Agency:	MSDE	Writer:	John Rosson	
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Project:		Director:		
Title:	News From The Board - October	Art Director:		
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VIDEO 		AUDIO	

SLATE - NEWS FROM THE BOARDFLY IN & SQUEEZE LEFT		(SOUND EFFEX)
'3 swooshes'	
SOT FULL ROD MANN - FLY IN FROM SR (POSITION THIS SOT SCREEN RIGHT)		(sot full)
'We must have our school age employees come to us with basic skills....'	
FLY OUT ROD SL AND FLY INSLATE FROM SROCTOBER 28, 2008 (POSITION THIS GRAPHIC SCREEN RIGHT)		(sound effex)
'3 swooshes'	
SOT FULL FLY IN FROM SL (POSITION THIS SOUND SCREEN LEFT)		(sot full)
'We would like the Board to delay implementation of the HSA...'	
FLY OUT SOUND SR & FLY INSLATE FROM SLHIGH SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS (POSITION THIS GRAPHIC SCREEN LEFT)		(sound effex)
'swooshes'	
FLY IN 'WALK' FROM SR (POSITION THIS SOUND SCREEN RIGHT)		(track - sound effex pull pic full)
a packed house heard what amounts to final arguments on the high school assessments -- exit exams this year's seniors must pass -- to graduate.	
		board president james degraffenreidt bumped up public comments to the start of the meeting.	
		and the public sounded off.	
SOT CG - FOR		(sot)
'It's important for them to have as a minimum, that standard.'	
CUBE WIPE SOTCG - AGAINST		(sot)
'Hundreds of high school seniors are still waiting to retake the HSA's ... for the 2nd time...'	
CUBE WIPE SOTCG - FOR		(sot)
'We all suffer when all students do not reach a standard...'	
CUBE WIPE SOTCG - AGAINST		(sot)
'We're not recommending the elimination of the High School Assessments...'	
			
SUPERS WALK UP TO TABLE		(narrator track)
the board also heard from superintendents who showed up to testify.	
		andres alonso of baltimore city, jerry weast of montgomery, joe hairston of baltimore, william hite of prince george's, and carl roberts of cecil county.	
		weast, the lone superintendent appearing for delay of the hsa graduation requirement, cited a number of reasons.	
		then he underlined what he called his most important.	
SOT JERRY WEAST 1008 T1 5843CG - JERRY WEAST         SUP'T., MONGOMERY COUNTY         PUBLIC SCHOOLS		(sot jerry weast)
'Limited English proficient students. And you know that we have approximately 35-to-40% of all of those students for the entire state of Maryland.'	
MORE BOARD		(narrator track)
while his nearly 500  l-e-p students struggle through language issues, weast also says the test is not tough enough.	
SOT JERRY WEAST1008 T1 5427		(sot jerry weast)
'I think it's fair to say the HSA's don't provide a true measurement of what students need to know to be successful in college or the world of work.'	
SOT JERRY WEAST 1008 T1 5614		(sot jerry weast)
'When my son or daughter graduates on a Monday, what is he or she prepared to do on a Tuesday?'	
BACKTIME CARL		(narrator track)
former cecil county superintendent carl roberts... 	
SOT CARL ROBERTS1008 T2 1329		(sot carl roberts)
'This is a big issue.'	
HOLDING CARL & POT UNDER SOT		(narrator track)
...  now heads the public school superintendent's association.	
		he says he's spoken with all 24. 	
		he says at least 22 want to stay on track with the hsa's.	
POT UP SOT CARL ROBERTSCG - CARL ROBERTS         EXEC. DIR. PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUP'T.'S         ASSOCIATION		(sot carl roberts)
'... adamantly want that requirement to stay in place. One even referred to it as 'We've crossed the Rubicon... turning back now would have devastating impacts...'	
			
MORE BOARD CUTS		(narrator track)
alonso, who may have the largest contingent of students who will not pass the hsa's, remains strongly in favor.	
SOT ANDRES ALONSO1008 T2 2602CG - ANDRES ALONSO         CEO, BALTIMORE PUBLIC SCHOOLS		(sot andres alonso)
''We've used the conversation around the HSA's to move the system so that every single child is going to get what it needs. And again, if you have children who are in the 12th grade, and they are being pushed through, what's gonna happen next year?'	
SOT ANDRES ALONSO		(sot andres alonso)
'it's criminal -- it's negligence.'	
			
