Two more low-achieving schools to get turnaround help

Associated Press

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 | 1:59 p.m.

Two more low-achieving elementary schools have been singled out for additional funding and help to raise student achievement through the Clark County School District’s turnaround program.

Matt Kelly and H.P. Fitzgerald elementary schools, both located northwest of downtown Las Vegas, also will get new principals.

Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky decided to put the schools in the district’s Turnaround Zone after a review and recommendation by a joint School District and community committee.

In 2013, the Nevada attorney general investigated a cheating scandal at Kelly. Test scores at the school rose exponentially over a short time, prompting School District officials to call for an investigation.

In April of last year, an inquiry by the state Department of Education found some teachers had changed students’ answers on tests.

Schools in the Turnaround Zone get new principals, who are given more flexibility in hiring teachers and administrators, as well as additional funding for more classroom time or professional development.

If the schools show improvement, they are taken out of the program.

In February, the district announced five other schools would enter the program next school year.

Three schools — Hancock Elementary School and Western and Chaparral high schools — exited the turnaround program earlier this year after a rise in graduation rates at the high schools and test scores.