Waco Independent School District may scale back its International Baccalaureate offerings, based on a report presented to the school board Thursday night.
Michael Watkins, Waco ISD’s new director of advanced academics, told the board he has serious reservations about the district’s intentions to pursue International Baccalaureate certification this fall at Lake Air Intermediate School, Tennyson Middle School and ninth and 10th grades at Waco High School.

Watkins said the district should consider starting IB this year at Lake Air only. It would be a good test before moving forward with the program at the other schools, he said.

nternational Baccalaureate is an internationally recognized program that focuses on instilling a global outlook in students.

Students are taught to strive to be caring, risk-taking and open-minded, among other characteristics.

The program also is academically rigorous, and Watkins said it requires support from parents who send their students to the school.

Watkins presented a detailed report that questioned whether adequate training had been done with faculty and administrators, whether all parents are on board with the program and whether a realistic budget has been created to reflect the costs of implementing IB at these three schools, among other concerns.

“Your report is overwhelming, to say the least,” trustee Angela Tekell said.

Watkins’ report suggests the IB middle-years program may cost far more during the next three years than district officials had anticipated.

He estimates this year will cost $700,425, next year will cost $649,425, and 2012-13 will cost $976,200. This is the first time numbers like that have been presented.

The totals include costs for IB training for teachers, mandatory fees, curriculum and course materials and new staff needs, including foreign-language teachers and IB coordinators.

Waco ISD trustees gave the go-ahead for the IB program at Lake Air and Tennyson in April 2009. At that time, they were presented with associated costs of about $156,200 for 2009-10 and $164,700 for 2010-11 and the next year.

One year later, in spring 2010, the district announced it also would pursue the IB program for Waco High.

Superintendent Roland Hernandez admitted at that time that he had not seen the full cost for the high school program during the next several years.

The district received a grant of $150,000 from the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation to help get the IB diploma program for juniors and seniors under way.

Watkins questioned whether there is support from parents at the three schools for IB. He said he has received many complaints this summer from parents about their students having to do summer projects for their pre-Advanced Placement classes.

He said he wondered whether parents were aware of the expectations of IB, which is even more rigorous.

Watkins favors an approach that allows families who are interested to apply to the IB school. Families who don’t favor the IB approach would not have to send their students there.

Trustee David Schleicher expressed concern about scaling back because he knows parents who are supportive and eager about IB.

“It’s disheartening to hear those things may not be delivered,” Schleicher said.

Board president Alex Williams said he wished someone could be held accountable for the IB preparations.

“If the superintendent was here, we could say it stopped with the superintendent,” he said.

Hernandez was not at the workshop.

He was hired by Corpus Christi ISD on Monday as that district’s chief administrative officer.

A special WISD board meeting scheduled for Tuesday includes an item to release Hernandez from his contract and appoint an interim superintendent for WISD.

Watkins said the board needs to decide by the August board meeting to what extent the IB middle-years program should be implemented next year.

“I’d prefer we take the time and rethink the proposal and come up with something that truly addresses the needs of the students in this district,” trustee Pat Atkins said. “If we’re going to do it, we need to do it right.”