BOARD CUTS		(narrator track)
in baltimore county, joe hairston also wrestles with a large minority population struggling to pass the hsa'S.	
		still he says, the hsa's are a solid floor, a foundation upon which to build.	
SOT JOE HAIRSTON 1008 T2 402CG - JOE HAIRSTON         SUP'T., BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC         SCHOOLS		(sot joe hairston)
'I submit to you that the High School Assessment and the strong accountability that has existed in this state for decades, has been one of the catalysts that enabled us to remain stable.'	
BOARD CUTS		(narrator track)
the state department of education says there are 54-thousand seniors.	
		nine-thousand still have hsa commitments.	
SOT LESLIE WILSON1008 4512CG - DR. LESLIE WILSON         ASS'T. SUP'T., DIV. OF ASSESSMENT		(sot leslie wilson)
'The vast majority will pass all four tests, followed by the Combined Score Option, and then the Bridge Plan. Most students are passing, the alternatives we have put in place to assist those students with challenges are working, and with 1/4 of their high school experience remaining, students who have yet to meet the requirements have time to do so.	
BOARD CUTSGRAPHIC:9,000 STUDENTS YET TO PASS:- 4,000 YET TO TAKE 1 OR MORE EXAMS- 3 MORE CHANCES - 'COMBINED SCORE OPTION' =1602- 'BRIDGE' PLAN PROJECT OPTION		(narrator track)
here are the numbers:	
		of the 9,000 who have yet to pass one or more tests.	
		4,000 seniors have yet to take one or more, and are expected to pass.	
		of the 5,000 seniors remaining:	
		-- many are very close to passing now,  and will have re-taken the necessary tests in one of five administrations this school year (three remain).	
		the 'combined score option' helps those strong in some subjects make up points in others as long as their overall score is  16-oh-two or better.	
		-- still others will benefit from the 'bridge' plan. 	
		that plan allows students (mostly students with disabilities and english language learners) to complete projects that demonstrate equivalent skills.	
BACKTIME SOT BELOW		as in years past  -- 	
SOT NANCY GRASMICK1008 T1 3259		(sot nancy grasmick)
'We will have a cohort of students who do not get a Maryland high school diploma. Not because of the High School Assessments. But because they have not met the local requirements.'	
			
