Duluth and Proctor school districts have received large, renewable grants from the state to improve student achievement at elementary schools that were flagged as low-performing last spring.
Duluth's Laura MacArthur Elementary and Proctor's Bay View Elementary will receive in total over the next three years $1.3 million and $1.7 million, respectively, to do things such as hire more teachers and support staff and pay for teacher development.
The schools were labeled "priority schools" by the Minnesota Department of Education, which means they are among the 5 percent lowest-performing schools in the state for student achievement. The designation comes from the new multiple measurement ratings, which the state used in place of the controversial No Child Left Behind mandates. The state received a waiver from many of the federal mandates, such as measuring schools' Adequate Yearly Progress. Only Title I, or low-income, schools can be called priority schools.
Representatives for Laura MacArthur and Bay View had to apply for the grants and work with the state education department on developing school improvement plans.
Laura MacArthur Principal Nathan Glockle joined the school mid-year last year. Speaking to the School Board on Tuesday night during its education committee meeting, he said he knew the school was on the cusp of being labeled "priority" in January.
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The school's plan, he said, which includes the hiring of a family/community liaison, is "a paradigm shift."
"I looked at our needs, what we had, and that's how we came up with this plan," he said. "The people I work with are dedicated educators. The spotlight is on us to perform. Nobody has jumped ship yet, and that says a lot about the process."
Educators had a short amount of time in which to submit grant applications, said Proctor Superintendent John Engelking.
"We had an amazing team of dedicated teachers and administrators who worked long hours," he said. "We're optimistic that our efforts would pay off. We were all extremely excited about receiving our grant and look forward to new opportunities for our students."
Duluth's Lincoln Park Middle School and Piedmont Elementary School were named "focus" schools last spring, which are among the 10 percent of the state's schools most responsible for the achievement gap. Those schools aren't eligible for additional funding beyond the Title I money they receive from the federal government, but they were also required to submit plans to the state. The designations remain for three years, and will be removed if scores improve.
The amounts of the grants could go up or down each of the following two years when they are up for renewal if the districts request changes.
