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Yupiit: Lowest rated district receives some state assistance By Kyle Hopkins Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux signed an order this week appointing a state-paid official to help shape up Alaska's poorest-performing school district. The oversight comes whether the district wanted it or not, as part of increasing state involvement in the three-village Yupiit School District in Southwest Alaska. Darrell Sanborn, the former superintendent in Unalaska, will be given "authority over the instructional program," the order says. It's the first time the state has sent a trustee in to an Alaska district to try to revive test scores and performance, according to the department. Sanborn, who will be paid an undetermined amount by the state, will not replace the superintendent. The order calls achievement levels in the Yupiit district "unacceptable" and appears to give Sanborn authority to oversee what is taught and how it's taught in the district. Education Department officials on Tuesday, however, in interviews emphasized a more advisory role. "We think the district wants to work with us in a cooperative and collaborative way," Deputy Commissioner Les Morse said after an Anchorage meeting with LeDoux, the district superintendent and board chairman. Still -- the order itself has some teeth. It says that if the district isn't making sufficient progress by the end of the year, Sanborn may be given authority over the district budget and placement of administrators. That's a signal the state could essentially end up running the district if things don't change, though state officials said that's not what they want and continually emphasized cooperation with school and community leaders. No other districts are under immediate threat for this level of state intervention, they said. "I have confidence right now that we're going to team together to leverage the benefit of this trustee versus having any kind of pointing fingers," Morse said. The district has about 450 students in Akiachak, Akiak and Tuluksak. For now the trustee is charged with helping the district implement an improvement plan. Each year Alaska schools are graded on their "adequate yearly progress" to comply with federal law -- what used to be called No Child Left Behind. The Department of Education tracks student performance in each district, and districts that continually fail to have enough kids reading, writing and doing math at grade level are subject to government intervention. The state Department of Education has traditionally been hands off, leaving control to local school boards and superintendents. But a 2004 court case that started out as a push for more funding for rural schools has turned into a battle over how involved the state should get. A Superior Court judge has repeatedly told the state it's not doing enough to help rural students. Department of Education spokesman Eric Fry said the move to appoint a trustee for the Yupiit district isn't a result of the court case. Instead, the department says it's part of ongoing, increasing state intervention in the district to try to improve student performance. LeDoux's order described the Yupiit district as the lowest performing of the more than 50 school districts in the state. Fewer than one third of third graders in the district are proficient in reading, writing and math, according to state test scores released this spring. The scores were worse for 10th graders: 11.5 percent proficiency in reading, with 16 percent of students writing at grade level and 20 percent proficiency in math. The order outlines some bright spots for the district. Math and reading scores in the district rose slightly over the past year, with Akiak students making strong gains in particular. The district has also hired an "experienced rural educator" to lead its instructional program, the order says. A district school board member referred questions to Howard Diamond, chief school administrator, Tuesday. Diamond couldn't be reached for comment. |
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