Fisher, et al v. Tucson Unified, et al

Filing 2205

ORDERED that the Court adopts the Special Masters 2184 Report and Recommendation Re: Borton Elementary and Booth-Fickett K-8; these schools shall retain magnet status. It is further ordered that the Court adopts the Special Masters 2190 Repo rt and Recommendation Re: Drachman Montessori and Roskruge K-8; these schools shall retain magnet status, except Roskruge K-8 may be terminated as a magnet school at the discretion of the District. Termination of magnet status does not end the directives contained in this Order for Roskruge. Signed by Senior Judge David C Bury on 2/26/2019. (SEE ORDER FOR FURTHER DETAILS.)(BAR)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Roy and Josie Fisher, et al.,
Plaintiffs

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No. CV-74-00090-TUC-DCB

and
United States of America,
Plaintiff-Intervenor,

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v.

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Tucson Unified School District, et al.,
Defendants,

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and

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Sidney L. Sutton, et al.,
Defendants-Intervenors,

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Maria Mendoza, et al.,

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No. CV-74-0204-TUC-DCB

Plaintiffs,

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and

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United States of America,

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Plaintiff-Intervenor,

ORDER

v.
Tucson Unified School District, et al.
Defendants.

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Magnet Status: Approved for Drachman Montessori K-8 School, Roskruge Elementary
School, Borton Elementary School, and Booth-Fickett K-8 School.

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Pursuant to the directives of this Court, the Special Master makes his final

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recommendations for whether five schools which previously were designated magnet

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schools should retain that designation. He now reports on four, with the only remaining

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prior magnet designation outstanding being Holladay Elementary School.

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The Special Master recommends that Drachman Montessori K-8 School, Roskruge

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Elementary School, Borton Elementary School, and Booth-Fickett K-8 School retain the

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magnet school designation. He recommends that magnet status for Roskruge Elementary

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School be terminated but that the school retain its Magnet Coordinator for one more year

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and that she be allowed to undertake recruitment efforts which if improving integration at

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the school will afford the District, the Special Master and this Court to revisit the issue of

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Roskruge’s magnet designation.

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Before discussing the magnet designation for Roskruge K-8 School, the Court
adopts the recommendations of the Special Master for the other schools.

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First, Drachman Montessori K-8 School, a C school, is moving decisively towards

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restoring its stellar academic standing with the State and offers concrete reasons why it fell

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in its standing. It has taken concrete measures to improve the school by adding a computer

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component to its curriculum and an admission criterion to ensure for grades 6 to 8 to ensure

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those students are able to manage the self-directed nature of the learning experiences

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offered at Drachman Montessori.

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Second, Borton Elementary School, a C school, shall add an instructional coach in

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mathematics, and has such an instructor for reading, as a means to narrow the achievement

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gap which exists between its magnet students and neighborhood students.

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instructor/coach will also work with teachers, especially newer teachers, in smaller classes

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in the early grades, to promote teacher-growth and improve teacher quality.

This

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Third, the District has provided Booth-Fickett 8-K School, with substantial

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academic support to improve its “D” academic state rating and has developed a partnership

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with a leading technology-rich curriculum provider, Amplify, whereby the District will

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contribute its expertise in culturally responsive pedagogy and in return receive from

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Amplify its curriculum.

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Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) magnet theme.

This partnership should enrich Booth-Fickett’s Science,

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This brings the Court to Roskruge K-8 School, a C school, which is not integrated.

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Roskruge K-8 is a special magnet school with a magnet theme as a dual language program,

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trying to meet two USP goals: 1) Integration by Magnet Programs and 2) Improving

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Quality of Education by Dual Language Programs. As the Special Master explains these

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two USP goals can be odds with each other.

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recommended most effective dual language program is Two Way Dual Language (TWDL),

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which to be academically successful requires Spanish fluency by no later than the second

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grade. This complicates efforts to integrate the school because it primarily attracts

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Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino students.

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Roskruge K-8 School should not be designated a magnet school but it should receive the

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same level of support through its designation as a dual language school and be allowed to

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retain the Magnet Program Coordinator for one more year.1

The Special Master reports that the

The Special Master recommends that

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The Mendoza Plaintiffs filed an objection to this recommendation, accusing the

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District of lacking commitment to ensure Roskruge’s magnet status. (Doc. 2189.) The

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Mendoza Plaintiffs supplemented the objection to bring new evidence to the Court’s

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attention which they believe reflects the District’s lack of support for Roskruge’s magnet

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status because it believes that if Roskruge cannot be integrated within the next year, the

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District will not attain unitary status. The Court notes that the USP goals and programs are

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designed to remain in place long after this Court’s jurisdiction ends, and USP programs,

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especially the magnet programs and dual language programs, will only remain viable in

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the future if they are maintained through appropriate ongoing review and revision. The

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Court anticipates that there might well be schools, perhaps Roskruge, that are in the process

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of attaining magnet status at the time this Court ends its jurisdiction.

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The District replies that the allegedly new evidence referenced in the Mendoza

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Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Objection is a document provided to the Special Master on July

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The school was without a Magnet Coordinator last year.
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30, 2018 and the proposal described in the document was reported in detail in the District’s

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annual report at Appendix II-18 (ECF 2126-1 at 354-364).

