State delays comment on possible Montgomery Public Schools intervention
MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The Alabama State Department of Education would not comment Wednesday on a possible intervention of Montgomery Public Schools.
"Yesterday, the Alabama State Department of Education said we would provide a comment today concerning any discussion of a possible intervention of Montgomery Public Schools," a spokesperson for ALSDE said in an email. "Since then, the Montgomery County Board of Education has scheduled a work session for tomorrow, Thursday, January 5, at noon to discuss this issue. As such, the ALSDE will hold on any official comment until after MPS Board of Education has had an opportunity to converse."
On Tuesday, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said changes have to be made to MPS, and he expects something to happen over the next couple of months.
Strange said city officials have talked for years about alternatives, including creating their own school district.
"The [MPS] superintendent met with the state superintendent about a game plan. As a matter of fact, I was part of that conversation," Strange said. "I told the superintendent of education at the state level, Michael Sentence, we really had a desire to do something, that perhaps we would investigate starting our own school system. It will take some effort. It will take some time to do that. But the rumor came out about the state doing an intervention. And if that is in fact correct, and I do not know that it is, that's almost immediate."
MPS is the third largest school system in the state with 51 schools and about 31,000 students.
State Board of Education member Ella Bell says out of the 50 schools in Montgomery Public Schools, only 13 perform at a 50 percent or higher proficiency rate in reading and math.
Bell says as she has not seen or voted on a proposal.
"The board has to meet. The board has to hear what the problem is," Bell said. "The state board is the only group that can make this happen now. This is not a decision by Mr. Sentence. This is not a decision by Mayor Strange. This is the state board's decision."
WSFA 12 News will be at the Montgomery County Board of Education work session Thursday afternoon.
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