MPS Looks at Magnet Locations

May. 20, 2011  | Montgomery Advertiser Written by  Annie McCallum

A Montgomery Public Schools committee tasked with forming ideas for a future magnet center met for the second time Thursday. The group reviewed and clarified ideas, getting down to specifics. The two-hour meeting appeared less tense than the first session earlier this week, but similar concerns permeated the group, including maintaining the integrity of the current magnet programs. That has been a primary concern ever since the idea of magnet center was proposed this winter.

Turning Sidney Lanier High School into a magnet center to house Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School, Booker T. Washington Magnet High School and eventually Baldwin Arts and Academics Magnet School was part of the school system's initial proposals when updating its facilities study.

It was one of many large-scale changes the system was contemplating, including school closures and consolidations. Ultimately, officials did not vote on which programs to place in a potential Lanier magnet center and opted to form the committee to explore the idea.

When the approximately 40-person committee met Thursday evening, they did so first as a whole and then broke up into four smaller groups with participants rotating between the different groups. Each group had a specific topic, and participants discussed the ideas and concerns presented at the initial meeting Monday and expounded on them.

"They may not have captured your idea correctly. That's what this 15-minute process is for," said Matthew Duke, senior director for the Auburn Montgomery Center for Government and Public Affairs, who along with others from AUM have been facilitating the dialogue.

The group later reconvened as a whole to talk. Throughout the process, certain ideas were prevalent.

In several of the group sessions, participants talked about placing middle school magnet programs at Lanier. Proponents said such a move eventually would allow for growth in the magnet program because it would create more slots at the middle school level, where students could be prepared for the rigor of the high school programs.

They also said combining middle schools in one location appears easier to accomplish. Middle school students can explore different areas of interest, ultimately settling on one to pursue in high school, they said.

But participants not in favor of the middle school idea challenged that middle schoolers need a smaller, more nurturing environment and might not have the maturity to be in such a large environment. Proponents of the idea emphasized that classes would be small and there would be learning communities.

Participants also talked about a continued need for the high school magnets in particular to maintain autonomy and rigor. Many expressed concerns about the identities of the magnet programs and high expectations diminishing should they merge. Instead, many participants said they could support "co-location" with the programs still remaining separate.

Most committee members appeared to agree any changes should be handled with care, research and plenty of planning.

The group will hold a final meeting Monday. There participants will prioritize issues and formulate ideas about how to present findings to the Montgomery County Board of Education, including selecting "issue champions" to speak in support of various ideas.