The formation of a new city schools working group was announced today as a collaborative effort between Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus City Council and Columbus City Schools. The purpose of the “High Performing Schools Initiative” will be to examine, deliberate and recommend steps and standards to grow the number of high performing schools within the Columbus City Schools District.
“It is important to set the high standards to which all our schools must aspire to educate our children,” said Mayor Coleman. “Creating and holding our schools to these high standards is a key component of our plan to revolutionize education in Columbus.”
The initiative outlines three specific policies and procedural goals, which include:
- The Columbus Board of Education’s efforts to expand or replicate high performing district schools to increase the number of students attending these schools.
- The Board of Education’s preparation to contract with partnering community schools to attract, expand, or replicate high performing community schools. These partnering community schools will be high performing, locate to serve in neighborhoods in need, and expand the number of students within the Columbus City Schools district attending these schools.
- The City of Columbus’ efforts to sponsor high performing community schools to meet neighborhood or career needs of students within the City of Columbus.
To achieve these goals, the initiative calls for the formation of a “High Performing Schools Working Group”, which consists of 15 members that include parents, teachers, business owners and other civic leaders. The group is scheduled to begin meeting through November and will have a report finalized by the end of the year.
“All students in Columbus deserve the opportunity to realize their potential and have access to high-quality schools that adhere to appropriate standards for academic performance, school culture and environment, community participation, and governance and accountability policies,” said Columbus City Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. Dan Good. “We have listened to the voices of our families and residents, who have expressed the desire to help formulate the standards that will define our schools’ learning environment and neighborhoods’ success. The composition of the working group will reflect their ideas and includes significant parent and community representation.”
Columbus City Council is expected to introduce and adopt a resolution at tonight’s meeting that will officially create the working group. The Columbus Board of Education is expected to introduce and adopt a similar resolution at their meeting tomorrow. The 15 members of the group will be selected and announced following those two events.
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