With a new superintendent, the state-run Recovery School District has enacted a series of reforms -- from longer days for struggling students to laptop computers for high schoolers -- aimed at turning around one of the worst school systems in the region prior to Hurricane Katrina.

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File Photo/ John McDonogh High School

But the district still faces major challenges as it continues to rebuild: Graduation rates are low, the percentage of elementary students below their grade level in reading is 85 percent, and many students have been out of school for one to two years. Hundreds of junior high students are at least two years overage.

"If anybody thinks we're out of the woods yet, we're far from it," Superintendent Paul Vallas said in delivering a status report to state Education Superintendent Paul Pastorek on Monday.

Vallas and Pastorek, each of whom assumed his respective post earlier this year, vowed to implement reforms they said would be key to overhauling a system deemed critical to New Orleans' overall recovery from the 2005 storm. Vallas said the district is about halfway through instituting its planned reforms.

Pastorek agreed there remains significant work to do but said he was heartened by the "tremendous amount of progress" that has been made so far.

Vallas cited such progress as smaller class sizes and classrooms with modern equipment, as well as moves toward school-level accountability -- practices and goals shared with the largely autonomous charter schools that have gained prominence here since Katrina. He said he hoped to blur the distinction between charters and traditional public schools and to create a quality system that includes magnet programs to attract students and offers parents choice. That process of "magnetizing" schools -- or creating unique programs at them -- is expected to take about three years, he said.

Charter schools, public schools that are privately run, barely outnumber the more traditional public schools run by the state and a local school board.

Matt Candler, chief executive of New Schools for New Orleans, said he's seen a "tidal shift" in the management of RSD under Vallas and that charters have been involved with the state in talks on further transforming the system. New Schools for New Orleans, which supports charters and choice, has aided RSD in teacher recruiting efforts.

"This is still the place to be if you want to be part of really radical reform," he said.

A spokesman for United Teachers of New Orleans declined comment Monday, saying the group hadn't had time to review Vallas' report.

Education officials saw in Katrina a bright spot that allowed for the total overhaul of a system plagued by problems such as neglected facilities and low-performing schools. After the storm, some of the worst public schools fell to state control, with the local board retaining oversight of some of the best schools and other schools going to charter groups.

During the last school year, RSD struggled to hire enough teachers to keep up with the number of students who continued to register for classes. At one point, there was a waiting list of students, prompting community outrage. There also were complaints about the condition of some schools and busing distances.

So far, RSD has registered more than 1,800 new students since the start of classes, and the number continues to rise; a week ago, for example, nearly 90 new students registered and almost all of them were returning to the city for the first time since Katrina, district spokeswoman Siona LaFrance said.

But that was expected, and a key difference between this year and last is there have been enough teachers, she said, garnered through extensive recruiting and programs such as Teach for America, which pairs recent graduates with a rural- or urban school-in-need.

While the percentage of teachers certified in the discipline they're teaching is up from last year, Vallas said work is still needed to improve the overall quality of instructors. Improved, ongoing professional development is among the priorities and goals.

Vallas listed the growing enrollment, estimated at 12,300, and the need for more school-based helped for truant and at-risk students among the challenges.

Another challenge: identifying and teaching special education and gifted and talented students. The number of exceptional students -- 1,783 with disabilities and 120 gifted or talented -- had nearly doubled from initial reports, according to RSD.

Vallas said a lack of student data, which officials are "painstakingly" trying to gather, has complicated efforts to evaluate such students and create learning plans for them.

The district is trying to identify about 300 private sector jobs as part of a work-study program for seniors and implement a Conservation Corps-type program that would have students doing landscaping or similar work at school facilities, LaFrance said. Both are being looked at for next semester. Also planned is an "extended year," which would extend the school day for all students, not just those who have fallen behind or are struggling. Vallas said that was being looked at for next year but could begin as early as next semester.

Currently, about 4,000 students, roughly one-third of the total enrollment, participate in extended day or credit recovery programs, LaFrance said.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)