10 Schools use Federal Education Dollars to Fund Retreats
FORT WORTH — Ten struggling schools in the Fort Worth district are spending more than $200,000 on staff retreats, including $64,500 by South Hills High School for a three-day stay at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine.
The money comes from grants through the federal No Child Left Behind program and must be used by the schools to analyze student test data, comprehensively assess needs, make a campus improvement plan and team-build, according to the Texas Education Agency, which distributes the money. The retreats are allowed, but some wonder if the venues might be excessive.
Ninety schools statewide each received $93,000 grants through the School Improvement plan, including Eastern Hills, O.D. Wyatt and Dunbar high schools.
Not all schools, however, are spending the money the same way.
Daggett Middle School, for example, is going to Beaumont Ranch in Johnson County for $4,300.
And one Austin school conducted several staff development seminars at their Regional Education Service Center.
Because the South Hills retreat costs more than $50,000, it required review by the Fort Worth school board — during the same meeting in which trustees voted to increase the price of student lunches. The juxtaposition raised some eyebrows.
"I think most teachers would question spending $64,000 for staff development at the Gaylord Texan," said Larry Shaw, executive director of the United Educators Association.
Superintendent Melody Johnson could not be reached for comment earlier this week because she was on vacation.
What the grant is for
South Hills’ Principal Nancy Weisskopf said her campus followed grant guidelines in planning the retreat. She said the retreat will help build a strong academic program at the school, which the state rated "academically unacceptable" in 2007.
The school has also struggled to meet No Child Left Behind standards.
"Although Gaylord conjures up some feelings for some, when you look at it from a cost perspective, we are right within our guidelines," Weisskopf said.
Weisskopf said she hopes the community sees that the intention is to create a setting in which South Hills teachers can dig into solutions.
"I hope they understand that for schools to be successful, they need the time to plan," she said. "The whole point of this is to improve."
The grant is set aside for schools that haven’t met Adequate Yearly Progress for three years. Schools that fall under this description are known to be in Stage 2. Stage 2 sanctions include allowing students to transfer to other selected schools with provided transportation, development of an improvement plan and free tutoring.
The grant is supposed to help educators pinpoint academic issues and meet AYP. For example, eighth-grade math teachers might study seventh-grade math test scores to see if there are patterns that indicate a hole in instruction, said Suzanne Marchman, spokeswoman for the TEA in Austin.
Marchman said that this type of analysis typically needs to take place during the summer so teachers can adjust their instruction. In fact, making this data analysis after the school year begins could be too late.
The South Hills staff is expected to pull in long days at the retreat — sessions start about 8 a.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. on two nights, she said. The South Hills analysis will include a review of test scores and attendance records.
Weisskopf said the staff also will draw up a community-service project as part of team-building efforts.
"It’s not like a conference with multiple sessions," she said, adding that participants won’t be able to slip in and out.
She also will oversee the retreat to make sure teachers participate.
"You have to look at what is behind those numbers. That is quite an undertaking," she said. "The idea is that we are not going to look at it simplistically."
Weisskopf said parents or community members are welcome to ask questions about the retreat.
If successful, the retreat should help improve student performance on tests given in 2009.
"Schools are a lot like any large organization," Weisskopf said. "We really believe that working together in collaboration is going to help students be successful."
Where the money goes
The grant money includes lodging, food, audio-visual support, motivational and/or out-of-district instructional speakers, transportation, study guides, and notebooks.
The grant has a checks-and-balances component because campuses also must submit evaluation data and activity reports to the TEA for review in the spring.
Fort Worth teachers and staff stay in single rooms. Anything not covered by the grant — movies, for example — will come out of the teachers’ pocketbooks. Participants can take part in a resort’s amenities on their own tab and time, according to the district.
How grant is used
The Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center overlooks Lake Grapevine and is located between Fort Worth and Dallas. One room with two queen beds is listed online at $199 per night.
Weisskopf said the resort gave the school a discount. The school is paying $179 per day per person for meals, light snacks, nightly room rate and conference center use.
Weisskopf said the resort is a good fit for the school’s 130 educators because it isn’t too far from Fort Worth yet gives educators a chance to meet away from the school. Under the plans, South Hills has grant money left for more staff development during the school year.
Schools are allowed to use grant funds to pay for "reasonable and necessary costs," according to the TEA. Each school draws up its own plans and negotiates rates. Staff members from each campus attends TEA academy training that includes how the money can be spent.
Mendez Middle School in Austin used its grant to host a series of staff-development meetings at the Regional Education Service Center serving that area. In August, the school will hold a two-day meeting at a nearby Hilton Hotel. That event is not an overnight retreat, according to the Austin school district.
In Fort Worth, most campuses planned two- or three-day retreats. North Side High didn’t use an overnight stay. The North Side session was held in June at the Fort Worth Club.
Any buses used to transport teachers are paid out of the federal grant money. The grant also covers child care, but retreat participants have made other arrangements, said Barbara Griffith, Fort Worth schools spokeswoman.
The amount of money spent varied by campus. Daggett Middle is spending the least. Campus size was a factor. For example, Daggett Middle is listed as having a staff of about 40. Dunbar High School has a staff of about 95. Dunbar is spending $25,099 to stay at the Embassy Suites in Grapevine.
On the agenda
Schools are doing activities that fall under TEA guidelines. But each retreat agenda has to include direct teaching, smaller group discussions and strategizing, Griffith said.
At O.D. Wyatt, teachers will participate in a scavenger hunt as they comb through student data. For example, teachers will be asked to find certain types of statistics from TAKS scores. Time also will be set aside to discuss individual student scores to create intensive interventions.
Teachers and staff from Diamond Hill-Jarvis used a computer program to analyze test scores for the past three years. Teachers could print graphs that help explain academic-testing trends more simply.
Principal Gayla Dawson said that staff and teachers attended a retreat at the Marriott near Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month and that the teachers seemed inspired. This year, homeroom will include vocabulary enrichment to help students master English Language Arts.
"What is so cool about it is that it is not top down, it’s the teachers having the 'ah hah’ moment," Dawson said.
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Fort Worth Schools
Ten schools are using grant money offered through No Child Left Behind for retreats aimed at helping teachers improve student performance. Each school obtained a $93,000 grant to be used for staff development, including team-building and data analysis. The amount of grant money used per campus varied because of the number of staff involved, the number of days, venues and activities planned.
South Hills High School: Gaylord Resort, $64,500, Aug. 13-15
Diamond-Hill Jarvis High School: Marriott Doral, $14,855.25, July 20-22
Dunbar High School: Embassy Suites, $25,099, Aug. 14-15
Eastern Hills High School: Marriott Doral, $15,921, Aug. 15-16
North Side High School: Fort Worth Club, $8,811, June 16-18
O. D. Wyatt High School: Marriott Doral, $13,875, Aug. 15-16
Daggett Middle School: Beaumont Ranch, $4,300, Aug. 15-16
Handley Middle School: Tanglewood Resort, $10,866, Aug. 17-19
Rosemont Middle School: Marriott Doral, $24,194, July 27-30
Dunbar Middle School: Garrett Creek Ranch, $25,324, Aug.7-9
Source: Fort Worth school district