Test results affect school status

It is possible that schools in Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD#2) will not achieve Safe Harbor status.

Superintendent Jim Copeland warned the CCSD#2 Board of Trustees that letters may need to be sent out regarding CCSD#2’s federal status. In this case, schools will not be considered as making adequate yearly progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind regulations.

Copeland explained that Wyoming did not get the waiver that other states received from the government, resulting in most Wyoming schools failing to reach AYP standards. According to Dicky Shanor, Wyoming Department of Education Chief of Staff, the state made two informal and one formal attempts to get waivers, but all were rejected by the federal government. According to Shanor, Wyoming standards do not meet specific federal requirements.

According to Copeland, the requirement for AYP is currently 100 percent passing/proficient rate on Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS) tests. Safe Harbor, according to the Wyoming Department of Education, is “a provision in the No Child Left Behind law that allows schools to make AYP even if they have not met the performance targets. In order to reach Safe Harbor, a school or district must make a decrease in the percent of non-proficient students (those in the below basic and basic categories) that is statistically significant to at least 10 percent.”

Copeland explained that should the schools in CCSD#2 not make Safe Harbor, the parents will have to be notified and that the district would be required to provide transportation to an AYP school, though there are no known schools in the area that have met AYP standards. CCSD#2 would have to develop an improvement plan in this case, as well.

Copeland interpreted some PAWS results at the Aug. 17 CCSD#2 Board of Trustees meeting, noting that Encampment was leading the state in seventh grade reading. The PAWS test has been changed in recent years to be more challenging than it was previously, and Copeland explained that any time there is a change in examination, the scores are liable to change as well.

According to results published by the Wyoming Department of Education, CCSD#2 rates of proficient and advanced students are generally higher than the state average on PAWS exams, save for fifth grade math and reading, sixth grade reading and eighth grade math, reading and science. Copeland indicated that Encampment in particular did very well and district wide, CCSD#2 is mostly higher than the state average in science. Saratoga had good growth rates, Copeland said. Board member Joe Gaspari cited a report from Wyoming School Boards Association that Wyoming schools rank sixth in science and eighth in math worldwide.

Larry Uhling, District Curriculum Director and Facility Manager, mentioned plans for improvement of the storage shed at Hanna football field. He estimates that the project of updating the shed would cost between $9,000 and $10,000, coming out of major maintenance funds. The shed would be updated for storage purposes, but also to have a concession stand.

Upon discussion of funding for the Hanna storage shed, Uhling said architects and engineers often bring the price up and they have cut around $300,000 off of the Encampment bus barn bid. The bid was originally approximately $860,000 but after making cuts including reducing the amount of power outlets and changing a drive-through garage to one with a single door, the price is now around $560,000.

The board moved to offer teacher contracts to Brandi Dearcorn, position of fifth grade teacher at Hanna Elementary, and Jacob Johnson, position of music teacher at Saratoga Middle/High School, for the 2015-16 school year.