Staffs at Canton Middle and Thomas G. Hayes Elementary schools will likely have to reapply for their jobs for next school year if the schools' test scores do not improve this spring.
The schools are two of 10 in Baltimore and 16 in Maryland that must restructure under the federal No Child Left Behind Act if their students do not make adequate progress on tests to be administered in March. Five of the schools are in Prince George's County and one, Woodlawn Middle, is in Baltimore County.
The Baltimore school board approved restructuring plans last night for nine of its schools if they do not make adequate progress. The plans are subject to approval by the state board of education.
The schools may implement the plans even if they do show the required gains, though they will not be legally required to do so, said Linda Chinnia, the city school system's chief academic officer.
The most drastic reforms would come at Canton and Thomas G. Hayes, if those schools remain open. The school system must close schools in the next few years because of declining enrollment, deteriorating buildings and state demands to operate more efficiently.
Last month, the system proposed various scenarios for consolidating elementary and middle schools, and Canton - where 92 percent of sixth-graders failed last year's math test - would close under every option being considered. Closure is also an option for Thomas G. Hayes, where the failure rate on the fifth-grade math test in 2005 was 76 percent.
If the schools' restructuring plans are implemented, teachers in good standing would be guaranteed jobs elsewhere in the school system if they are not rehired for their old jobs, Chinnia said. She said she did not know whether the principals at the two schools would be replaced.
Under the reform plans, another seven city schools would hire a "turnaround specialist," often a retired principal, to work with the sitting principal to raise student achievement.
The schools are Harlem Park Middle, Robert Poole Middle, Ashburton/Nathan Pitts Elementary/Middle, Morrell Park Elementary/Middle, Highlandtown Elementary #237, Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy and Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts.
Harlem Park and Robert Poole would also close under every option that was proposed in the consolidation process.
The school system is appealing the state's designation of a 10th city school, Maritime Industries Academy, in the category of schools that will have to restructure, Chinnia said.
