After 15 years, Leandro case moves back into Halifax

The announcement by Gov. Bev Perdue Wednesday afternoon that state officials will make "an unprecedented intervention" in Halifax County Schools is the latest manifestation of what a long-running schools lawsuit is all about. And it reflects the reality that Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning, who has overseen the lawsuit for years, has been zeroing in on Halifax schools for a long time. If the state had not organized its intervention plans, which will be presented to Manning next week at a hearing on Wednesday, the judge might have ordered it up himself. He's been considering it for months. But state officials have been thinking about it a long time, too.

It's all part of the Leandro schools case, originally filed in Halifax County and four other counties in 1994 when Bill Harrison, now the chairman and CEO of the State Board of Education, was superintendent of Hoke County Schools and rounded up the family of Robb Leandro to be the lead plaintiff in what is now known as the Leandro case. Harrison, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson and the Department of Public Instruction will be key players in the intervention, Perdue said.

Here's the press release her office put out this afternoon:

RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that the State Board of Education Chair and CEO Bill Harrison, State Superintendent June Atkinson, the board and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction will begin an unprecedented intervention in Halifax County Schools, one of the low-performing school districts in the state. The plan will be presented to Judge Manning at an April 29th hearing.
“My goal is to improve public schools and student performance. Dr. Harrison, Superintendent Atkinson and I will act aggressively in Halifax County and all of North Carolina to make sure our schools have the support, direction and accountability that give our kids a chance to succeed,” said Gov. Perdue.
Under the intervention plan, NCDPI staff will provide intensive support and oversight to coach principals in effective instructional and school leadership, to provide tools to help central office personnel better guide the school district, and ensure that teachers get the necessary support and resources needed to improve student learning.
“Halifax Superintendent Geraldine Middleton has been receptive to us and we look forward to helping her and her team move forward,” said Harrison. “This intervention is a partnership with Halifax County Schools, and one in which the state board and education department will guide professional development and create a supportive framework with one goal: improved student learning and achievement.”
Activities already have already begun in Halifax but will intensify this summer and in the 2009-10 school year. Clear expectations and direction will be provided to local leadership, principals and teachers. Three weeks of professional development will be provided to all Halifax principals and central office personnel, and two weeks of professional development will be provided to teachers in the Halifax schools over the summer. This activity will kick off the 2009-10 school year and provide clear expectations and direction for educators in the district and schools.
The model for improving student learning in the district features:
• 3 weeks of professional development for principals and central office personnel
• 2 weeks of professional development to teachers
• 12 full-time master educators hired by Halifax County Schools to help classroom teachers improve instruction
• 3 school transformation coaches provided by the NCDPI and
• a district transformation coach provided by the NCDPI
• consultation with NCDPI regarding use of federal and state appropriations.
In addition, top leadership at the NCDPI will provide ongoing oversight to the work underway to assist Halifax County. Harrison, as well as Dr. Rebecca Garland, the state’s chief academic officer, and Dr. Pat Ashley, director of District and School Transformation, will be actively engaged to assure that the Halifax County Board of Education and administration will be accountable for pursuing and implementing reforms that improve education opportunities in all Halifax County public schools.
Superintendent June Atkinson said the framework guiding the intervention will focus on taking the department’s expertise in local school and district assistance to a more significant level of engagement. “We are leveraging federal resources and other tools to help guide this district to new levels of student performance and achievement,” Atkinson said. “The purpose is to create a structure for success that will increase the district’s bottom line: student proficiency and graduation.”
NCDPI has piloted a district transformation model for the last two years in six school districts, but the Halifax intervention will incorporate state education efforts more directly in the administration of the school district’s operations.
Halifax County Schools is one of 115 local school districts in North Carolina and serves approximately 4,400 students. The district, located in northeastern North Carolina, has 14 schools. Student achievement there is significantly lower than state average performance. Overall, for students in grades 3-8, 25.5 percent are proficient or better in reading and 39.7 percent are proficient or better in math as compared to state averages of 55.6 percent and 69.9 percent respectively. At the high school level, approximately one third of the students are considered proficient on end-of-course tests, as compared with 68 percent for the state overall. The school district is in federal District Improvement because it has not made Adequate Yearly Progress targets under No Child Left Behind.