Randy Mitchell State Test Scores For Allen Public Schools Were Not Good For A Majority Of Students In Seventh And Eighth Grades, As Far As Math And English Is Concerned, Preliminary Test Results Indicated. The Matter Was Discussed Monda

State test scores for Allen Public Schools were not good for a majority of students in seventh and eighth grades, as far as math and English is concerned, preliminary test results indicated.

The matter was discussed Monday at the regular meeting of the Allen School Board.

Superintendent Jeff Hiatt received the results only shortly before the meeting and cautioned that the results were preliminary. He presented each board member with a page showing the scores.

“Boy, about the time you get to seventh and eighth (grades), there is a glaring problem with math,” Board President Kelly Hurt said.

The results showed that big percentage had failed math on the test, but there was some discrepancy in the figures concerning eighth-graders, so the results may not have been entirely accurate.

However, it was agreed that a majority of students in both of those grades had performed poorly in math on the state tests.

“So, what this tells me, though, is, we’ve got some seventh- and eighth-graders that we need to help,” Hurt said, “that we didn’t do a very good job of teaching them math.” Hurt mentioned that an intervention probably needs to occur, to which Hiatt said the system does that in elementary but hasn’t yet in grades above fifth.

Hurt also indicated it would be very important to get an accurate reading “on how well our kids are actually doing.”

The board indicated that the matter would need to be scrutinized and discussed further, then solutions would need to be implemented. “Another thing, looking at those test scores, did we teach the standards?” Hiatt said. “What was (the former teacher) teaching? She might have been teaching the heck out of whatever it was, but if they (the state) aren’t testing on it, it’s a waste of everybody’s time. So, we need to teach what they’re (the state) going to test us on.”

In the end, Hiatt and the board indicated that the school system needs to find out what the problem is, remedy the situation, then keep track of how well students are learning.

Administrative Reports

During administrative reports, Hiatt said summer school is going well and enrollment is staying steady. He said athletics is busy and said softball will be starting up after a period of no sports, which runs from July 1-9.

Hiatt spoke of maintenance and remodeling.

“They’ve been mainly working on the junior high,” Hiatt said. “They totally remodeled the bathrooms, the entryway bathrooms.”

Hiatt said some walls are being removed, while some new ones are being built.

“We’re going to gain a classroom, which we’re going to need,” he said.

Hiatt said all access doors are working now, some were added to many buildings on the campus, and spoke of improved safety where the access doors are concerned.

Hiatt said security film will soon be placed on the schools’ front entryways. The film is placed on glass to keep it from breaking, making doors nearly impassable when locked.

Also concerning school security, Hiatt indicated that certain state law enforcement officers will walk the campus some time between now and Christmas and give the school a security report.

Hiatt spoke of raises in pay for certified teachers. “We’re estimating with the raises that it’s going to cost us about $238,000,” Hiatt said.

Hiatt indicated that because enrollment has been down, the school is receiving less money from the state.

He said he’s received two estimates of how much extra Allen Schools will receive, with one estimate being $229,000, and the other being $182,000 “The extra money that we’re getting from the new budget is basically going to pay for our teacher raises,” Hiatt said.

Hiatt said even though enrollment for the new year appears that it will be about 440 kids, the state is basing how much money the school system will receive on the end of year (202223) enrollment, which was 430 students.

“What we get paid on is what we ended the year with, 430 students,” Hiatt said.

Hiatt indicated that the state will come in after Christmas and make adjustments.

“With all that being said, we’re having enough to pay the raises, but when they say that we’re getting extra money, it’s all ate up right there,” Hiatt said. “We won’t have any extra money, and it’s all because our enrollment went down.”

Hurt asked in what manner the school is losing kids, to which Hiatt said to online charter schools, more specifically Epic Charter Schools.

“We’re not losing high test-scoring kids,” Hiatt said. “We’re losing a lot of our at-risk kids, kids that don’t come to school. That’s kind of the trend. Kids that don’t like school, they talk their parents into Epic.”

Hurt queried how much scrutiny is given to students who are learning at home.

Hiatt said with Epic, the test scores are not made public, so it is unknown.

“That’s our gripe,” Hiatt said. “Like, do they (the state) hold them to the same standard as us?”

Hiatt indicated he believes that Allen Schools should consider having a virtual learning program in an effort to retain the students who would leave otherwise. Something similar to the virtual learning that occurred during the pandemic lockdowns.

Hurt asked if that could be done cost effectively, to which Hiatt said yes.

Hurt indicated it would be a good idea to at least look into it.

Action Items

In action items, the board accepted the resignation of Bonnie Stephens from the cafeteria.