Board: Greencastle Schools have reached ‘critical point’

Average is not good enough.

That is the message from the Greencastle School Board in reaction to the school accountability grades released by the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) last week.

For the 2017-18 school year, Greencastle received a C rating across the board, both at the corporation level and individually at all five school buildings — Deer Meadow Primary, Ridpath Primary, Tzouanakis Intermediate, Greencastle Middle School and Greencastle High School.

“We have reached a critical point and expect significant improvement,” board President Mike White said.

White made an extended statement on behalf of the five-person board during the monthly school board meeting Monday.

“Like everyone else, the Greencastle School Board is disappointed in our schools’ most recent grades from the Indiana Department of Education,” White began. “Everyone involved with the schools is accountable to the public for these results, including the school board. We find the grades as unacceptable as you do and want to see them improved, dramatically.”

The grades were not a major change over last year, with Tzouanakis, Ridpath and Deer Meadow all reporting the same grades as last year (each of these schools earned a C for the fifth straight year). The change came from GHS, GMS and the corporation as a whole, each of which slipped from a B rating to a C rating.

The corporation rating has been either a C or B for seven years running — B in 2017, C in 2016 and B each year from 2012 through 2015.

With the IDOE reporting nearly 64 percent of schools earning an A or a B and 22 percent improving at least one letter grade, the trend at Greencastle represents a combination of negative momentum and inertia.

In that light, the school board is looking for solutions.

“The board has directed the administration to immediately review every aspect of our educational program,” White said. “Everything will be considered including corporation goals, classroom instructional methods, curriculum, materials, technology implementation, staff development, administrator and teacher evaluation, the use of time in the school day, the school calendar, how our buildings and spaces are organized and even personnel to achieve the results we all wish to see.”

White later told the Banner Graphic that one longer-term change is the possible addition of an administrator to focus specifically on curriculum.

“We are definitely working toward having a district-wide curriculum director,” White said. “We’re not happy with status quo and changes are happening.”

This dissatisfaction with the status quo may have been the most important part of the board’s statement, a point driven home by White’s closing to his statement.

“Every option for improvement will be considered except for one — to continue on as we have,” White said.