Tough decisions regarding Miller Middle School appear to be on the horizon for the Marshalltown Community School District, the school board learned at its meeting Monday.
Superintendent Marvin Wade said due to Miller's listing as a low-performing school from testing results as part of Race to the Top legislation, federally-mandated measures have to be taken at the school.
The district has to choose one of four intervention options for Miller, which are closing the school, making it a charter school, firing half of the staff including the principal or firing the principal and instituting different curriculum methods. The deadline for choosing a method of intervention is March 22.
"There's a lot of questions still floating around," Wade said.
The option that would create the less fallout appears to be the one that terminates the principal and changes the curriculum.
Wade said that Miller Principal Brad Clement should not be the fall guy in this situation. He said the district is not saying the testing results are Clement's fault.
"To hang this on the head of a principal is a tough pill to swallow," Wade said.
The district will be applying for federal grant money that is only available to low-performing schools, though the whole Race to the Top legislation and its intervention methods have some school board members upset.
"I find this incredibly depressing," said board member Anne Paullus. "It just makes me sick."
Wade said several school districts are dealing with these intervention methods.
"It's a tough situation but we are not alone in it," he said. "All over the country people are agonizing over it."
There is expected to be more discussion on the intervention methods at the next school board meeting which is March 1.
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Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com