Gwinnett gives parents first look at school plan online

Parents and teachers at Gwinnett County public schools face some heavy reading over the holiday vacation.

A nearly 800-page administrative document that sets performance goals for neighborhood schools has been posted on the district’s Web site. The goals, part of a flexibility contract application to the state, would take effect if Gwinnett’s schools are granted more local control over the education of their students.

The system has promised to raise the bar on student achievement in exchange for the freedom to bypass certain state mandates on education. Schools that do not improve could be converted into charter schools. Gwinnett Schools Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks shared the document with the school board Saturday at a special meeting. It had to be approved before the contract is considered by the state Department of Education.

“We feel everything is in good shape” Wilbanks told the Gwinnett school board. “The staff has worked very hard.”

The public didn’t have much time to see the individual school plans before the vote. The document was posted on Gwinnett’s Web site temporarily during a test run before the 7:30 a.m. meeting. The final document was posted permanently after the meeting.

“They have put themselves at a huge disadvantage by not engaging in two-way communication with the public about this contract,” said Jennifer Falk, a leader with the Gwinnett branch NAACP who was among less than a handful of parents who attended the meeting. “There has been no transparency.”

Steve Deak, a Dacula parent specifically came to the meeting to see the plans. No copies were handed out. Instead, the audience was referred to the Web site.

Parents and teachers have complained to school officials about being excluded from the planning process for the flexibility contract. School board members have said the public could participate in the process when local schools decide areas they want flexibility from state mandates.

Gwinnett Schools has asked the state for a blanket exemption from 12 education mandates including those on class size, expenditures and teacher’s pay.

The individual school plans approved by the school board Saturday set 5-year goals for student performance beyond what is required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.The state Board of Education could vote on Gwinnett’s flexibility contract proposal in January.