Officials seeing racial progress

As it reaches the midpoint of its three-year desegregation process, the Jefferson Parish public school system is making progress in its pursuit to achieve a more racially balanced, equitable system and get out from under federal oversight, a group of district administrators said last week.

At the same time, officials, who spoke at a recent public meeting at Worley Middle School in Westwego, acknowledged that the ongoing desegregation process, which has prompted student shifts and teacher reassignments, has not always proceeded smoothly.

"It's extremely hard to uproot individuals who have been in schools a long time," said Assistant Superintendent Isaac Joseph, who oversees human resources. "So, it's a long process. It's not an easy one. It involves a lot of people. We've learned, if nothing else, to have more cooperation and collaboration between the departments."

Joseph was one of several administrators who delivered a status report on the district's implementation of the revised desegregation order, which was approved in May 2008 and has governed nearly all aspects of district policy since that time.

Administrators touched on a number of different initiatives that have resulted from the order, including a revision of the system's facilities policy, the introduction of special literacy programs intended to help struggling students and policies meant to propel more black students into magnet schools and Advanced-Placement courses.

On the facilities front, the desegregation order forced the system to abandon its former, divide-by-nine mentality, in which all capital funding was split evenly by board member district, according to David Taylor, the assistant superintendent of facilities and maintenance. The district now prioritizes its financing by allocating it to schools in greatest need of repair, he said.

The order also required the facilities department to create a prioritized list of facilities problems, which ended up totaling around $21 million. Already, the district has managed to obtain money to tackle all but $2 million worth of projects on that list, mostly through a series of bond issues that the school board obtained, Taylor said.

Deputy Superintendent Richard Carpenter spoke to the instructional aspects of the order, citing the achievement gap in standardized testing between white and black students and the various methods the district has been using to close it.

A free summer course that targeted struggling readers, has helped the district hone in on lagging students, he said. District officials have delivered lists of high-performing students to principals, to help entice those students to take Advanced Placement classes, he said. The district has also initiated an outreach program to churches to encourage black students to enroll in magnet schools and specialty schools.

Only a handful of community members turned out for the meeting, which was hosted by the district's desegregation task force. But interested parents have plenty of time to attend another meeting, as they will be held through mid-November, according to task force leader Margie Zeno. A schedule of the meetings is available of the district's Web site: www.jppss.k12.la.us.

Jenny Hurwitz can be reached at 504.826.3784 or jhurwitz@timespicayune.com.

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Jenny Hurwitz can be reached at jhurwitz@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3784.