By Jolene FarleyHills-Beaver Creek Elementary School was among 53 Minnesota schools that earned five-star ratings in math and reading on the Minnesota Department of Education’s 2003 Report Card. Superintendent Dave Deragisch handed a copy of the report card to School Board members at their Monday meeting. The report card is one of the federal requirements for states as part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The report card grades schools on a one- to five-star system and is formatted like a brochure with facts, figures and charts. The only other area school to receive the five-star rating was Adrian Elementary School.Out of 921 Minnesota schools, 114 schools received five-star ranking for reading, and 92 for math. Fifty-three received five stars in both categories.Part of the ranking for each elementary school was how students scored on state third-and fifth-grade math and reading tests.Deragisch cautioned the board on using test scores as the exclusive measure of a school’s success. Many factors can come into play. "You never know from one year to the next how kids are going to test," he said. Out of all Minnesota elementary schools, 604 received three stars in reading and 649 received three stars in math. Twenty-five schools received one star in reading and 25 received a single star in math.A school’s Adequate Yearly Progress designation under the No Child Left Behind law is the first factor used to determine a star rating. If a school doesn’t make AYP, it cannot receive higher than a two-star rating. Once a school meets the AYP requirement, there are several other factors used to determine whether they will be a three, four or five star school: oThe school has 10 percent or fewer of its students scoring at the lowest levels on state tests. oThe school performs among the top 25 percent of comparable schools (based on percentage of test takers eligible for free and reduced priced lunch.)oThe school performs in the 10 percent of similar size schools. oThe school has 30 percent or more students scoring at the highest level on state tests. Five-star schools make AYP and also meet the criteria in at least two of the above categories. Although several elements of the on-line report card do not have data at this time, they appear as placeholders until a data collection system is created.The elements of the school report card include:oAcademic achievement, with one component the AYP status.oAcademic opportunity, which shows the opportunities in addition to regular classroom activities that allow students to grow and excel. oSchool safety refers to incidents involving discipline deemed most serious such as possession of firearms, illicit drugs and assaults. oStudent participation reports several elements including attendance, hours of instruction, dropout rate and graduation rate. oStaff characteristics include data about school staff, including number of licensed professionals, their education level and average salaries.oStudent demographics include the breakdown of the student population by ethnic group, Limited English Proficient, status, special education and free/reduced price meals.oParent satisfaction and open enrollment includes the ratio of students transferring in and out of the district under the open enrollment system and whether or not a school surveys parents and students on their satisfaction with the school.oA report to taxpayers includes a breakdown of revenues and spending at the school district level, along with the current debt level.Deragisch said he doesn’t plan to rest on the laurels of a five-star rating. "We have to always be aggressive, progressive and ready to improve," he told the board. Locker room progress Deragisch updated the board about progress on the locker room project. "The rough plumbing is done. The plumbing inspector came Thursday and said it was great," he said. Contractors are setting the forms for the cement floor in the showers. The cement has to be perfect to pass inspection and ensure correct water flow.Deragisch said the architect contacted him and asked to change the design of the floor with an added charge of $2,500 for the district.He refused to change the plans and told the architect that the original design passed all state requirements.The plumbing inspector will visit the site two more times before the project is complete. Deragisch said contractors told him construction is ahead of schedule and the project may be complete by mid-October. PersonnelThe board approved hiring Mary Siegfried as a long-term substitute for fifth-grade teacher Chris Louwagie who was injured in an auto accident and is recuperating. Louwagie is also junior high football coach and a replacement may also be needed for that position, according to Deragisch. John Oksness is the long-term substitute for high school science teacher Janette Vanden Hoek. Vanden Hoek is taking maternity leave in October. Oksness retired last year from teaching chemistry and physics in Luverne.Long-term substitutes who are paid substitute pay for the first 10 days are then eligible for the district’s salary scale.
