SPECIAL MASTER'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON THE DISTRICT'S PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A LAB/DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL AT "WAKEFIELD" MIDDLE SCHOOL

WILLIS D. HAWLEY, Special Master.

Overview

In its order dated January 22, 2020, the Court directed the Special Master to assess the pros and cons of locating a lab/demonstration school that the District intends to implement at the former Wakefield Middle School as compared to locating the program at Utterback Middle School as proposed by the Fisher and Mendoza plaintiffs. This report and recommendation first evaluates the arguments for implementing a lab/demonstration ("L/D") school at Utterback rather than at Wakefield. The second part of this Report and Recommendation identifies the case for locating the lab/demonstration school at the Wakefield site.

What is the Argument for Locating the Lab/Demonstration School at Utterback?

There is Adequate Space at Utterback to House the L/D Program There

Utterback's enrollment is now slightly over 450 students, the school was designed to house as many as 1225 students. The District's plan for the L/D school is that it would eventually enroll at least 400 students. The overall plan for middle schools in TUSD is to reduce their size so as to foster a sense of community among students and among students and teachers. The school of almost 900 students would not be a place where these goals of community are likely to be achieved. Studies of optimal school size do not deal directly with middle schools, but provide evidence about elementary and high schools. One can infer from these studies that a middle school of almost 900 students would be significantly less than ideal. Presumably, housing the L/D school within Utterback could create a school within a school. But such an arrangement would be likely to reduce the effectiveness of both the L/D school and the educational programs now in place at Utterback. Such school-within-a-school arrangements in magnet schools demonstrate that it is difficult to maintain the integrity of different programs when they are merged together in the same physical environment. Moreover, what negative beliefs exist about Utterback because of its D rating would deter enrollment at the L/D program if located there.

Housing the Program at Utterback Would Save the District $2 to $2.5 Million Needed to Renovate the Now-closed Wakefield Site

The District acknowledges that there would be such costs. While these funds would not be allocated from 910G funds, they could obviously be invested elsewhere. The District's position is that this new school will improve the quality of teaching in the District's middle schools (a problem that exists in many Districts) and that the relationship with the University of Arizona will lead to other collaborations. Whether the District is right about these claims cannot be determined now. However, the Special Master believes that the success of this effort located at Utterback would be even more problematic and he recommends that if the Court decides to deny the District's request for locating the new program at Wakefield, that the District abandon the idea.

Utterback is a D School and Requires Substantial Investments for Improvement

The District has prioritized the improvement of academic achievement at Utterback. To that end, it brought in new leadership and a schoolwide AVID program. The school principal and central administrators who oversee the school's progress believe that these efforts are taking hold and that bringing and entirely different program into the school would undermine the possibilities that the AVID program will be successful.1

There is Little Chance that the Proposed School can be Integrated

Before Wakefield was closed a few years ago, it was racially concentrated. However, Utterback is now and has been racially concentrated and lost its magnet status accordingly. If marketed effectively, the proposed school — especially if it is renamed — has a chance of being integrated because (a) it promises to offer a teaching-rich environment in which the bulk of the teachers will be exceptionally capable (b) the instructor to student ratio in the new school will be the lowest in the District and (c) the relationship with the University of Arizona will appeal to many families. And, the District is committed to providing express buses when this would enhance integration.

What is the Argument for Locating the Lab/Demonstration School at Wakefield?

Middle schools are challenging places to teach and difficult places in which to learn. Students are going through developmental stages and curricula seem to some students to be fragmented and incoherent. The District is trying to "Re-Vision" its middle schools to be relatively small community-oriented learnings environments. For this initiative to be successful, it will have to recruit and retain excellent teachers. Having the L/D be a professional development site for new teachers is an important step in improving the quality of teaching and increasing the stability of the teaching corps.

It will be much easier to recruit both students and master teachers to the school if it starts from scratch with a clear message of its goals and how they can be achieved. The master teacher cadre will not only facilitate the preparation of student teachers, the school will serve as a venue in which educators from throughout the District and from outside of the District can witness and learn more about exceptional culturally responsive pedagogy.

The school will also serve to demonstrate the benefits of collaboration between the District and the University of Arizona. The potential benefits of collaboration between the District and the University have not been adequately explored to the extent they should be and the school is an excellent opportunity to show how collaboration benefits both parties.

Recommendation

The Special Master recommends that the Court approve the District's proposal for a L/D school at the site that was once the Wakefield school. If the Court decides not to do so, the Special Master recommends that the Court not direct the District to locate the proposed teacher development program at Utterback. The reason for this, as noted, is that placing the new school within Utterback is likely to undermine the potential success of the new initiatives at Utterback as well as the new school. The Special Master believes that the prospects for success at the former site of the Wakefield school will be significantly enhanced if the development of the program starts with a blank slate. This means, among other things, that the school should be renamed though that decision should rest with the District. Conveying that the school is a totally new endeavor focused on quality teaching and staffed by exceptional master teachers will increase the likelihood that the school can be integrated. To foster integration, the District promises to provide express buses and to modify the lottery program to maximize its effect on integration.

The primary argument against locating the L/D program at Wakefield is that this involves a substantial investment in renovation. However, this is a one-time cost. Reallocating up to $2.5 million to a different school improvement strategy (other than facility renovation) is likely to commit the District to a very substantial continuing cost for which there is now no obvious source. The argument that the school proposed by the District cannot be integrated should be discounted because moving the proposed program to Utterback would ensure that the school and the program are racially concentrated.