Council seeks answers after 2nd school's testing violations

NORFOLK

Some City Council members, concerned by pupil testing violations at a second city school, Thursday called the problems unacceptable and embarrassing and said they will ask schools Superintendent Stephen C. Jones for for an explanation.

"I am lost for words on this one," Vice Mayor Anthony Burfoot said. "We can't afford to have the citizens of Norfolk lose their respect and confidence in our schools and our school administration."

Councilman W. Randy Wright said the problems damage the school system's reputation.

School leaders disclosed Wednesday that four staffers overseeing state accreditation testing at Campostella Elementary School violated division and state guidelines. The findings came after the state flagged student answer sheets for a large number of erasures on wrong answers to questions that were then marked correctly.

Burfoot said school leaders assured council members that testing irregularities were isolated. "That doesn't appear to be the case," he said.

Last month, school administrators acknowledged problems at Lafayette-Winona Middle School that ranged from special education students who weren't tested to assessments with identical answers, including misspellings.

Norfolk is the only city in South Hampton Roads in which the City Council appoints the School Board. The board hires and supervises the superintendent.

Board Chairman Stephen Tonelson said the board and Superintendent Stephen C. Jones will discuss the Campostella findings during its retreat today or Saturday. Because it involves personnel issues, the meeting will be closed to the public.

In an e-mailed statement, Elizabeth Mather, the division's communications director, wrote that school leaders will take appropriate disciplinary actions. Specific details are personnel issues, she said.

The state found that two classes of third-graders marked their answers in test booklets and then copied the answers on separate forms that were scanned and scored.

State and division rules require that students mark their answers on the forms, "because of the likelihood that children will copy the answers incorrectly," according to a division news release.

There was no indication adults helped students choose the correct answers, the division said.

Mayor Paul Fraim said the latest issue isn't as serious as allegations made at Lafayette-Winona, "but it still points out there's not a strong voice coming from the administration about how these tests are being administered." Jones said Thursday that he discussed Campostella with city leaders before Christmas. Irregularities have occurred in "less than a handful" of 65,000 testing sessions in the division in 2009, he said, and the spotlight on the Campostella and Lafayette-Winona problems threatens to overshadow the improvements at the schools and around the division.

"I don't think we've been judged fairly," he said. He said public perceptions of his performance have been driven in part by Virginian-Pilot reporting. "I'm not as sure those stories have been as balanced as they could have been." At Campostella, PTA President Margaret Burke said banner newspaper and TV reports of the irregularities created "a mountain out of a mole hill - erasure marks?"

They encourage their children to recheck test answers and school work and make corrections when necessary, she said.

"If we need any media or broadcasting here, it's on how the school has come up," said PTA Secretary Catrina Williams.

Campostella is fully accredited.

"At this point, there is no discussion about re-examining the accreditation status of that school," state education department spokesman Charles Pyle said.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com