Board of Education to decide future of South and LHS Monday

The USD 480 Board of Education will meet Monday at noon at the Education Service Center. Julie Ford from the state will be at the meeting to let the board know what choices USD 480 has for South Middle School and Liberal High School due to low AYP scores.

Both schools are on school improvement and may have to restructure. The board will have to make a decision for both South and LHS and vote on the matter. After the board decides, Ford will visit both South and LHS and inform each school of what the decision made means for each school. Monday’s board meeting has been moved to up to noon instead of the regular 7:30 p.m. time slot so Ford can visit with South and LHS before she leaves town Monday.

If either South or LHS has to restructure there are four different models that the board will have to choose from. Since two of the options include shutting down the school and creating a charter school, the other two options are most likely which include a Turnaround Model, and Transformational Model. Each choice includes strict steps in attempting to improve AYP test scores to meet the federal governement’s standards.