SAD 29 says ‘no thanks’ to state grant

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The SAD 29 school board sent a loud and clear message to the state Department of Education Monday evening … thanks, but no thanks.
    At a special public hearing at Southside School, the school board unanimously voted not to pursue the state’s “School Improvement Grant” related to Houlton High School being named one of 10 “persistently lowest-achieving schools,” March 9 by the DOE. Nearly 250 members of the public, including many teachers and students, gathered to voice their opinions on the subject during the open discussion portion of the meeting.
    The board’s vote, which was based on the recommendation by Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick, drew a standing ovation from most of the audience members.
    “Regardless of our individual perspectives, this is a designation for the entire district,” Fitzpatrick said. “It is your superintendent’s belief that the state used flawed methodology in identifying the 10 schools as low achieving. The models that are required for change, I believe are unethical and unjust to implement. If we were to choose the grant, it would be to some degree, an admittance that this is other than a quality institution with committed and knowledgeable professionals who are dedicated to this community. It would be unethical for me to recommend anything other than the rejection of this grant.”
    Other schools targeted in the report included Hodgdon High School; Deer Isle-Stonington High School, Governor James B. Longley Elementary School (Lewiston); Riverton Elementary School (Portland); Sumner Memorial High School (East Sullivan); Carrabec High School (North Anson); Lake Region High School (Naples); Livermore Falls High School; and Madison Area High School.
    As of Tuesday morning, the SAD 70 school board had not yet set a date to discuss its plans for pursuing the grant money. Deer Isle-Stonington school officials met Tuesday to discuss their plan of action.
    Other schools are waiting before deciding which path to chose.
    “We have not taken a vote, but have formed a broad based committee to review the status of the high school, then a formal vote will be taken on April 26 on a path forward,” said SAD 61 (Lake Region) Superintendent Patrick Phillips.
    At Sumner Memorial High School, a public meeting similar to the one in Houlton was held Monday evening to gather input, while an official vote will not take place until March 30, according to Sumner Principal Michael Eastman.
    Madison Superintendent Lyford Beverage said Tuesday that his board had not yet discussed the matter.
    Officials from Livermore Falls, Governor James B. Longley, Riverton and Carrabec could not be reached by presstime. Schools must file a letter of intent to apply for the federal funding to the DOE by April 2.
    SAD 29 could have applied to receive a share of $12 million in federal stimulus money to improve its school over a three-year period. However, that funding came with a number of stipulations, which Fitzpatrick, and many member of the public, felt were too excessive in the long run.
    To receive the grant money, the schools had to adopt one of four aggressive plans for improvement. Those four plans included: the “Turnaround Model,” which called for a school to replace its principal and at least 50 percent of its staff; the “Restart Model,” in which the school had to close and reopen as a charter school; the “School Closure Model,” which required the school to close it doors and send students elsewhere; and the “Transformational Model,” which would have required the district to replace its high school principal, train teachers and administrators, implement various reforms, extend learning and planning time, and adjust other operating procedures.
    Of these four options, only one — the “Transformation Model” — was even possible for SAD 29, according to Fitzpatrick.
    Houlton, along with the other nine schools, was targeted by the DOE based on test results in reading and math on the SATs for two specific sub-groups.
    • Tier I — schools that receive Title I funding, based on low-income requirements, but have not made progress for two or more years according to federal  “No Child Left Behind” guidelines.
    • Tier II — schools that are eligible for Title I funding, but whose districts did not use the money.
    School officials in SAD 29 contend that the method for selecting schools was flawed, especially since Houlton High School was in the 50th percentile for SAT testing, not the bottom 10 in the state.
    Principal Marty Bouchard and Curriculum Coordinator Dawn Dougan gave presentations at the meeting and expressed their concerns with the label the district has been stuck with. Bouchard said Houlton High School has 40.3percent of its student population meeting or exceeding the standard on SATs for a three-year window.
    In comparison, the lowest school in the state had 19.2 percent of its population meeting or exceeding the standard on SATs for a three-year average. The highest school — the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone — has 97 percent of its students meeting or exceeding the standard.
    “We rate pretty high, but we can always strive for improvement,” Bouchard said. “We are always looking to get better.”
