By Kenneth Roberts,Special to the Sun Journal

TURNER – Two SAD 52 schools made the state Department of Education list of those that failed to meet performance standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

That information was shared with the district’s board of directors at a meeting at Leavitt Area High School. The state cited the high school and Tripp Middle schools among the state’s 148 that didn’t make the grade.

Leavitt Area High School made the list for the third year in a row in both reading and math; Tripp was on the list for reading subject to data review, and for failing to improve sufficiently in math for the second year.

Directors were told by Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Darlene Burdin that major progress is being made in all the district’s schools, but “just as progress is made, the standards become more strict.” The district covers Turner, Greene and Leeds.

Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron has confirmed in news reports that for “the first three years, the target for the schools was the same. This year it climbs and better performance is expected.”

For this year, half of the 11th-graders had to pass the No Child Left Behind testing for a school to show progress, whereas for the first three years it was about 44 percent. It will get tougher every year through 2014 when 100 percent of students must pass for a school not to “fail” the Adequate Yearly Progress standard.

Schools can fail in a host of ways, Superintendent Thomas Hanson told the directors, “But the administration and staffs of all schools are dedicated to improving our performance, and the education of all our students.” Still, curriculum leaders pointed to LAHS as needing much help in reading, “particularly among boys who seem poorly motivated and demonstrate a lack of effort” in testing.

Indeed, testing itself was one of the issues raised by Burdin who said students “feel they are tested out” and “don’t see the relevance for all these tests in their lives.”

In other action, the directors:

• Set a special meeting for the equity discussion for 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at Leavitt. This discussion is an attempt by the board to demonstrate that different programs are offered at different K through sixth-grade schools in the district based on different needs, as equitably as possible.

• Signed on with Wayne Excavators Inc. for $49,800 worth of improvements and updates to the Leeds Central School septic system.

• Agreed to accept a first reading of a proposed food sales policy that they were advised would not affect booster club sales and other such after-school activities.

• Met in executive session to discuss negotiations with teachers and nonteachers.

Copy the Story Link