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Closure of school in Ashland suggested State administrators group makes recommendation, which district is unlikely to follow now By Tony Boom Other highlights of the audit The 15-page Oregon School Services Bureau�s administrative audit of the Ashland School District had both recommendations for improvements and praise for current operations. Among the recommendations: Communication within the district and between the district and the public should be improved. Personnel administration will be critical, especially with as many as half of the staff members scheduled to retire in the next few years. A nonlicensed human resources position should be considered. Administrative positions at the high school should be reviewed to determine the distribution of responsibilities among five management positions. Technology is carried out on a building-by-building basis. A plan should be developed to produce desktop support districtwide. Praise included: Individual schools are effectively using the site council concept in decision making and in development of school improvement plans. There is room in the decision-making process for irreverent questions and differences of opinion. The district climate lends itself to open-minded inspection and should be encouraged. Relations between the district�s fiscal unit and individual schools are strong. Fiscal safeguards are operating effectively and consistently. Operations are lean and well focused on the students served. Copies of the report are available at the district office, 885 Siskiyou Blvd. ASHLAND � An audit recommends closing one of Ashland�s five elementary schools to improve efficiency among administrators. The audit, prepared by the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators� Oregon School Services Bureau, was released by the district Thursday. It recommends adding administrators in curriculum and special education and improving coordination of curriculum between schools. It also praises several aspects of Ashland schools administration and adds, "nothing in your district is �broken.� " Ashland Superintendent Juli Di Chiro, who commissioned the audit, will propose a new administrative structure for the district office based on its findings. But, she said, closing an elementary school will not be part of it � at least not initially. "I don�t think we are going there right now," Di Chiro said. "We have to look at a lot more than (numbers). I�m not advocating closing unless we had a real drop in enrollment." School board member Kent Provost echoed Di Chiro�s views, saying that closing a school "is something we would look at down the road. It is not on our immediate plan at this point." District enrollment is projected to decline slightly over the next few years. Enrollments at the elementary schools are: Bellview, 234; Briscoe, 255; Helman, 216; Lincoln, 310; and Walker, 282. The impact of closing one of the five relatively small elementary schools, each of which has a principal, should be considered when renovation plans for the schools are developed, the audit states. Scheduled for renovation is Lincoln Elementary, which will either be replaced or remodeled in 2007, according to a 50-year district facilities plan. The district would need a tax-funded levy to finance the work. "One of the strengths of our district is the small school communities," said Lincoln Principal Susan Hollandsworth. "The smaller the school community, the more successful the child will feel and be. "I would encourage keeping small schools and not closing one." If the district chooses to keep all five elementary schools, it should ask the principals to take on more responsibilities, the audit recommends. Di Chiro said she would consider the idea. Hollandsworth and other elementary principals are already taking on projects in addition to building supervision. Hollandsworth works on administration of a federal Title I reading and math grant. "I�d be willing to do that if it meant keeping the schools small," said Hollandsworth. The audit says the district is short-staffed in the central office and recommends hiring both a curriculum and instruction director and a special education coordinator. The district left its curriculum post unfilled at the same time it hired Di Chiro as superintendent in July. The central office staff level was kept small so the district could review its administrative structure, school officials said. Vance Littleton, a retired educator, coordinates special education under a contract that expires in June. Di Chiro oversees curriculum development. Creation of a new central office structure will raise questions of school autonomy versus coordination of the kindergarten-through-12th-grade program, the audit reports. At the time of the audit, which was conducted with a site visit in December, there was no mechanism to connect elementary curriculum to middle school offerings. A new district program that starts in February will offer chances to develop curriculum across the district. "We have a philosophy of site-based decision making," said Di Chiro. "We certainly don�t want to change (that). It�s very important, but we need to have a way to come together and to articulate." Ashland Middle School Principal Dale Rooklyn said there�s more coordination between elementary schools and the middle school than the audit makes apparent. "State content standards and benchmarks that kids have to meet keep everyone moving toward the same target," he said. "The report said what we�ve known for a long time. The district office is very thin because all resources are at the classroom level. How do we provide support? Where do we find those funds? And how do we create that balance, enhancing what we do rather than making a step backwards?" Di Chiro will use the audit to prepare a diagram of management structure and activity based on unlimited funding. From this starting point, the school board, administration and employees will determine how to structure administrative services and set priorities. "We can�t do it all in one year," said Di Chiro. "It is our job to take (the recommendations) and figure out what we�re going to do with them." Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.