{"id":16771,"date":"2011-11-24T12:19:44","date_gmt":"2011-11-24T17:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=16771"},"modified":"2011-11-24T12:27:20","modified_gmt":"2011-11-24T17:27:20","slug":"jma-head-of-arlington-school-for-deaf-children-departs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/11\/24\/jma-head-of-arlington-school-for-deaf-children-departs\/","title":{"rendered":"JMA: Head of Arlington school for deaf children departs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Head of Arlington school for deaf children departs<\/strong><\/p>\n

November 22, 2011<\/p>\n

BY ROBERT CADWALLADER<\/p>\n

rcadwallader@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n

ARLINGTON — The superintendent who has helped Jean Massieu Academy, a
\ncharter school primarily for deaf children and their families, improve its
\nfinancial and academic standing with the state has departed the charter
\nschool for undisclosed reasons.<\/p>\n

School board members this week declined to comment on whether Kathi Johnson,
\nwho was hired initially as principal for the 2008-09 school year, was
\nterminated or left voluntarily.<\/p>\n

It is unclear exactly when Johnson left her job.<\/p>\n

Board members referred questions about Johnson to Board President Jane Ann
\nShelton, who declined to comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“The board won’t be making any comment in relation to the personnel
\nsituation,” Shelton said through a sign-language translator in a telephone
\ninterview. “We just don’t want anything negative impacting the school.”<\/p>\n

Johnson could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

The Texas Education Agency released the school from conservatorship in
\nSeptember after its academic and financial accountability ratings improved
\nto acceptable. But the agency said that more work is needed.<\/p>\n

Performance issues<\/p>\n

Board member Rebeka Gillilan declined to comment on how Johnson departed but
\nconfirmed that she was no longer with the school.<\/p>\n

She said the school “was not moving in the direction that we as the board
\nand the rest of the staff and students would like for it to go in.”<\/p>\n

“I can tell you that, yes, Jean Massieu is doing well, and, yes, improvement
\nhas been made,” said Gillilan, who estimated enrollment at 175 students.
\n“But there are still things to be done, and we are working on that.”<\/p>\n

TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said the school’s accreditation status
\ncontinues at “accredited probation,” and that its financial and academic
\nhealth will be evaluated again in March.<\/p>\n

The academy, which opened in 1999 to serve the deaf, hard of hearing, their
\nsiblings and peers, has struggled with student performance in recent years.<\/p>\n

The school has had a state-appointed academic monitor and then conservator
\nsince the 2007-08 school year to work on student performance.<\/p>\n

The state also assigned a financial conservator to help work on a
\nsubstandard rating in financial accountability for issues that include late
\nfilling out of audit data with the state.<\/p>\n

Close call<\/p>\n

Jean Massieu narrowly avoided a state-ordered shutdown on July 1, 2010, but
\nwas granted a year of probation to continue working on its problems, which
\nincluded “a long-standing history of deficits in their leadership and their
\nacademic performance and their finances,” the state said at the time. State
\nofficials, however, credited Johnson’s efforts for improvements that were
\nthen becoming apparent.<\/p>\n

In September the results were sufficient for the state to end the
\nconvervatorship, although the school kept the two consultants serving as
\nconservators on duty to help continue the recovery, Gillilan said.<\/p>\n

“We as a board decided we needed the input and guidance,” she said. “While
\nwe have improved in many areas, we want to continue with the improvement.”<\/p>\n

Robert Cadwallader, 817-390-7641<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.star-telegram.com\/2011\/11\/22\/3546223\/head-of-arlington-school-for-deaf.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Head of Arlington school for deaf children departs November 22, 2011 BY ROBERT CADWALLADER rcadwallader@star-telegram.com ARLINGTON — The superintendent who has helped Jean Massieu Academy, a charter school primarily for deaf children and their families, improve its financial and academic…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[11686,11684,268,11685,4013,87,24,3697,5025,1412,11688,11681,951,4010,267,5024,11687,11683,11682,92,17],"class_list":["post-16771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-academic-health","tag-accredited-probation","tag-arlington","tag-audit-data","tag-charter-school","tag-children","tag-deaf","tag-deetta-culbertson","tag-financial","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-improvements","tag-jane-ann-shelton","tag-jean-massieu-academy","tag-jean-massieu-foundation","tag-jma","tag-kathi-johnson","tag-probation","tag-rebeka-gillilan","tag-robert-cadwallader","tag-school","tag-texas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-4mv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10719,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/05\/30\/arlington-charter-school-gets-a-reprieve-from-texas\/","url_meta":{"origin":16771,"position":0},"title":"Arlington charter school gets a reprieve from Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Arlington charter school gets a reprieve from Texas BY ROBERT CADWALLADER May 27, 2010 Special to the Star-Telegram ARLINGTON -- The Jean Massieu Academy has averted a July 1 shutdown after state officials determined that the charter school has improved its poor academic and financial performance. 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The charter-school campus, which serves primarily deaf children and their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9698,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/03\/14\/jean-massieu-academy-in-arlington-ordered-to-close-in-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":16771,"position":2},"title":"Jean Massieu Academy in Arlington ordered to close in summer","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Jean Massieu Academy in Arlington ordered to close in summer By TRACI SHURLEY and EVA-MARIE AYALA tshurley@star-telegram.com, eayala@star-telegram.com ARLINGTON -- The state ordered the Jean Massieu Academy in Arlington to close this summer after revoking its accreditation as a school district, the Texas Education Agency announced Wednesday. 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The state agency announced Wednesday that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9980,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/04\/05\/arlington-charter-school-fighting-to-stay-open\/","url_meta":{"origin":16771,"position":4},"title":"Arlington charter school fighting to stay open","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Arlington charter school fighting to stay open April 4, 2010 By TRACI SHURLEY tshurley@star-telegram.com ARLINGTON -- Educators at Jean Massieu Academy in Arlington say they're close to turning the low-performing school into a place where teachers and students consistently meet expectations. 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