First day of school highlights possibilities, challenges for Wichita district

Wednesday’s first day of school in the Wichita district will have the feel of a new era. Students enter more than 85 schools now headed by Alicia Thompson, the district’s new superintendent with a lot of firsts attached to her hiring.

First female (full-time) superintendent. First African-American superintendent. First superintendent who was a student in the district.

A homegrown talent, who has spent her professional career working in the district, leads Kansas’ largest school district. That’s cause for celebration.

More to celebrate: It’s also a district that sparkles after finishing 16 years of construction projects. Voters in 2000 and 2008 passed bond issues totaling $654 million – give or take a brick – and put school buildings and technology back on par with suburban neighbors.

For the first time in years, there is encouraging news and fortification from Topeka. The district’s proposed budget has $27.6 million in additional state funding, plus another $8 million in funds left over from last year because of lower-than-expected utility costs.

The district and teachers union are far apart after one negotiating session on a new contract, but once they agree it should mean the biggest pay raise for teachers in some time. Teachers have borne the brunt of the school-funding squeeze from the legislature, and it’s time they are rewarded for the lean years.

All that is promising. But the celebration should be put in perspective. There is work to do.

Much of the work involves eroding discipline in class. A disturbing number of discipline reports were filed in the district last year – 11 percent more over a three-year period. That included a 53-percent jump in elementary reports.

Discipline problems lead to stops and starts in teaching, distractions that affect other children in class and prevent all kids from learning.

Thompson and district administrators are aware of the numbers and this month introduced a plan to combat discipline problems. Elementary teachers will have daily lessons on social and emotional skills. Self-control, managing emotions and being considerate of others are the objectives.

It’s remarkable that discipline has become so bad that daily 20-minute social skills lessons are necessary. But if that’s what is needed to curb distractions in class, teach it and teach it hard.

Other problems remain. The most recent state assessment scores for Wichita schools showed 1 in 5 students are on track for college-level math work, 1 in 4 for reading. (Statewide, it’s 1 in 3 for math and 2 in 5 for reading).

More district issues aren’t as alarming as poor test scores, but they still affect most of the school community.

* The district moved start times up by 10 minutes in an effort to end the elementary school day at 4:30 p.m. Can increased state funding ever eliminate the need for a longer school day, or will magnet-school students forever hear a 6:50 a.m. starting bell?

* Thompson welcomed 450 new teachers two weeks ago. It’s encouraging so many are young educators starting their professional careers, but also is a reminder of the number of teachers leaving the district for other teaching jobs or new careers.

Thompson begins tackling these problems with allies in new positions. Two of her deputies – Michele Ingenthron (elementary) and Gil Alvarez (secondary) are new to their roles after Thompson was promoted and Bill Faflick left to become executive director-elect of the Kansas State High School Activities Association.

She’ll also work with a board of education that will have two new members after November’s election and possibly as many as four. Lynn Rogers and Joy Eakins have been valuable board members and their voices will be missed on a board often reluctant to question the path of the district.

Thompson has made it a priority to understand the needs and concerns of the district. She has scheduled listening sessions with teachers in October, and will have similar sessions with parents and the community.

It’s wise to get the wide and varied pulse of the district early in Thompson’s tenure. Being heard and understood is a common issue within such a large district.

Teacher and parent views will be broad and may lack consensus. Except for one item: Everyone wants improvement.

Thompson begins her tenure with that clear goal.

This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "First day of school highlights possibilities, challenges for Wichita district."