Published: September 25, 2007 11:03 pm      

Schools expect all textbooks to arrive by Friday

By Curt Yeomans

cyeomans@news-daily.com



All Clayton County students should have textbooks to take home by the end of the week, if the shipping process stays on schedule, said a school system spokesman.

The system had been in need of more than 4,500 books at the beginning of September. Now, it only needs 390 anatomy books for three high schools. Those books have been ordered, and shipping records show they were sent, via truck, on Monday.

Charles White, a spokesman for the school system, said the books are scheduled to arrive within three to five days of their shipping date.

In other words, Clayton County should have all of the text books it needs by Friday. Maintenance employees will immediately ship 95 books to Mundy’s Mill High School; 225 to Morrow High School, and 55 to Forest Park High School. The remaining 15 books will be stored in the system’s warehouse in case they are needed for new students.

“We have worked diligently to ensure all students and teachers have the materials needed to teach the curriculum,” said Debbie Bass, the chief academic officer for elementary education.

The largest textbook need had been World History books. A new edition of the textbook is being used in school this year, and the books had previously been on backorder. Bass told board members, during a work session on Monday night, that 7,000 history textbooks had arrived on Sept. 20, and were distributed to the high schools later that day.

Other textbooks were transferred from schools with surpluses, to schools with shortages, although some schools were not reporting their surplus textbooks and had to be forced -- by central office staff -- to give them up.

“As of Sept. 21, all requests for textbooks have been filled, except the 390 “Introduction to the Human Body” books which are on their way,” Bass added.

She also told board members that principals at the three high schools should have sent letters home to parents, to let them know the remaining textbooks are on their way. She could not say for certain, however, if the principals had sent the letters.

Meanwhile, some board members are concerned how grades will be handled for the students who didn’t have textbooks until two months into the semester.

“We need to be mindful of how grades are given out, because we didn’t do our jobs by making sure every student had textbooks,” board member, Sandra Scott, said. “These administrators need to understand they can’t hold kids responsible for grades, when they didn’t have textbooks to take home with them.”

Another concern is making sure a similar situation does not happen again. The school system has ordered a system to electronically track textbooks, so they don’t get lost, but it isn’t expected to be installed until the spring of 2008, and likely won’t be implemented for tracking purposes until the following fall.

In the meantime, the school system’s staff is currently trying to devise a way to avoid another textbook shortage next fall.