The Trenton Times published the following article on May 28, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton school district prepares to separate schools by grade level, reopen Jefferson School

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on May 28, 2013 at 9:30 PM, updated May 28, 2013 at 9:45 PM

TRENTON — With the school year coming to a close, city school board members are raising concerns that some parents might not be aware that their student could be moving to a new school in September.

“A lot of parents didn’t actually know,” Patrice Daley, a school board member and parent of two students in the district, said during last night’s board meeting.

Daley said some parents learned about the change when they attended parent teacher conferences.

The model will separate the 21 district schools into schools for grades kindergarten through five, six through eight, and nine through 12. The plan will bump the number of middle schools in the district to four, one in each of the city’s wards.

Deitra Spence, assistant superintendent of elementary schools, and other administrators and volunteers who formed a committee that oversees the student transition process, said she is confident students and parents will be aware and prepared for the change.

She and the committee members have been working since March to organize parent meetings led by their current school’s principals, and drafted a letter to parents in Spanish and English detailing the plan. The committee also is asking that a consultant meet with counselors and principals who can prepare teachers and parents for the transition.

Superintendent Francisco Duran said notices will be sent out on Friday detailing where each student will be placed for next year. He said the district is expecting some reaction.

“We are going on the addresses we have, and some parents have moved and not changed the address,” Duran said. “If it is the wrong address, they will come back.”

As part of an appeals process, parents, starting on June 14, can present to the administration why they think their child should not be moved to a new school or suggest another school for him or her to attend.

Students from Caldwalader Elementary will attend Gregory Elementary, and students in grades kindergarten through 5 attending Kilmer and Stokes schools will attend the now-shuttered Jefferson School.

Also last night, the board approved $2.7 million in renovations for the Jefferson School, where classroom repairs are set to be completed before the end of the summer. Duran said the renovations are necessary to bring the school up to standards so it can reopen.

There will be four community forums regarding transition. One will be held at Dunn Middle School on June 3 at 5:30 p.m. Another forum will be held at Rivera Middle School on June 4, at Kilmer Middle School on June 5 and Hedgepeth-Williams School on June 11 and will begin at 5 p.m.

Last night, the board also approved the appointment of Jacqueline Evans Turner as a supervisor of language arts and literacy to replace Lola Marie O’Rourke, who was fired last month. Evans Turner, who does not currently work in the district, will be paid $112,819 a year and begin in August.

O’Rourke admitted that while she was principal at Locke Elementary School in Philadelphia, she changed answers on standardized tests and gave students answers to inflate their scores. She was hired by the Trenton district in September shortly after resigning from her job in Philadelphia.

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717