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School district to apply for grant
The Quincy School District board of directors has decided that the opportunity to receive up to $2 million per year for the next three years to improve educational opportunities was simply too good to pass up.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the board voted to approve a motion for the district to apply for a federal school improvement grant, which will be dispersing $42.5 million to Washington school districts over the next three years.
The grant money is eligible to go to school districts that have one or more of the state’s lowest-performing 5 percent of schools; that list is based solely on students’ performance on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test.
Each chosen school will receive between $500,000 to $2 million per year for the next three years.
Earlier this month, the Quincy School District received notification that its junior high is among the state’s lowest 5 percent and will be eligible to apply for the grant.
Superintendent Burton Dickerson indicated that about 50 other schools in about 30 other districts are also eligible. He guessed that as many as 40 of the other schools will apply for the grant money.
Dickerson indicated his strong preference for the board to approve the grant application at the meeting.
“We need more resources and support. That’s why I think this grant can help us,” he said. “We’re not strangers to the challenges that we face. We know the test scores aren’t as high as we’d like them to be, but we’re not sitting around doing nothing. We’re working hard to address changes we need to make in a number of ways.”
A district that receives the grant must implement one of four predeterimed models to develop student success. Dickerson said if Quincy’s application is chosen, the district would most likely opt for the transformation model, which would call for the replacement of current junior high principal Scott Ramsey.
“(Thinking about replacing Scott) is a difficult topic for me to address,” Dickerson said. “I’d rather have seen a model that would allow us to continue with the current principal. The grant proposal we came up with calls for using Scott’s resources and experience as part of a transformation leadership team. I think that’s as close to a win-win as possible in this scenario.
“I value and appreciate Scott as a leader and team builder. I don’t have any desire to hurt him in any way. He has a high degree of appreciation and support in the junior high and the district.”
The grant model would also call for the following requirements, among others:
• Identifying and rewarding of school leaders and teachers who have increased student achievement, and identify and remove those, who after ample opportunities to improve professional practices, have not done so.
• Impelementing a rigorous, transparent and equitable evaluation system for teachers and principals.
• Providing ongoing, high-quality, job-embedded professional development aligned with the schools’ comprehensive instructional program.
• Establishing schedules and strategies that provide increased learning time in all subjects, including longer school days, weeks or years to increase the total number of school hours.
• Providing additional support and professional development to teachers to support students with disabilities and limited English proficient students.
The district had until March 10 to submit an application. Dickerson said the district will be notified by the state by the end of the month as to whether its application has been accepted.
“Just because we’re applying doesn’t mean we’re going to get the grant,” he said.
The vote passed by a 4-1 margin. Myrna Blakely was the sole opponent of the grant.
“I’ve studied the grant issues, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many unknowns that could have a devastating impact on our district,” she said. “There’s too many variables and suppositions. I’m voting against the grant, but will support the decision of the board.”
Board president Mike Scharbach pointed to the fact that the district might be required to implement similar changes by the state in the near future as a main reason for voting for the grant.
“If we don’t take this opportunity, I feel as if we’ll be forced to pick one of these models without receiving financial support,” he said. ‘I think this is an opportunity we can’t pass up. I think it would help the entire district.”
Board member Tricia Lubach was also strongly in favor of the grant.
“This is not an easy decision,” she said. “The big thing for me is, how can we best meet the needs of the students? I believe we have a responsibility to take advantage of the opportunities that we’re given. Sometimes that means we have to make difficult decisions.”
Board member Lisa Mickelson, spoke about how disappointed she would be if Ramsey had to be replaced.
“Scott has been incredibly dedicated to this district and community. When I read the whole thing about replacing the principal, I thought that sucked, to put it bluntly,” she said.
“I do support the grant because I have faith in our team to implement (the funds) wisely. We need to get more technology to the students. That’s the great equalizer in education today. That’s the only way to improve test scores. I do think, though, that’s it’s unfortunate that our entire system is judged on one test that covers just two subjects. I don’t think that shows the whole picture.”
