JCPS magnet schools like Male may no longer be allowed to 'exit' underperforming students

Olivia Krauth , Mandy McLaren | Louisville Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption JCPS Superintendent : 'Important that community wraps its arms around schools' JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio: 'We have155 schools, and vast majority have gaps we need to work on'

Jefferson County's most prestigious public schools, including Central, Louisville Male and Manual high schools, should no longer be able to kick out under-performing students, according to a district proposal.

The recommendation, which has not yet been presented to the school board, would forbid the district's magnet schools from removing students from their rolls because of mediocre grades, bad behavior or poor attendance.

Data obtained by The Courier Journal through the state's public records law shows Jefferson County Public Schools "exits" more than 1,000 students from its magnets each school year.

Critics of this exit process say it contributes to a long-standing caste system in the district: Magnets get to keep top-performers and engaged students; non-magnet schools have to educate everyone else.

District data appears to confirm this criticism. JCPS' top-performing magnets tend to serve far fewer students with special needs, still learning English, from low-income households or considered homeless.

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JCPS earlier this year tasked a committee of parents, community members and district leaders to review its student-assignment process, including its magnet system. That committee approved a proposal to end the exit process on Thursday night.

But the potential changes have been months in the making.

Superintendent Marty Pollio, who took part in several of the committee's discussions, told The Courier Journal earlier this fall he expected "huge controversy" to come when the group released its recommendations.

"Magnets have a lot of history and that will be very controversial," Pollio said in September. "So none of this is easy … I think in the end, we have to keep our focus on what is best for kids."

School board member James Craig represents eastern Jefferson County, where students often attend top magnets like Manual and Male. He considers the proposal a step in the right direction.

"Maintaining the status quo in order to make certain portions of the county feel comfortable isn't what's in the best interest of all 100,000 of our students," he said.

JCPS offers dozens of magnet schools and programs, which differ from other schools because they are allowed to be selective. All require an application.

Though not all magnets have specific entrance criteria, they have traditionally been allowed to "exit" students from their programs. Magnets have either withdrawn students outright or encouraged parents to enroll their children elsewhere, critics of the exit system say.

In other words, when students aren't meeting the school's expectations — whether that be because of grades, discipline or attendance — they're asked to leave. For many, that means returning to their "resides" or home schools.

There are no district-wide policies governing magnet exit procedures or criteria. Those decisions have traditionally been left to individual programs.

"Do we really want a group of schools who can't exit students versus a group of schools who can?" Dena Dossett, the district's chief accountability officer and member of the review committee, asked Thursday.

Over the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years, 2,273 students were exited from JCPS' magnet programs and magnet schools. These figures represent a combination of “parent initiated transfers” and “school initiated transfers.”

Butler, Male and Central high schools accounted for the most exits over that two-year period.

Also: High-poverty schools don't fare well on state tests. These JCPS schools challenged the odds

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Under the committee's proposal, students who opt to leave magnets on their own — a parent-initiated transfer — would still be allowed to do so.

Kelly Anderson, a Manual alumnus and JCPS parent, said he thinks the recommendation is "terrible."

"These programs exist to offer a more challenging and often faster-paced curriculum. Some students aren’t able to succeed in it. And that’s OK," he told The Courier Journal. "But it is a disservice to the school and to the student to keep them in a program in which they are unable to succeed."

Committee members also green-lighted potentially replicating popular programs to allow more students to participate, as well as possibly creating new interest-based magnets.

They also recommended moving all magnet lotteries from the school level to central office, and working with individual schools to boost diversity.

Community members will be able to give feedback in forums in the coming weeks. After that, a final proposal will head to a school board vote.

If passed, the changes could give underserved populations more access to the district's schools of choice.

Also: Assaults on JCPS educators appear rare. But teachers say they don't always report them

Magnet schools and programs are designed to offer students and parents a choice. Some cater to student interests, like the arts, or challenge advanced students through a faster pace and traditional school approach.

Magnets have also been used to lure students from the east end to the west end of Louisville to boost diversity without forcing them to do so, or to convince those same students to stay in public schools instead of private schools.

Magnets' high ratings are tied to their selective nature. They're allowed to limit their student populations to those with few behavior infractions, strong attendance and high test scores, along with those with families engaged enough to apply to the school.

And by gathering high-achieving students in entire schools, the remaining resides schools look poor in comparison.

More changes could join the exit recommendation.

A larger overhaul to magnet admissions, including streamlining the process across JCPS and dropping behavior and attendance criteria, has been discussed at past meetings but not advanced yet.

Pollio said the changes could be quickly implemented, with the bar on exiting students beginning by the end of the school year.

As part of its agreement with the state to avoid a takeover, JCPS is required to change its assignment plan in some capacity by the 2020-21 school year. Larger shifts in the student assignment plan, which determines where a student attends school, are still in the works.

Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com or 502-582-4471, and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth. Support strong local journalism by subscribing: courier-journal.com/subscribe.

Mandy McLaren: 502-582-4525; mmclaren@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @mandy_mclaren. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/mandym.