PORT ANGELES — Action plans for the Port Angeles School District — gleaned from a two-day meeting of citizens, staff and students this weekend — are being prepared for presentation for the School Board to evaluate at its meeting Monday, Dec. 13.
The district hosted the public workshop Friday and Saturday at the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center to brainstorm ideas for the five-year strategic plan.
The plan, developed by about 80 people at the community forum, are based on the five categories adopted by the board earlier this year: organizational culture, student achievement, resources, adaptability in support of student achievement and community support.
The 80 people who participated in the brain-storming session were divided into groups, with each working on a specific goal, Superintendent Jane Pryne said.
Each group developed an overarching theme in each area, based on research done by a board subcommittee over the past couple of months.
After the goals were developed, they were individually voted on by the whole group.
“One of the issues, for example, was to re-instate all-day kindergarten,” Pryne said.
“I honestly can’t remember how that vote came out, but that is the sort of thing we were talking about.”
Although all five members of the School Board participated in the meeting, no action was taken.
The board will formally evaluate the plans at its Dec. 13 meeting — which is scheduled at 7 p.m. at Lincoln High School, 924 W. Ninth St. — and consider possible implementation after that.
Strategies will be implemented over the course of the next five years to improve the district, Pryne said.
Pryne also will discuss the forum at Monday’s School Board meeting, scheduled at 6 p.m. at Jefferson Elementary, 218 E. 12th St.
Monday’s meeting is planned to make up the Nov. 22 meeting canceled because of snow and ice.
The group attending the two-day meeting and working on the plans included teachers, other district staff, parents, community members, retirees and students, Pryne said.
The two-day forum began with an evaluation of the state of the district.
Student achievement is on the rise at the Port Angeles School District, despite a drop in state resources, district officials said.
School Board member Patti Happe said the on-time graduation rate at Port Angeles High School is on its way back up after it bottomed out at 62 percent in 2008.
The graduation rate crested at 88 percent in 2005 before a sharp decline. It rose to 78 percent in 2009.
“We are building back up,” Happe said during her presentation on organizational culture.
“It’s a pretty good metric of student satisfaction within the school.”
A student survey found that 68 percent of students either agreed or strongly agreed that teachers expect them to succeed.
“Sixty-eight percent — not 100 [percent],” Happe said.
Assistant Superintendent Michelle Reid said Port Angeles elementary, middle and high school students are making “strong and sustained gains” in reading and writing scores.
Stevens Middle School students are making strong gains in science and math, too, she said.
“Overall, our students in Port Angeles outperform their peers around the state,” Reid said.
As the state grapples with a $5.7 billion budget deficit, education funding continues to decline.
The state once provided the district with 82 percent of its revenue. Now it provides 65 percent, said Jim Schwob, executive director of business and operations.
The district’s property tax levy is providing 19.5 percent of district revenue, with federal support and local nontax support paying for the rest.
District enrollment, which is directly tied to funding, has steadily dropped over the last decade.
The district projects another drop of 306 student in the next five years, but the rate of the decline has slowed by a third, Schwob said.
The school district has lost 66 employees over the past 10 years. It currently employes 390.
Pryne discussed adaptability, and district spokeswoman Tina Smith-O’Hara addressed community later in the presentation.
“We’re not going to try and look at all this as a mass and try to solve it,” said district consultant Kenneth Jones.
“It’s never been proven to work. But what we’re going to do is we’re still going to use these to inform our wisdom about what we don’t want in our future.”
Questions, comments and suggestions regarding the strategic planning process and its development may be sent by e-mail to info@portangelesschools.org or mailed to Superintendent Jane Pryne, Port Angeles School District, 216 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles, WA 98362.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
