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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > May > 21 > Entry
ERCO to City Day: Fire Goff or else
By Scott Elliott
Staff Writer
DAYTON — If City Day Community School does not remove Superintendent Roseda Goff it could be shut down by its sponsor at the school year’s end.
Legal counsel Phyllis Brown, speaking for sponsor Education Resource Consultants of Ohio, said the school was placed back on probation Monday after it cancelled a governing board meeting last week. Board members were expected to address Goff’s future at that meeting.
City Day, located at 318 S. Main St, has been under scrutiny since February when the Dayton Daily News cited strong similarities between questions on practice tests given to students at the charter school last year and questions on the actual state exams later administered.
The school was placed on probation by Cincinnati-based ERCO in March but the sanction was lifted when the school submitted a plan to ratchet up test security this year by inviting ERCO officials to proctor state exams.
Those proctors reported to the state that they observed more testing irregularities by school staff earlier this month that Brown said could have “lead to questions about the accuracy of the results.” ERCO then strongly urged City Day’s board to dismiss Goff.
Under Ohio law, Brown said, City Day cannot end the school year on probation. If it does not remove Goff, she said, ERCO will have two options — suspend the school’s operations or replace the governing board with new board members.
“They are back on probation as of today and this relates specifically to the replacement of the superintendent,” Brown said Monday. “They have until next Tuesday to take that action.”
City Day’s school year ends June 6. So far, last week’s board meeting has not been rescheduled, according to the school. Goff and members of the governing board could not be reached for comment.
The Dayton Daily News reported that 44 questions on practice tests taken by City Day students just days prior to the 2006 state tests that were identical or substantially the same as questions that appeared on the actual state exam.
The school, with about 170 students, jumped up two steps on the state’s rating scale from the lowest category of “academic emergency” to”continuous improvement” after huge gains in the percentage of students who passed the test.
Permalink | | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice, City Day Investigation, Testing
