Schools say few requesting transfers as deadline nears
| • | DOE list of schools accepting transfers |
| • | How to apply for transfer |
| • | List of Hawai'i schools identified as failing |
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
Parents have until Monday to apply for transfers for their children, but schools across the state so far have seen just a trickle of students trying to switch campuses under the terms of the new federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.
Children at 82 Hawai'i campuses can ask to transfer to better-performing campuses or request private tutoring at the state's expense because their home campuses have failed to meet the state's academic standards in math or reading, or haven't met attendance goals.
State officials suspect that more students may take advantage of the tutoring option than the transfer, but won't know until Monday how many parents will try to take advantage of the provisions of the law.
Out of about 500 children at Makawao Elementary on Maui, two families have asked for transfers and 15 parents asked for tutoring services, said principal Gwen Ueoka.
"This is a school with a very needy population," Ueoka said. "Our parent community is very supportive. We feel like we are allies in this."
Ueoka's school has exceeded the state's academic goals, but fell short on attendance. The school averaged 93 percent attendance, while the state goal was 95 percent.
Ueoka said she hopes that parents will look at the reasons some schools have missed the state's goals. "This is not a failing school," Ueoka said. "We're hitting the marks given our population and in terms of the challenge."
The No Child Left Behind Act is a federal education law that mandates yearly improvement in the nation's high-poverty schools.
When 45 percent of a school's enrollment receives free- or reduced-price lunch, the school gets federal money to improve learning. In turn, the schools are expected to demonstrate annual progress in meeting academic standards and other school quality measures.
Hawai'i had 127 high-poverty schools last year.
Ruth Silberstein, principal at Palolo Elementary, walked the housing projects in her neighborhood to pass out information on school transfers to families, gave out letters as parents dropped off their children at school, mailed packets and, just to be sure, sent information home with children.
So far, one child has asked to transfer out of the school.
"I told them how serious it is to be sanctioned and let them know that we need help," Silberstein said. "A lot of our parents are coming in now. We're inviting them into our language lab so they can learn with their child and help them at home. This is the biggest problem we have with immigrant children. We're trying to involve the parents."
Silberstein actually had one parent transfer a child into Palolo Elementary from a school that was not labeled by the state as failing.
The mother had to get special permission from the district superintendent and acknowledge that Palolo hasn't yet hit the state's academic targets.
"I said, 'Can you believe that someone is begging for a child to come into a corrective action school?'" Silberstein said. "Her two other children had gone to Palolo and she insisted that this one come here, too."
Families can apply for both tutoring or a transfer, but can take advantage of only one of the options. Children who move to new schools cannot also have private tutoring paid for by the state.
Sue Stock, principal at 'Aikahi Elementary, said the schools eligible to receive students are in the dark right now about whether anyone will ask to transfer there.
Principals at the neighborhood schools first have to compile the list of all students asking to transfer and must rank each student based on test scores and poverty level to see who is eligible to transfer first. The lowest-performing children who are also poor have the top priority to change schools or receive tutoring. The state has about $6 million to spend on the efforts.
"As far as I know we haven't received any phone calls from parents about transferring here," Stock said.
Beatrice Zane, principal at Ma'ema'e Elementary, said she has received inquiries about transferring, but doesn't know if parents will follow through.
"I think it's quiet across the state," Zane said. "The reason is that the schools that are needing improvement are offering all kinds of support services, which are wonderful. I think the parents are using that opportunity for after-school tutoring and other kinds of services that are available at their home schools."
