In the morning sun, herds of elementary school students file clumsily off yellow buses and spring from family cars by the dozens.
Ranks close as the scattered masses press through traffic cones positioned to drive 1,750 youngsters to class without a stampede. A band of Jackson Elementary School faculty stands by ready to round up stragglers, to slow the rush of latecomers, to keep the peewees in the pack from getting shoved along or falling underfoot.
Moving multitudes is part of the day’s work at Gwinnett County Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, with more than 157,200 students. While some of the nation’s largest school systems watch their enrollment shrink, Gwinnett’s district is growing. It is ranked as the country’s 15th-largest and is expected to grow by 1,700 students next fall. By 2017, school officials are expecting 200,000. Meanwhile, some metro Atlanta school systems are seeing only slight growth.
Gwinnett is so big that it would take Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks five months to visit every campus if he traveled to one each school day. Some city populations more than double, even quadruple, when kids are in school. The system’s 2009 fiscal year budget is $1.9 billion, larger than Charlotte’s $1.8 billion.
As enrollment soars, some parents are growing concerned that Gwinnett may be getting too large to maintain its academic strength. They point to overcrowded campuses, a dip in average SAT scores, a spike in poverty, a blossoming population of international students still learning English, nagging student discipline incidents and crime.
“There are just too many students,” said Lindy Barrett-Grove of Snellville, who withdrew her daughters because she thought Gwinnett schools got too big. “When you get 3,000 kids in one small space, there is going to be trouble. I want my kids to excel. A smaller school is more conducive for learning.”
Accreditation officials with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools gave Gwinnett “exemplary” ratings during its five-year review. Quality inspectors, however, recommended that in order to keep improving, Gwinnett should continue to focus on its greatest “challenges,” including how growth affects the district and the achievement gap.
Size presents challenges. Big districts must find ways to house growing populations, recruit a steady supply of qualified teachers, educate masses while still meeting individual student needs and deliver timely feedback to demanding parents.
Take Mill Creek High, the state’s largest school, with 4,074 students and a lunch schedule that begins when most people are downing their second cup of coffee. Each school day, teens meet in small group advisement sessions to chat with a teacher or get help with work.
“We are big — a big family,” principal Jim Markham said. “We have high expectations for every kid.”
Nationally, many large urban districts are opening small schools because they’re credited with helping to improve test scores and decrease dropouts. Gwinnett, on the other hand, beats state and national test benchmarks for large schools despite changing demographics. The “majority minority” system of diverse students had a 4.2 percent jump in kids qualifying for discounted meals this school year. Thousands are served by classes for limited English speakers.
“We have experienced periods of exceptional growth. … We have effectively managed with large successful schools,” Wilbanks said in an e-mail. “There is no definitive data that favors small schools in terms of student achievement. … The real connection between teachers, students and student achievement happens in the classroom, no matter the size of the school.”
About 96 percent of Gwinnett schools met student adequate yearly progress goals in 2007-08. The graduation rate climbed from 74 percent in 2005-06 to 79 percent last school year, with fewer college students needing remedial support. The average SAT score, however, slipped from 1,524 to 1,521, but that was higher than national and state averages.
On the Georgia Criterioned-Referenced Competency Test, Gwinnett’s black, Asian and Hispanic students showed some gains but still lagged behind whites in some areas.
“The achievement gap is a gigantic problem just about everywhere,” said Paul Hill, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education.
Next fall, Gwinnett will take bold steps to help students.
The district will open 10 new schools — including one that’s a replacement — to reduce overcrowding. It uses the Special Local Option Sales Tax and general obligation bonds to fund schools so construction can continue in lean times.
In August, it will aggressively target the achievement gap. Principals now have freedom over their budgets to do what they will to improve performance. Gwinnett is the first in Georgia to receive flexibility from state mandates in exchange for greater accountability.
At Jackson, principal Ruth Markham plans to expand the gifted program and provide services for those just shy of qualifying. Though her elementary school is the county’s largest, Markham dons costumes to build excitement about reading and hosts festivals to build community relationships.
Disciplinary issues also can be a distraction. Last year, some 31,500 students received in-school suspension and 20,600 were suspended outside of school. Serious offenders faced 1,910 discipline hearings.
Dealing with discipline takes time away from kids who work hard, said Amy Tjoe, a first-grade teacher at Winn Holt.
“If a child is performing well and is on grade level, by design, they get less attention because you have to focus on the children … making less progress in academics and behavior to catch them up.”
Labels: Growth, Gwinnett COunty, gwinnett schools, schools
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Brian Vanderhoff @ 7:57 AM
