James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/09/2010 06:31:39 PM PST

A day after seven San Bernardino schools were named as being among the worst in the state, parents and schools officials defended the campuses against withering criticism from critics who say the district needs a shakeup.

Six elementary schools and Pacific High School were named Monday as being among the 188 worst schools in California, based on student achievement. County school board member Gil Navarro said the San Bernardino City Unified School District has for too long settled for incremental improvement.

“The rhetoric is always, `We’re progressing,”‘ said Navarro, whose Area D includes the city school district. “I always say, `Yeah, you’ve progressed from a low F to a high F. We’re not even close. At the rate we’re going, our schools will be able to achieve the level they’re aiming for when the current students have grandchildren.”

San Bernardino City Unified had the third-most schools on the list, behind only Los Angeles and San Francisco. Stockton Unified also had seven schools among the worst.

None of the principals for the local failing schools returned messages seeking comment, deferring instead to the district spokeswoman.

Indeed, progress was the explanation offered by San Bernardino City Unified spokeswoman Linda Bardere. Asked about the number of district schools that did poorly, Bardere said the district is making strides at many of its schools.

“We’ve had three schools exit program improvement,” she said.

“We’re the only district (in the region) to have a middle school with a (California Academic Performan Index score) in the 900s. There’s not another middle school in Riverside or San Bernardino counties to come in with scores like that.”

Even the schools that were listed – Barton, Davidson, Hunt, Marshall, Rio Vista and Wilson elementary schools and Pacific High – have seen growth in their state API scores, Bardere said.

“The schools listed, they have shown growth, but not at the rate the state set,” Bardere said.

To be sure, six of the seven schools have improved their scores over the past several years, though some of the gains have been small. Between 2003 and 2009, Davidson Elementary improved its API score – which can range from 200 to 1,000 – from 629 to 647, an increase of just 18 points, or three points per year.

And Marshall Elementary, which scored 652 in 2003, scored just 645 in 2009.

Navarro said Pacific High School’s score of 595 – up from 511 in 2003, but still well below the state target of 800 – is unacceptable.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “How many years are they going to keep a principal there and have them not improve the API scores?”

Navarro said the district should hold school principals accountable for perennially low test scores.

“Administrators are expendable, not students,” he said. “The buck stops with the (school) board. So if the superintendent is either unwilling or unable to remove principals or hold them accountable, then the board needs to take action.”

Navarro also said the district should audit the seven schools listed by the state to see how much money they are spending on administrative costs and how much they are spending on teachers and classroom costs.

“The money priority is too much overhead at the school site,” he said. “There are too many administrators at the school sites.”

Union officials agreed.

“The leader at the school does affect, to a great extent, the culture at that school,” said Rebecca Harper, president of the San Bernardino Teachers Association. “So it is possible that the principals (at listed schools) need to change.”

She said a good principal can motivate teachers to do well, while a poor one can hamper teachers’ performance.

“A teacher would be willing to do a lot of things to change in their classroom if they felt valued and if they knew they were making a difference and that their voice is being heard,” Harper said. “When you don’t have that … the culture is completely different and very negative and teachers tend not to perform as well as they could.”

The schools listed by the state will be asked to close down or choose one of three measures aimed at improving student performance: become a charter school; fire the principal and replace half the staff; or fire the principal, provide teachers with more training and reward effective teachers.

San Bernardino City school board member Judi Penman – who attended Wilson Elementary and Pacific High – said corrective measures would differ from school to school but that she would be open to turning Pacific into a charter school focused on vocational training.

“This is the type of community that is begging for that type of training,” she said. “If it needs to be a charter, then so be it.”

Monday’s announcement was a big deal for education officials, but parents of students in some of the seven schools expressed support for the campuses.

“I think it’s a pretty good school,” Jennifer Sands said of Barton Elementary, where her 7-year-old son Tyler is in second grade. “They have good teachers.”

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