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Humboldt school struggles to regain parents' trust

Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune

Chief of Schools Nancy Stachel and Assistant Principal Deb Shipp, right, listened as Arlene Schilling, foreground, commented that Humboldt’s low enrollment should be viewed as an advantage. There were 461 students in 2004-05. This year there are 290.

As the St. Paul junior high prepares to be restructured under the No Child rules, parents want to know how this time will be different.

By EMILY JOHNS, Star Tribune

Last update: October 22, 2008 - 12:02 AM

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Humboldt Junior High Principal Tim Williams acknowledged a palpable sense of frustration in the room last week as the school district held a community meeting with parents.

As the poor school on St. Paul's West Side prepares to be restructured under the federal No Child Left Behind law, the district wanted to talk about options for turning around low test scores and a drop in enrollment. But parents were more interested in talking about the past: How the district has come to them before, and nothing seems to have changed, they said.

While the district threw out options such as shutting the school down for a year to rebuild its facilities and programs, or evaluating staff to make sure all the teachers are qualified, some parents just wanted to vent:

"I just want Humboldt to get their act together," shouted Debbie Luna, who said she's attended meetings like last Wednesday's for more than 20 years. "We're the step-child to this district, we are not part of this district."

Williams tried to reassure them.

"I want this year to be the last time we have to do this," he said. "I want to do this right, so we don't have to do it again in five years."

According to the 2001 No Child Left Behind law, states need to test how different student groups fare in school. If one group -- such as special-education students -- fails to meet targets on state tests, the whole school is labeled as not making "adequate yearly progress."

For schools receiving federal Title I money, failure means penalties that increase over time, from having to offer transfers and tutoring to restructuring an entire school. The proficiency level required each year is a moving target -- by 2014, the law says, every student group in the country is supposed to pass the tests.

At Humboldt, years of sub-par test scores mean the school now has to be restructured.

According to a memo that the Minnesota Department of Education sent to St. Paul, the district must choose among a host of options that include reopening the school as a charter school, replacing all or most of the school staff, or entering into a contract with a private management company to run the school. (Chief of Schools Nancy Stachel said at the meeting that "chances are pretty good we're not going to go that route.")

But problems at Humboldt are not new. One of the chief complaints of parents and staff at last week's meeting was about when the previous superintendent Patricia Harvey labeled the school -- and 10 other district schools -- as on "probation" during the 1999-2000 school year.

The reputation of the school suffered, and it has still not recovered, they said.

Over the years, enrollment has dropped steadily at Humboldt. In 2004-05, there were 461 students in the junior high, this year there are 290.

A plan by November

What the district is looking at now, Stachel said, is finding programming that will draw more students (and consequently more money) into the school. They plan to further develop an Environmental Studies program, and to seek a strategy or partner to stabilize and increase enrollment, as well as provide long-term stable funding.

They're also considering adding sixth grade to the school, as well as conducting formal observations of staff to "identify areas for improvement and take appropriate action."

The district has until Nov. 1 to present a school improvement plan to the Minnesota Department of Education. It will also include plans for Arlington High School, which is preparing for restructuring like Humboldt Junior, as well as Open School and Washington Technology Middle School, which are both in need of "corrective action" under the law.

But first, Williams acknowledges, the school needs to convince parents, once more, that this time, they're serious about making constructive, well-thought-out changes.

"We've got to regain their trust," said Williams after last week's community meeting. "We have to."

Emily Johns • 651-298-1541

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