Kendall-Whittier Elementary Parents Surprised At 'F' Report Card

Parents picking up their kids Tuesday at one of the Tulsa elementary schools to receive an "F" on their report card from the state were surprised to hear those results.

Kendall-Whitter is the largest elementary school in the Tulsa district. Parents say their kids try hard in the classroom and no score from the state is going to change that.

"It's kind of alarming, because--where is that grade coming from? What are they basing it off of?" said parent D'Marria Monday.

Monday learned her son Adam's school got a failing grade, along with 35 other TPS schools.

TPS said six elementary schools actually saw improvements in several areas, like academic achievement, but also saw their grades go from "D" to "F," because the amended grading formula doesn't give credit for that growth.

"It didn't reward increased improvement and it should have," said Superintendent Keith Ballard.

Ballard has been outspoken in his criticism of the state's new grading system.

"That is the most serious flaw I see in this. Think about what it means to be an "F" school. Think about what you're saying to students and to parents and to teachers and to administrators, who go every day to these schools," Ballard said.

Veronica Castro said she doesn't know why the school failed and said her son is doing fine at Kendall-Whittier. Castro said her son puts in a lot of effort and does his best and really wants to continue in school. For her, taking her son to a higher-performing school is out of the question.

"No, definitely not. It's an excellent school," she said.

"I know they're putting forth the effort, so my main thing is, if they're putting forth the effort and I'm putting forth the effort, I'm still okay," Monday said.

Kendall-Whittier will have a parents' meeting on November 21. The school's principal said her office sent a letter home to parents Monday. Parents at other schools may want to check their mailbox for upcoming school meetings.