Article published September 07, 2004
Toledo Public Schools try to lure students, fight enrollment dip
Kieth Dawson shows freshman Alicia Whitmore how static electricity can light up a fluorescent tube. Mr. Dawson was teaching about safety at Rogers' Construction Careers Academy.
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THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
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By IGNAZIO MESSINA
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Business is down and competition is fierce.
The raw material in this marketplace is students and they increasingly are being siphoned away from large urban school districts like Toledo Public Schools.
And fewer students means less state funding.
As of the end of last year, the state of Ohio provided Toledo Public Schools with about $3,500 in basic aid per pupil.
Urban school districts have traditionally accepted that students would be lost to Catholic schools, meaning less dollars, but in recent years, public school officials blame charter schools in part for falling enrollment numbers.
"Ever since charter schools were established about eight years ago, there has been a steady decline [in enrollment]," said Adrienne Noel, Toledo Public Schools' director of research.Last school year's official enrollment figure was 33,866 students. As of last week, 33,403 students were enrolled to attend Toledo Public Schools. The official count is not taken until October.
But Superintendent Eugene Sanders said enrollment typically increases the first several weeks of school.
"There are still those families, no matter what we say, that do not think school starts until after Labor Day," he said.
According to the preliminary numbers obtained by The Blade, the largest difference was experienced on the elementary school level, where 1,036 fewer students were enrolled so far this year over last year. The junior highs experienced a loss of 232 students, but the high schools gained 805 students over last year.
Last year, there were 19,110 elementary school students. By 2010, the district predicts it will have 17,452 students in grades kindergarten through six.
"Part of the challenge that comes in the enrollment reduction is you need to reduce your budget accordingly. The other factors are the impact of charter schools on the district as well and the fact that folks are generally moving out of cities into the suburbs," Mr. Sanders said.
An outsider might suggest that the loss of over 3,400 students in the past five years - and nearly 5,000 since the 1993-1994 school year - can be remedied financially through staff cuts. While the district has in fact laid off teachers - slashing 232 positions last year and 91 this year - administrators point out that financial woes caused by enrollment declines can't be easily remedied through layoffs.
"At some point the district will have to look, if the trend continues, at consolidation," Mr. Sanders added.
The district has already begun to address the enrollment problem by rethinking its $821 million building program. The construction and renovation schedule of more than a dozen schools could be changed.
Charter schools are often denounced by Toledo school board members and administrators as a major factor for the downward trend. They hope advances in the district's performance will lure students and parents back.
During the 2003-2004 school year, 4,164 students in the Toledo district attended charter schools. So far this school year, that number has dropped: as of last week, the district counted 3,181 of its students in charter schools.
Ms. Noel hopes that figure continues to roll back in future years.
"I would hope to think that our continuous improvement rating is having an impact and leading to an impact on enrollment," she said.
The district's Ohio Department of Education rating was elevated last month from the lowest possible, academic emergency, up to continuous improvement.
In response to the competition from charter schools, Toledo Public Schools has become more aggressive, Mr. Sanders said, by adding additional choices for parents and students - including academies, single-gender schools, and specialized career-oriented courses.
"I think it's an emerging trend to be responsive to school- choice issues," Mr. Sanders said. "The district's position is that we want to be competitive and have a variety of choices for our students."
Schools have always offered vocational classes, but the practice has clearly expanded, he said.
Toledo Public Schools last year began sponsoring the Phoenix, Brigadoon, and Polly Fox academies. It was also the sponsor for the Toledo School for the Arts, but is not involved in the operation of that school.
The district converted two elementary buildings into single-gender schools - Lincoln Academy for Boys and Stewart Academy for Girls. And this year it established the Construction Careers Academy, a construction trades and management school operated at Rogers High School.
"I envision the district in a variety of programs that meet students' needs so the district can be very aggressive," Mr. Sanders said.
Career academies have become a widely used high school reform initiative that aims to keep students engaged in school and prepare them for successful transitions to post-secondary education and employment.
Toledo Public also has The Toledo Technology Academy, established in 1997 and located in the skill center area of the Thomas A. DeVilbiss Academic and Technology Center. The school was one of two in the Toledo district rated excellent by the state.
David Welch, Toledo Board of Education president, said the privately run charter schools make an aggressive sales pitch to parents.
"I think what they do is sell a different type of environment for our students, but in reality, we do a much better job educating urban students," he said. "One of the goals we have set is to provide more opportunities for our students and parents."
The 2003-2004 school report cards for public and charter schools were released last month by the Ohio Department of Education. The state reported data on 149 charter schools, also called community schools. Thirty-one percent were listed in academic emergency; 11.5 percent, academic watch; 29.1 percent, continuous improvement; 3.4 percent, effective, and less than 1 percent, excellent.
Allison Perz, liaison to the Ohio Council of Community Schools, said charter schools have lower scores because they primarily serve students who have under-performed in traditional public schools.
"Charter schools were designed to give alternatives to the most disenfranchised, which are typically the poorest-performing students," she said. "It's interesting that you have districts like Toledo Public who are touting that they have single-handedly increased test scores without giving credit to charter schools that take away students who are low performers."
While she agrees that taking millions of dollars away a year from Toledo Public has an impact on that entire system, she said those tax dollars belong to the students. "This isn't about money," she said. "This is about academics and better opportunities."
Washington Local Schools has also lost students to charter schools. For the 2002-03 school year, the district's enrollment was 6,979, of which 58 students were in charter schools. Last year, enrollment was 6,942, and 117 students were in community schools. This year's enrollment figures were not available.
Sandy Freels, the district's education management information system coordinator, predicted there would be yet another increase this year in the number of students attending charter schools.
Deb Heban, career, technical, and adult education director, said Washington Local is also being competitive through new programs.
The district's Whitmer High School began offering a Medical Office Management program this school year.
"It combines a seamless program that begins in high school with our career-tech program," she said. "What they get in this, is the real world of work experience, which incorporates training with the latest technology."
It also has programs in environmental systems and manufacturing engineering technology, and is planning its own Construction Academy for next year.
Contact Ignazio Messina at:
imessina@theblade.com
or 419-724-6171.
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