The Johnston/LBJ situation isn’t the only controversy surrounding AISD magnet programs. In its report on magnet programs to the AISD, the Community Working Group also recommended that AISD add a sixth grade to the magnet program housed at Kealing Junior High, but the board of trustees postponed indefinitely making a decision on that recommendation.
The magnet program at Kealing is currently only available to seventh- and eighth-graders (the school as a whole does not have a sixth grade), which creates problems for students in those elementary schools that stop at fifth grade. Parents have complained that even for those students who want to attend magnet programs, it can be emotionally difficult to move every year for two or three years.
Carol Hovland, assistant director of the Kealing magnet, says adding a sixth grade could also help the school recruit more students from diverse backgrounds. She says that the “Young Scientists” program, which aims to get kids interested in science at elementary schools in low-income neighborhoods, has helped the magnet program broaden its recruitment efforts. Hovland says that having an on-site sixth grade would complement these efforts, and allow teachers to help students “gear up” for the seventh grade.
But Magdalena de la Teja, a member of the working group and a former Kealing parent, is concerned that placing children in a sixth-grade magnet program may overload them. “Some kids are not ready for an advanced curriculum at 11 years old,” she says. “Kids need to take it easy and not be pushed into a competitive environment. I feel that very strongly.”
There are also more practical considerations. Kealing is already full to capacity, and nobody is really sure where to put an additional grade. The district often provides trailers, euphemistically known as “portables,” to overcrowded schools — but that would be impossible or illegal at Kealing, since it sits on city park land. AISD could reduce the size of seventh- and eighth-grade magnet classes to make room for the sixth-graders, but that would mean turning away more applicants.
The third possibility would be moving neighborhood students out of their local school — which would never happen without a fight. It’s no wonder that the AISD board is going to sit on this one for a while.
This article appears in December 7 • 2001.