    While the overall SAT numbers place Houlton 65th out of 127 schools, the three-year average, based on the state’s subgroup designation, showed Houlton High School, along with the other nine schools, had low levels of proficiency in math and reading over a three-year period and a low level of improvement, according to the state.
    “We did have a small decline over those three years,” Bouchard said.
    In her presentation, Dougan stated that many of the guidelines that were required by the “Transformation Model” are already being implemented in the school.
    Board member Liz Anderson said just because the district was choosing not to pursue the grant money did not mean that changes would not be forthcoming.
    “We have a lot of different areas that we have to improve upon,” Anderson said. “We will be looking [to the community] to help. We really need your input.”
    Board member Kim Thompson echoed those sentiments.
    “Houlton High School used to be ‘the place’ to graduate from,” she said. “I think we can all move together to bring this school back to that point again. We have room for improvement.”
    “I think that the Department of Education saw a grant available,” board member Lisa Harvey said. “I think they needed to identify schools and SAD 29 got thrown under the bus. At what cost do we take this money? I don’t think that is the way to go, but we do need to improve. We owe it to the 1,300 students in the district.”
Public outcry
    The majority of the public comments spoke in support of the current administration. Joe Fagnant spoke on behalf of the teachers at Houlton High School.
    “If we were truly one of the worst performing schools, then this community and school board has every right to be upset about our test results,” he said. “The state of Maine came out with a hit list of lowest performing high schools based on three-year SAT results. The truth is that if we were to examine these SAT test results for high schools in Maine, Houlton High School is not part of the bottom 10 schools, not even in the bottom 50. We are 65th out of 127 schools and have historically come in the middle of the list for all high schools in Maine.
    “As a school, we have been working on improving SAT scores so that we could meet our Average Yearly Progress goals,” he continued. “In February we were informed by our assigned state school improvement liaison, that we were doing well and that we were on track for making progress. One month later we were told by the state that we were a failing school. After further investigation, we found out that the state changed the criteria in how they evaluate school improvement in order to earn federal dollars.”
    Marina DiMarco, a junior at Houlton High School, urged the school board not to proceed with the grant process.
    “In addition to being a junior at Houlton High School, I consider myself a successful human being,” DiMarco said. “We are not a low level school. I think this money, if it’s accepted by anyone, it should be accepted by schools that need it more than us.”
    DiMarco added taking the grant money could encourage “teaching to the test,” instead of giving students a well-rounded education in a safe environment.
    “Our school is a safe school,” she said. “We don’t have metal detectors. I’m not terrified to park my truck in the parking lot. I just don’t think this money is worth the strings that come attached to it, and I think my fellow students would agree.”
    Fred Pelletier, president of the Houlton Education Association, said his group was deeply concerned about the school board accepting the grant money.
    “This is a strong community with an excellent group of citizens supporting the school,” he said. “We urge you to consider not accepting this grant money. We believe the SAT test does not show a true ability of our students. It’s an aptitude test, not an achievement test.”
    State Rep. Richard Cleary, an attorney in Houlton, said he was searching for an answer from the DOE as to why these 10 schools were identified and why this specific criteria was used.
    “There are many good reasons for not accepting this grant,” he said. “The difficult financial situation we may face once the reform model is in place is another concern. Whatever we do, we have a great past, a great present and a very bright future, but we all need to work together as a community to promote the positives in our schools and with our students.”
    “The money does look awfully good, but even the Trojan Horse looked good at one point,” said resident Katie Wright, a 1999 graduate of HHS and a seventh grade science teacher.
    Only one member of the public — Richard Rhoda — offered any type of critical comments.
    “The SAT is a long and tried method of assessment across the country, so it can’t be all that wrong,” he said. “To say that we are one of the 10 worst schools in the state isn’t accurate. The school board needs to look carefully at what it is going to do to get. We should be in the upper third or fourth in the state, not the 50th percentile. This has to be a wakeup call. I expect more for what our students are getting in the high school.”
    Members of the public were also able to submit questions anonymously by writing their questions on a piece of paper and placing them in a box at the meeting. Answers to those questions will be posted on the school’s Web site. Questions or comments may also be sent directly to Fitzpatrick at sfitzpatrick@houlton.sad29.k12.me.us.