WS BOARD		(narrator track)
the debate stretches four hours without a break.	
SOT IVAN WALKSCG - IVAN WALKS         MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot ivan walks)
'When a kid does everything they're supposed to do, and shows up and goes to class and gets a passing grade and gets all their credits for graduation, are there any of those that will not graduate because of the HSA?	
SOT LESLIE WILSON1008 T2 3735		(sot leslie wilson)
'According to the Superintendents' from the retreat, that should not be happening, that would not happen. I don't have data on the students' course credits, or their attendance in school. 	
SOT LESLIE WILSON		(sot leslie wilson)
'What they said on Thursday and Friday was that the students who are gonna have difficulty with this have other issues going on with attendance, with obtaining credits and those kinds of things. They felt like the Bridge projects would get those few people that have that situation there by the spring.'	
SOT ANDRES ALONSO		(SOT ANDRES ALONSO)
'If a child cannot pass the four HSA's, if a child cannot meet the combined score, if a child cannot make up ground in particular projects ... then what does it take to say that a child has not been educated to move forward?'	
SOT ANDRES ALONSO1008 T1 5141		(sot andres alonso)
'I am in no hurry to graduate kids who are going to be working at McDonald's, not that there's anything wrong with it, or on a street corner six months after they're out of my schools.'	
SOT JOE HAIRSTON1008 T2 426		(sot joe hairston)
'I'm just amazed at why we would be sitting here debating moving away from an assessment that got us to this point.'	
SOT WILLIAM HITE 1008 T2 740CG - WILLIAM HITE         DEP. SUP'T., PRINCE GEORGE'S          COUNTY SCHOOLS		(sot william hite)
'The right to be educated cannot be compromised because some kids can demonstrate proficiency, upon graduation, and others can't.'	
BOARD CUTS		(narrator track)
weast advocates for a year delay in the hsa'S.	
SOT JERRY WEAST1008 T2 2800		(sot jerry weast)
'I want a high school diploma to be a high school diploma. I don't want it to be a 7th or 8th grade test.'	
SOT NANCY GRASMICK1008 T2 3036		(sot nancy grasmick)
'We're working on two levels. It's very important that board members understand this. We're talking about a floor that all of the superintendents have spoken to.	
SOT NANCY GRASMICK		(sot nancy grasmick)
'... because you have to crawl before you walk.'	
SOT NANCY GRASMICK		(sot nancy grasmick)
 Simultaneous with the floor we are hoping, and we know that our systems are working at a very high level. The Scholar's program,..	
SOT NANCY GRASMICK		(sot nancy gramick)
'... Advanced Placement, dually-enrolled International Baccalaureate ...'	
SOT KATE WALSH1008 T2 5948CG - KATE WALSH         MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot kate walsh)
'I share Dr. Weast's view on this. That these tests do not represent what the business community thinks they represent. And why we can't have rigorous tests that are not a graduation requirement, but they're a course requirement.'	
SOT JAMES DEGRAFFENREIDT		(SOT JAMES DEGRAFFENREIT)
'If you get your wish...'	
JAMES DEGRAFFENREIDTCG - JAMES DEGRAFFENREIDT         PRES., MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot james degraffenreidt)
'What is going to be different in this conversation at the end of this deferral year?'	
SOT JERRY WEAST		(sot jerry weast)
'I guarantee you my system would work with you and everybody else in this state to try and develop a systemic way to measure where students are toward a reality to when they cross the stage they're college and work ready.'	
SOT JAMES 		(sot james)
'And we'd be able to implement it for the class of 2010? I'm havin' a hard time understandin' that.'	
		'well, you know again, I'm going back to my little example of 'you may get the worm, but the second mouse is gonna get the cheese, I would rather...'	
		'And the perfect is the enemy of the good enough.'	
		(offcam NSG) 'Yeah...'	
DR. GRASMICKGRAPHIC:HSA POSITIVES:- DROPOUT RATES DECLINE- NON-PROMOTIONS DECLINE- MORE COURSE CREDITS- INCREASED INDIVIDUAL ATTENTIONSOURCE: MSDE		(narrator track)
dr. grasmick cites positive effects of the years of hsa groundwork.	
		dropout rates decline --	
		as do the rates of students held back.	
		students are accumulating more course credits earlier.	
		and perhaps most important says dr. grasmick: the 'hsa effect' has led to increased attention to each individual student.	
1008 T1 3232		(sot nancy grasmick)
'Every single system was able to articulate, in terms of individual students, what is the status of that student, what interventions are being provided, and what is the sense of optimism.'	
SOT LELIA ALLEN1008 T3 1730CG - LELIA ALLEN         MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot lelia allen)
'We should move on with this, so that students and teachers see that they are accountable. Inflated grades and all other kinds of things have had students come out, and then think that when they get to the next stage of the job, or in higher education, they're going to be allowed to do less than they're supposed to do and be employed, or advanced on through the education system, and they're not.'	
BLAIR EWING		(narrator track)
after hours of debate, board vice president blair ewing moved to delay the hsa'S BY ONE YEAR	
SOT DUNBAR BROOKS1008 T3 658		(sot dunbar brooks)
'While there's a motion on the floor to delay the implementation of this, I believe that the motion is not only disingenuous, it's dishonest. That in fact there's no intention to delay, it's to do away with. That's what I believe.'	
SOT DUNBAR BROOKSCG - DUNBAR BROOKS         MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot dunbar brooks)
'You've come to us and said 'the systems have failed our students, even in the most vaunted school districts  in our state.'	
SOT DUNBAR BROOKS 1008 T3 818		(sot dunbar brooks)
'And then I hear statements about 'do no harm.' And the audacity to tell me, who attended Gilmor Elementary School and Frederick Douglass High School and lived in Turner Station, 'do no harm.' I lived the carnage every day. The harm has been here for the last 50 years. It didn't start with the HSA, The HSA revealed it.' 	
SOT DUNBAR BROOKS		(sot dunbar brooks)
'This is where I stand on this, you already know what my vote is.' (claps)	
SOT BLAIR EWING		(sot blair ewing)
'The motion is intended not to kill the HSA's despite everybody's belief that that's exactly what I'm about, that's exactly what I'm not about. The intent is for us to see whether we can address the issues of fairness that have arisen.'	
SOT BLAIR EWING		(sot blair ewing)
'they've arisen from parents, they've arisen from teachers, they've arison from organizations in the community like the NAACP, and Latino groups.'	
			
NAT FULL THE VOTE		(nat full)
'all those in favor of the motion please signify by raising your hand... one, two, three four...'	
			
		(narrator track)
the motion to delay, failed.	
		the count was seven-four in favor of staying on track with the high school assessments.	
SOT KATE WALSH		(sot kate walsh)
'I'd like to make a motion that we consider exempting students who have a 504...'	
HOLDING VIDEO		(narrator track)
dr. grasmick agreed to investigate an appeals procedure to address a limited number of students who may have extenuating circumstances.	
SOT NANCY GRASMICK		(sot nancy grasmick)
'I believe in standards for our students and their future opportunities...'	
NANCY INTV. WIDE SHOT		(narrator track)
after the vote, she said it's important to stay on track with the high school assessments, after 15 years of laying the groundwork.	
SOT NANCY GRASMICKOR T1 @28MINS.CG - NANCY S. GRASMICK         MD SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT		(sot nancy grasmick)
''We are moving forward.'	
			
BOARD WIDE SHOT		(narrator track)
this has been news from the board with  msde tv.	
CLOSE/CREDITS		(fade audio)