HISD Superintendent Terry Grier today presented a set of magnet program recommendations to the Board of Education that aims to build on the school district’s tradition of offering parents a portfolio of school choice options.
Grier’s proposals include ending some magnet programs and a long-term plan for opening new ones with innovative themes throughout the city.
The recommendations were formulated after a public feedback period that included 25 community forums, analysis of data from all 113 magnet schools, a third-party review and regular meetings with various HISD advisory groups made up of principals, teachers, parents and administrators.
The guiding principles that drove the review were the Board of Education’s Declaration of Beliefs and Visions, and Strategic Direction, which commit HISD to provide equity in access to high-quality education programs.
The recommendations, which will be posted on the district’s website at www.houstonisd.org, include maintaining magnet status for popular Vanguard magnet programs for gifted students.
The recommendations will now be used as a starting point to develop magnet program policies and regulations for the Board of Education to consider later this spring. Steps are also being taken to determine how some magnets would be phased out and new ones created.
Grier’s proposals for the school board’s consideration address three areas including student application, selection and admission process, magnet funding and measures of success and accountability.
Student Application, Selection and Admission Process
Thirty-nine of HISD’s 113 magnet programs use their own student selection checklists, and 29 require additional testing and/or auditions. Thirteen magnet programs use no admissions criteria at all. Admission decisions, which are now made at the campus level, are difficult to monitor and sometimes result in the same student being accepted into multiple programs.
Community members shared a broad range of concerns regarding the application, selection and admission process. Some said they don’t trust individual campuses to make the decisions, while others worried that a centralized system would limit parental choice. Many said selection standards are necessary to ensure the success of some magnet programs.
The student application, selection and admission process recommendations were crafted with an eye toward maintaining strong school choice options and providing equal access to programs for all students. The recommendations also seek to streamline the process so that principals and magnet coordinators can properly monitor applications, acceptance notices, and wait lists.
Some of the recommendations include:
- Magnet programs should establish consistent processes, using a standard application specific to the theme.
- Magnet programs should establish selection criteria by theme.
- Establish a centralized selection system with oversight.
- School principals should give priority to magnet program applicants over other students seeking to transfer into the school.
- Elementary school magnets should be school-wide programs with at least 20 percent of students from outside the attendance zone (non-zone students).
- Secondary school magnet programs should have at least 100 non-zone students per grade level. Alternate enrollment goals would be set for magnet programs that were designed to be small.
Magnet Funding
There is little to no consistency when it comes to the amount of funding given to HISD magnet schools. Per-pupil expenditures range from $4,157 at one middle school to $17 at one elementary school. A handful of magnet schools receive a special allocation of extra money, called a Unique PUA, which ranges from $2,564,994 to $356,430. One high school technology magnet receives $211,139, while another receives $52,720. Magnet program funding on the elementary level ranges from $15,000 for a program that serves 849 students, to $278,930 for a program with 235 students.
Feedback from the community indicated several concerns regarding magnet funding. Some said current funding practices should continue unchanged. Others called on the district to develop funding formulas that take the cost of properly addressing each school’s theme into account. Some pointed out that non-magnet neighborhood schools manage to offer successful theme-based programs with no additional money.
The magnet funding recommendations seek to provide a theme-based funding allocation that is consistent across the school district. HISD administrators also determined that the funding formulas should be transparent and that unique funding levels should be considered for unique programs.
Some of the recommendations include:
- Magnet funding should be determined in part based on whether the program operates on a school-wide basis, as a program within a neighborhood school, or as a dedicated magnate with no attendance zone.
- Magnet funding should vary by theme and by grade level.
- Provide additional funds on a rotating cycle to address capital needs such as lab equipment, or musical instruments needed to support the program theme.
- Transportation should continue being provided.
Measures of Success and Accountability
Currently, four of HISD’s magnet schools are rated academically unacceptable by the state and 18 magnet schools have fewer than 50 students from outside their attendance zones. Seventy-nine magnet schools receive less than 15 percent of students from outside the schools’ neighborhoods.
Feedback from the community indicated a desire for magnets to be held accountable for their academic results.
The recommendations for measures of success and accountability seek to ensure that programs are held accountable for meeting educational and program standards. Magnet programs should be academically rigorous and make strong progress toward eliminating the achievement gap between socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups.
Some of the recommendations include:
- Magnet programs should have specific enrollment goals for students who live within and outside each school’s attendance zone.
- Magnet programs should have minimum student academic, achievement, and attendance goals.
- Magnet programs should have partnerships with outside organizations that are related to the school’s theme.
- Magnet programs should be evaluated at least every three years.
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