyche
Are you talking the council meeting on Thursday January 19,2017. I was there sitting on the front row.
Traci Thompson
If everyone on this feed had been at the meeting they would understand more as to why PVHS was “labeled” as a failing school. Some of you are making derogatory remarks about a school that do not have a student there or you have a student but as a parent you are not involved.
Ron Hyche
I am very involved at PVHS. Dr. Pouncey shook my hand before the meeting started. I am a parent , a grand parent of a child that goes to PVHS. For the record I am the father of the special needs child that was the sole catalyst of why so many of the improvements that were made at PVHS for all people. One was the football stadium. I can name off the many others if you would like. All from the sole efforts of a special needs student that attended PVHS at that time.
Karen Dykes Jones
You have to admit that the meeting was not well attended by parents. All of these complainers on FB and they didn’t take the time to hear the explanation NOR the plan for improvement. Sad. I have a senior, so I’ll not have an enrolled child, but still have a dog in the fight— it greatly affects ALL PROPERTY VALUES in Pinson.
Karen Dykes Jones
Yes you have.
Karen Dykes Jones
Yes, and these people have property here. Try to sell in a “failing” school area.
Karen Dykes Jones
Yes, and some needed to go