Muscogee County School District set to implement new k-2 initiative for the upcoming school year
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — Muscogee County School district will be implementing a new initiative for the 2024 to 2025 school year.
The initiative passed Feb. 20 at a Muscogee County Board meeting. It intends to accelerate students who live in the most impoverished zip code in the state by bringing them up to standard. This will be accomplished by housing the qualifying students at Brewer Elementary school and moving the other students to the supporting schools: Dorothy Heights, Martin Luther King Jr, and J.D. Davis Elementary.
Dr. David Lewis, the superintendent of Muscogee County schools told WRBL the importance of this program starting in Columbus.
“The initiative is geared towards students who are entering school below grade level in the areas of literacy and numeracy. By working with parents, the Rollins Center for Language and Literacy, the Georgia Department of Education and other community partners the initiative will support 14 to 1 class ratio. With the smaller class sizes, teachers will be able to work more intimately with their students to get them on level. Teachers will be paid an additional $3,000 to for their time and new performance expectations.”
A screening using the “STAR Universal Screener” to identify the students who qualify for this program.
It’s important to remember that in pre-K, through grades two, we’re learning to read in order to read, to learn, starting in third grade. And these children, through no fault of their own, are coming in significantly below grade level. So we want to make sure we provide accelerate, not remediation acceleration because they all are gifted, talented, smart. We just have to give them the opportunity with intensive focus instruction to make sure that they are all those talents are realized.
Dr. David Lewis, Superintendent of Muscogee County School District
Current staff will have to re-apply for positions at the Brewer Elementary School as the teachers the district is looking to work in this program are devoted to nurturing the success of students. Teachers who do work in the program will receive training on research- based and classroom proven high-yield instructional strategies.
On March 26, a Brewer Parent Transition Information meeting was held at for parents to learn more about the change and ask questions.
WRBL had the chance to speak with Felicia Robinson, a parent of a current Brewer Student with special needs.
I feel like there should have been some prior parent meetings to it, I just feel like next time a school district makes a decision this big, the parents are actually notified. They’re actually informed. They are actually they’re not. The school year is over and now you need to figure it out. It’s you all have known for nine months. We should have known for at least six of those.
Felicia Robinson, Brewer Elementary School Parent
Robison also voiced concerns to WRBL by saying, “How is it going to work when you have a bus picking up three children and they might possibly be in three different schools because you might have one that goes to Brewer, then you have the special needs one and then now you’re I mean, what are you doing? Are they saying now that they raised the school time because little children learn better early in the morning, so now we’re waking them up like they’re in the military at 5:30 in the morning.”
She continued by saying, “Mine already get up at 5:30 a.m. We’re talking about 5:00 o’ clock which means I’m getting up at four in the morning. What time are we going to sleep? That’s like 6:00 in the afternoon just to get enough rest to do anything. And then they still have to come home from school, do their homework, take their baths, eat like I don’t know how to get to work with the time for me.”
Robinson also expressed how she doesn’t think the new initiative does not solve any of the behavioral problems that students may have.
It’s not addressing the anger issues. It’s not addressing the behavior issues. And all it’s going to do is take those kids with those problems and send them somewhere else. Whereas if you only have a reading problem, are maybe not that good with math, you’ll be here. But what happens when you’re just angry? Because here is where you want it to be and now you’re somewhere else and you just don’t want to do anything. And what will happen to those kids if they just fall through the cracks? Do they just not have any representation on anything?
Felicia Robinson, Brewer Elementary School Parent
In response to parents having concerns about the initiative, WRBL also spoke with Kaprice Bentley- Brown, the principal of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School.
If the parents would just embrace the change and if they have any questions to make sure that they stop by the school and have a conversation with the administrators so that we can explain the why and the importance behind it, if they could just embrace it and let their kids know that this is we’re doing what’s best for them.
Kaprice Bentley- Brown, Principal of Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School
Superintendent Dr. David Lewis says once the initiative proves to be successful, the school district will then determine where it can replicate it and scale it based on the size of the school or the part of the community that might benefit from it.
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