MARYSVILLE – After hearing another annual report on state test scores basically flatlining in the Marysville School District, school board president Pete Lundberg went off a little at this week’s work session.
“We’ve got to do better,” he said. “We’ve got to improve our scores.”
Superintendent Becky Berg responded that the district is working on the problem, with more professional development for teachers and in purchasing new curriculum.
The district recently decided to cut $1.9 million from its budget to buy new language arts and math curriculum.
“That caused a lot of heartache and heartburn, but I’d do it again to get the curriculum in place to get these students where they need to be,” Lundberg said.
He said he was told two years ago it would take five years for the district to reach state standards. “We need to figure out how to make that happen,” he said. “What practices help and which don’t, at all grade levels?”
Lundberg then agreed with Berg that maybe the system is not in place yet to succeed. “Maybe the organization does not have the framework to move forward.”
One problem is with the testing itself, Berg and Lundberg agreed. For example, juniors are required to take it even though if they pass it during their sophomore year that is all that’s required to graduate. So two-thirds of juniors don’t take it, which hurts the overall school score.
Berg said she is working with the NEA on that. “What are we going to take a stand on as a district?” she asked.
Prior to that, Jack Monpas-Huber, director of assessment and student information, gave the report on the preliminary results of the Smarter Balanced Tests. “There really wasn’t a lot of change,” he admitted.
Berg said with the new standards, materials not being up to date and not training teachers, “We did pretty good without that.”
To open the meeting, Principal Dawn Bechtholdt talked about the Alternative Learning Experiences. She choked up telling the story of a 21-year-old who graduated this year and sent her a thank you letter.
“The alternative program finds other ways to help students be successful,” she said. She then gave the graduation rates for all of the alternative programs. The on-time rate is about 70 percent when they start their freshman year, but it takes longer when they get there later.
Next year, all of the programs will be at the same place, the Tulalip campus. The schools are flexible, so students can attend in the morning, afternoon or even one day a week. “For whatever reason a person can’t go to a regular school,” Bechtholdt said.
Board member Tom Albright asked where the pressure comes from for the students to graduate on time.
Howser said the state and federal government, but “we don’t give up on them.”
James Stephens, executive director of special education, said they like to graduate kids as close to possible on time because they are more likely to drop out as they get older to get a job.
Also at the work session:
•Berg talked about participating in the Marysville Strawberry Festival parade. “We walked in front of the bus we are usually thrown under,” she joked.
•Technical director Scott Beebe said 145 Chromebooks are unaccounted for as school ended June 20. About 450 of the 6,000 need repairs.
•In one of his last meetings before retiring July 1, finance director Jim Baker said enrollment is expected to be down another 100 students to 10,500 next fall, continuing a trend of the past few years. “Enrollment is everything” as to funding, he said.
Assistant Administrator Ray Howser said in a usual year about 550 students transfer out of the district. But in 2015-16, after the shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, about 1,134 students left.
•Mike Sullivan of Granite Falls was introduced as Baker’s replacement.
At the council meeting itself, the board moved to consolidate its alternative learning experiences due to budget constraints and declining enrollment.
Arts and Technology High School, Marysville Mountain View High School, the SOAR program and School to Home Partnership Program will relocate to the Marysville Tulalip campus. It will provide expanded learning opportunities and offerings to students. However, SHoPP will decrease from K-12 to grades K-8 and the MOVE UP online program will end.
An easement was also approved for a crosswalk on Fourth Street at Asbery Field in the middle of the block.
