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Kayla Gahagan New Underwood High School officials will use almost $800,000 from the federal government to hire additional staff and provide more training in an effort to improve faltering test scores. The school was identified as one of the state's persistently low-achieving schools this year, which made it eligible to compete for $9.56 million in federal grants. It will receive $793,000 during the next three years. "We're looking for some very positive opportunities," said outgoing superintendent Julie Ertz. The district plans to hire a full-time staff member in charge of the core curriculum, a full-time technology trainer and three part-time coaches for math, reading and technology. The goal is to implement concepts from the South Dakota 2025 High School Initiative, which challenges schools in four areas: rigor, relevancy, relationships and results. The federal funding is part of $3.5 billion in school improvement grants provided by the Obama administration, aimed at closing or turning around the nation's worst schools. The Department of Education recently released a list of 61 schools in the state eligible for the grants. South Dakota's 12 worst schools according to 2007-2009 math and reading scores will get funding priority. The remaining 49 schools, which all have high poverty rates and low test scores, will compete for any leftover money; they will, however, have more flexibility in spending it and do not have to make such dramatic reforms. About half the eligible schools applied, and some of them promised to make drastic changes, such as replacing teachers and principals and extending the school year. They must follow one of four turnaround models: closing the school and sending the students elsewhere; restarting as a charter school; firing the principal and at least half the staff; and firing the principal, adding more learning time and making comprehensive changes to instruction. Ertz said the school chose the transformation model, which includes replacing the principal. High school principal Rebecca Hale retired at the end of this school year, but the school would have been eligible for the transformation model even if she hadn't because it applied only to principals who had not been replaced during the past two years. Hale had served as principal for a year. Ertz said the school plans to hire for multiple positions with the funding, which will be given to the school over the course of three years following satisfactory evaluations each year. Another piece of the turnaround model will be professional development, Ertz said. Staff members will have the opportunity to attend conferences and national conventions, learn from specialists who visit the school. They will also be encouraged and supported while earning advanced degrees. As part of the grant, the evaluation process for teachers will also be changed to include incentive pay, which is tied to student success, Ertz said. "All high school staff will be held accountable." Staff members support the changes, she added. "They're very excited," she said. "We had one hundred percent buy-in from the beginning. That's the reason we moved forward." The school will be moving forward without Ertz this year, who has taken a job with Associated School Boards of South Dakota. The district recently hired Jeff Marlette as its new superintendent and Joel Hovland as the new high school principal. "It will be a challenge for them," Ertz said, of the work that comes along with the grant. "They're going to have to jump in really quick … I hope they view it as an opportunity and not feel overwhelmed." "I'm just excited for the district," she said. The New Underwood School District has seen declining enrollment in recent years and had to cut its budget. The federal funding is a chance to improve, Ertz said. "It's an opportunity I really felt they needed to go after, even if I knew I wasn't going to be there." |
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