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More importantly, the District clarifies that it has not reached a conclusion as to

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whether magnet status should be ended for Roskruge K-8 School. It reports that this month

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it has initiated the NARA process related to a proposal to strengthen Roskruge, and that

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the “outcome may be a recommendation to propose retaining magnet status at Roskruge.

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(Reply (Doc. 2201) at 3.) The District asks the Court to allow it to complete the process

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of consideration and development of the proposed plan to enhance academic quality,

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promote integration, and strengthen the TWDL model at Roskruge.

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The Court declines to address the issues raised in the Plaintiff’s Objections at this

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time. Enrollment is underway in the District and will be concluded within this month.

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There can be no disagreement that uncertainty regarding program status at Roskruge will

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at the very least confuse and at worst may deter enrollment there. The Court addresses the

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question answered by the Special Master: Why not simply retain Roskruge’s magnet

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status? His answer, is as follows:

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Because doing so would continue the uncertainty among, students, staff and
families that comes with the probability of losing magnet status based on the
failure to integrate the school.” Since dual language is a priority in the USP
and the district is willing to commit to adequate funding during and after the
transition to the TWDL model, nothing is lost to the school by eliminating
the school’s problematic status as a magnet school status that will continue
to be a source of disruption and instability.

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(TUSD Reply (Doc. 2201) (quoting email February 15, 2019). In an effort to ensure needed

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stability, this Court finds that Roskruge K-8 shall have the full support of the District as a

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dual language program which it is entitled to as a magnet program, and as recommended

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by the Special Master the District shall implement express bussing to support the program

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and retain the Magnet Coordinator. The District shall ensure that its District website

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provides a comprehensive representation of the advantages of its dual language programs

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so that it is not left to each school to promote TWDL.

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Whether as a magnet or as a dual language program, Roskruge K-8 School will be

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required to have a competitive academic program, which in the past this Court has referred

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to as being a “B” school. This Court has little to no detailed information regarding dual

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language programs; the District’s Comprehensive Dual Language Plan is due to be filed

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with the Court September 1, 2019. On this same date, the District will file a comprehensive

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3-Year Plus Integration Plan: Comprehensive Magnet Plan (3-Year PIP: CMP). Until then,

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the Court is not sufficiently informed to determine whether the dual language program at

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Roskruge can also be a successful magnet program.

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The Court notes that Davis Elementary School, a “B” school, is an integrated dual

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language magnet program. It is centrally located as recommended for a magnet school, it

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is uniquely aligned with Davis’ TWDL magnet them to serve as a level up program for

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Davis’ 5th graders looking to enroll in 6-8 grade TWDL program. The Court is not aware

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of any other schools besides Roskruge that serve feeder dual language elementary schools.

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Again, the Court is in short supply of information of information to decide the magnet

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question at this time for Roskruge K-8 School. Instead, the Court adopts the Special

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Master’s recommendations regarding Roskruge K-8 as specified above and the

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recommended boundary changes. All these recommendations serve equally to strengthen

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Roskruge as a dual language program and a magnet program.

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This is the Court’s concern: Roskruge, either as a magnet TWDL or only a TWDL

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program, must provide a high-quality education for its students in an environment

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integrated to the maximum extent practicable. The Court finds that the District is planning

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accordingly, and defers to allow the District to determination at the end of its assessment

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process whether to end Roskruge’s magnet status.

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In the event the District determines to end magnet status, the Court directs that the

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District use Roskruge as a prototype for reinstating magnet status which shall be developed

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to coincide with the Roskruge K-8 Magnet Coordinator’s next full-round of recruitment

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efforts, August 2020, to enable Roskruge K-8 School to urge its reinstatement as a magnet,

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if her recruitment efforts have produced a viable integrative magnet program.

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As previously ordered when the Court granted in part and denied in part the

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District’s request for unitary status, the 3-Year PIP: CMP shall include policy, process, and

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procedures for reinstating magnet status and reviewing and monitoring magnet schools’

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ongoing compliance with magnet criteria. By appendix, the 3-Year PIP:CMP shall apply

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both as applicable to these four schools to enable this Court to ensure the progress planned

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here has materialized.

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Accordingly,

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IT IS ORDERED that the Court adopts the Special Master’s Report and

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Recommendation Re: Borton Elementary and Booth-Fickett K-8 (Doc. 2190); these

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schools shall retain magnet status.

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IT IS FURTHER ODERED that the Court adopts the Special Master’s Report and

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Recommendation Re: Drachman Montessori and Roskruge K-8 (Doc. 2184); these schools

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shall retain magnet status, except Roskruge K-8 may be terminated as a magnet school at

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the discretion of the District. Termination of magnet status does not end the directives

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contained in this Order for Roskruge.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the District shall apply the policies, processes,

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and procedures set out in the 3-Year PIP:CMP for reviewing magnet status to Drachman

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Montessori, Roskruge, Borton, and Booth-Fickett to ensure that the academic

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improvements planned herein and improved integration at Roskruge materialize or if not,

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that procedures therein developed are implemented for removing these schools and any

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other non-compliant schools from the District’s Magnet Plan. The 3-Year PIP: CMP shall

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contain an Appendix setting out the magnet status review assessments for these four

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schools.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the District shall develop procedures for

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reinstating magnet status and apply them, if necessary, to Roskruge K-8 School, at the end

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of August 2020.

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Dated this 26th day of February, 2019.

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