Benton parents seek autonomy for school
Six parents on Monday asked the Columbia Board of Education to make Benton Elementary an autonomous school focused on science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM — education.
Other Benton parents filled many of the chairs in the meeting room at the Columbia Public Schools Administration Building.
The idea of small, autonomous schools was first presented to the board in 2010. Ridgeway, Lee and Benton elementary schools were targeted to gain a degree of autonomy, with their own governing boards and bylaws.
All three are magnet schools, meaning parents from anywhere in the school district can apply for their children to attend them.
Ridgeway in 1972 became an individually guided education, or IGE, magnet school. Rather than using traditional grade levels, students are placed in instructional groups based on their skill level in a subject area.
The structure results in mixed grades of students and some advanced students learning on their own. Ridgeway became autonomous in 2012.
Lee in 2013-14 transitioned into an autonomous school focusing on expressive arts education. It became a magnet school in 1990.
Benton is targeted to focus on STEM education, but its autonomy has not moved forward. It became a magnet school in 2011.
Benton parents said the benefits of autonomy include smoother integration of STEM education into the curriculum and easier cooperation among teachers on lesson plans. The school also could apply for small grants on its own, they said.
Terra Merriweather-Schultz, Benton parent-teacher association president, said autonomy would allow teachers to design areas of study and provide flexibility with student assessments and grants.
“We are asking the board to take the next step,” Merriweather-Schultz said.
Kathleen Burns said she has children in third and first grades at Benton.“We can’t imagine our kids being at any other school,” Burns said. “I’ve seen such amazing things for my kids.”
She said granting autonomy would boost their achievement.
“I feel like Benton has so much potential that could really, truly be realized if Benton could be allowed to become an autonomous school,” Burns said. Dustin Frieda is a vocal music teacher at Benton. He said STEM has made a positive difference in the school and the outlook of teachers.
“We believe in Benton and want a chance to move STEM forward,” Frieda said.
The school’s 2014 Annual Performance Report from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shows Benton earning 62.5 percent of possible points, including 75 percent of possible points in science and 37.5 percent in math.
In the 2013 report, Benton earned 25 percent of possible points, none of them in science or math.
Superintendent Peter Stiepleman did not commit to granting autonomy to the school after the meeting, but said the support of the parents was great.
Michelle Baumstark, CPS spokeswoman, said in an email that implementing a focused curriculum at Benton takes time and creating an autonomous school is an even bigger shift.
“I don’t think anyone is saying never; just not yet,” Baumstark said. “There is still much to do and fine-tune with STEM.”
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