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Pastors Make 16 Requests For Key Middle School
http://www.click2houston.com/news/15732007/detail.html
POSTED: 9:56 am CDT March 28, 2008
UPDATED: 10:00 am CDT March 28, 2008
HOUSTON -- A group of pastors and community leaders met with school district officials Thursday to address their concerns about a school that recently reopened after undergoing months of environmental improvements, KPRC Local 2, Your Education Station, reported.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee declined to comment after she and the pastors held a closed-door meeting with Houston Independent School District Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra at New Mount Calvary Baptist Church in northeast Houston.
Francis Scott Key Middle School was closed for five months earlier in the school year after teachers and students became ill at the campus. Numerous improvements were made to the school, including the replacement of flooring new chalkboards in every classroom and new library and text books.
Health experts hired by the district never found any unusual levels of mold in the building, but officials with the Centers for Disease Control found the building did suffer from damp building syndrome. Every classroom has improved ventilation to keep dampness out.
The pastors said they are not satisfied with the building and presented Saavedra with a list of 16 requests:
Due to the age of the school and facility, Key Middle School should be torn down and have a new school built in order for a high-quality educational facility to be provided to the students in the Fifth Ward community.
Relocate Key Middle School students to temporary buildings on campus while looking for Fall 2008 options
Although the State of Texas requires seven hours and 25 minutes of daily instruction, Key Middle School students only received about five hours of instruction per day. Because our students were not allowed to have full instructional time each day, we are asking for an extended school year beyond the four weeks of summer school to work with the students.
Funds should be made available for eighth-grade students to receive instruction from certified high school teachers in match, science and English language arts to prepare them with a strong foundation for the high school curriculum.
Intensive and extensive free math summer camp in all students in grades six through eight that would address instructional deficiencies
Summer programs for Pre-Advanced Placement students using trained Pre-AP teachers since they were unable to have a quality program this school year because of the extenuating circumstances
Accountability waiver (requested by HISD Feb. 19; pending with Texas Education Agency)
Extra time with no penalty for late applications for eighth-graders who are applying to high school magnet programs
If the TEA waiver is approved, the eighth-grade students should not be penalized if their TAKS scores for not meet the requirements of magnet school entrance.
Have a consultant come and report to the parents regarding the health issues surrounding the damp school syndrome while the children are in temporary buildings
Continue monitoring the heating, ventilation, air conditioning system and the maintenance of the school to prevent the reoccurrence of mold and mildew while children are in temporary buildings
HISD should develop a contingency plan that will assist in providing a healthy and safe environment for the students and employees at Key Middle School during the summer for the extra instruction time and for the fall semester.
Key should not have a personnel decrease until the TAKS results for 2008 have been reported. Key Middle School should be provided with additional funding to promote fine arts and career and technology education.
Key Middle School should be names as a magnet school for the fine arts and career and technology education. The feasibility of a career and technology education middle school is very logical because Barbara Jordan High School is in the same community and students could feed to that school.
Initiate a Key Middle School taskforce of parents, civic leaders, ministers and school administrators
Additional resources should be provided for to improve conditions at Fleming Middle School.
Key Middle School students returned to their campus Wednesday after the district spent $3 million on the renovations and cleanup.
Previous Stories:
March 26, 2008: Students Return To Key Despite Concerns
March 12, 2008: Concerned Parents Tour Key Middle School
March 10, 2008: HISD To Reopen Key Middle School
November 5, 2007: Congresswoman Wants Key Middle School Closed Permanently
October 19, 2007: CDC Finds Mold At Key Middle School
October 12, 2007: Protest Dwindles Outside Key Middle School
October 10, 2007: Walkout Canceled At Middle School
October 10, 2007: Community Leaders Plan Protest At Key Middle School
September 28, 2007: CDC Finds Issues At Key Middle School
September 26, 2007: Middle Schools Merge While Campus Tested
September 21, 2007: Key Students, Staff Relocated To Fleming
September 21, 2007: Key MS Has History Of Humidity Problems
September 20, 2007: Key Middle School To Temporarily Close
September 19, 2007: Congresswoman Wants Everyone Out Of Key MS
September 15, 2007: Students: Mold At School Made Us Sick
September 12, 2007: More Teachers Sickened At Key Middle School
September 10, 2007: 2 Teachers Sickened At Key Middle School
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