Small Town News

Its a matter of principal

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At first blush, it struck us as more than a bit strange that the Shelton School District decided to pass up the chance this month to get up to $2 million from the feds to make much-needed improvements at Oakland Bay Junior High School.

Oakland Bay is one of the worst-performing schools in the state when it comes to standardized test scores. Our eighth-graders are simply miles and miles behind their counterparts around the state, if not the country, in reading and math. The numbers, which are available online and have been shared on the pages of this newspaper in recent weeks, speak for themselves.

It is as a result of that abysmal performance over the past three years that the school district became eligible for a school improvement grant and the chance for anywhere from $50,000 to $2,000,000. Superintendent Joan Zook and each and every one of the elected school board members took a pass, though, because of one string attached to the deal: In order to get the money, Zook would have had to fire Oakland Bay Principal Bracken Budge.

Officials say that Budge, in the middle of his third year at the helm of the junior high, should not be the fall guy.

One could argue that he's adopting poor test takers from the middle school and many of the reasons for students' poor performance are simply beyond his control. One could also argue, of course, that if a principal, whose job it is to hold others accountable, is not the one to hold accountable then nobody is.

Spreading the blame in this case -- on teachers, socio-economic conditions, parents, whomever or whatever -- is all well and good to a point, but Oakland Bay has passed that point. In cases like these, where a school is clearly failing, the federal government has decided that, in the end, principals are the ones to blame. Our superintendent and the board she serves disagree. Who then is ultimately responsible, and when will they be held responsible?

Either way, it's a shame that Oakland Bay won't get the money.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that just this week it was announced that nine school districts in the state will get grants totaling some $17 million. Each of the districts -- Seattle, Tacoma, Marysville, Yakima, Wellpinit, Sunnyside, Highline, Grandview and Longview -- will work with Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn to figure out how the money is disbursed.

Supposing Mr. Dorn decides to divide the money evenly, each district will get a little over $1.8 Bullion. If Oakland Bay were in the mix, and Mr. Dorn again divided the pot evenly, Oakland Bay would get $1.7 million more to help turn things around.

Of course the money by itself, and it's certainly a lot of money, wouldn't solve every problem. But, it would go a long way in better preparing Oakland Bay students for high school and, in the long run, help get them onto the path of becoming lifelong learners.



Copyright 2010 Shelton-Mason County Journal, Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 Shelton-Mason County Journal Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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