DEPARTMENT: Pre-K 4 SA
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Sarah Baray, Ph.D.
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
SB 1882 Cooperative Partnership with Edgewood ISD
SUMMARY:
This item includes a Staff briefing and possible Board action to approve an agreement establishing a cooperative partnership with Edgewood ISD as provided for by SB 1882 to improve capacity at Gardendale Elementary School with a term through June 30, 2022.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Senate Bill (SB) 1882, passed in 2017, allows for additional funding from the state for independent school districts who partner with an eligible entity to operate a district campus. Under SB 1882, entities eligible to partner with school districts are charter management organizations, universities, and non-profits with strong track records. In addition to increased funding for these partnerships, SB 1882 also creates an exemption from certain accountability interventions for schools with historic underperformance. The state set forth requirements for creating the partnership and will determine which partnerships qualify under SB 1882. Providers partnering with school districts are required to have total control of teachers, curriculum, and all education aspects, and to put into place performance metrics to evaluate the partnership and whether or not students impacted are making progress.
Edgewood ISD is eligible for SB 1882 funding. In 2018, the district expressed an interest in pursuing a partnership with Pre-K 4 SA. Pre-K 4 SA is eligible to serve as a partner for school districts through SB 1882. Staff worked with external attorneys, Thompson & Horton LLP to revise the existing partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to comply with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) requirements for SB 1882 partnerships. The MOU replaced the existing MOU for Edgewood ISD. For the 2018-19 school year, this partnership would not alter the regular operations of Pre-K 4 SA; Edgewood ISD students would enroll in and attend the Pre-K 4 SA Education Centers. These Pre-K 4 SA students already qualify to generate SB 1882 funds for districts under this MOU. On June 19, 2018, the Board approved the revised MOU with the understanding that over the upcoming year, Pre-K 4 SA would work with Edgewood ISD to develop a plan to build out model classrooms in Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade.
ISSUE:
During 2018, Pre-K 4 SA staff has continued to work with Edgewood ISD and MAYA Consultants to discuss and plan what further collaboration through an SB 1882 cooperative partnership would look like. As approved by voters in 2012, sales tax funds operations of the four model Centers, Professional Learning efforts, and the competitive grants program for education providers throughout San Antonio. Additional funding allotted by SB 1882 supplements efforts already taking place in Edgewood ISD as with other school districts.
It was determined that this collaboration should focus on developing model classrooms at Gardendale Elementary in Edgewood ISD. To build on the success of the Pre-K 4 SA Education Center model, the Gardendale Early Learning program will replicate evidence-based practices developed in the Pre-K 4 SA Education Centers. The Pre-K 4 SA approach is based on two extensive bodies of research: the development of strong brain architecture from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the Center for the Development Child at Harvard University, and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). Guided by this research, Pre-K 4 SA uses the HighScope instructional framework in its Education Center classrooms and will also do so in prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms at Gardendale. This partnership will also incorporate the use of the Classrooms Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to evaluate classroom quality, and GOLD to track student progress throughout the year.
In its first year of operation, the Gardendale model program will serve eligible Pre-K and K students. Additional grade levels will be added in subsequent years until the campus serves only Pre-K through 2nd grade. Families residing within the Gardendale attendance zone will have priority to enroll in the program. The school will serve families from across the district and the larger San Antonio area as capacity permits.
In preparation for this tentative cooperative partnership, Edgewood ISD and Pre-K 4 SA have held informational sessions for Gardendale teachers and interested families. The next Discovery Sessions for families is tentatively scheduled for early March. Edgewood ISD will request approval of this cooperative partnership by their Board on February 19.
ALTERNATIVES:
If the Board chooses not to approve this agreement establishing a cooperative partnership with Edgewood ISD, Edgewood ISD will not be eligible to obtain SB 1882 funding to create the Gardendale Early Learning program unless they are able to identify another partnering organization. Pre-K 4 SA would continue to provide support through Professional Learning efforts and awarded competitive grants for the 2018-2020 grant cycle.
FISCAL IMPACT:
SB 1882 funding for the seven classrooms in Year 1 in addition to 100 Edgewood ISD students enrolled in Pre-K 4 SA Center classrooms would generate approximately $170,000 in funding to support enhancements at Gardendale Elementary. Required appropriations for this partnership will be presented in the FY 2020 Budget scheduled for adoption in April 2019.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Board approve an agreement establishing a cooperative partnership with Edgewood ISD as provided for by SB 1882 to improve capacity at Gardendale Elementary School with a term through June 30, 2022.