Despite pleas from teachers and students that Cascade and Chinook middle schools are not failed schools, the Highline School Board unanimously decided Feb. 11 to voluntarily apply for a grant that would mandate significant changes.
Principals at both schools would have to be replaced if the district receives the grant that could bring up to $2 million to each school.
Administrators said there are indications that state legislators would require the changes in 2011 so it would be better to voluntarily apply for the grant.
Cascade teachers defended their efforts at the North Highline school and praised principal Colin Ryan and assistant principal Jacob Ellis.
Cascade teacher Julie Kastien pointed out that 80 percent of Cascade students live in poverty and said Cascade has made more progress in the past two years than any other Highline middle school.
In a rousing speech that brought a standing ovation, Cascade eighth-grader Jan Patrick Campanano declared, "Cascade is not a failed school-I am living, breathing proof of that."
Chinook teachers and students also defended Chinook principal Evie Livingston, who is her third year at the school.
Livingston told board members that it is unrealistic to expect students to pass the state tests within six months of coming to Chinook when they enter the school up to two years below grade level in reading and math.
District accountability director Alan Spicciati said the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OPSI) might show some flexibility in the mandate to replace the principals if they have been at the school two years or less.
Superintendent John Welch said sate officials had indicated the district could not merely switch the principals. But he said replacing principals does not mean they would be fired.
Welch said he decided to recommend the board move forward with a general action plan and apply for the grant by the March 5 deadline.
He said a transformation model would be the only one possible to develop within a short timeframe.
Under the transformation model, besides replacing the principals, the district would develop a new evaluation system using student growth as a significant factor. The model would also provide increased learning time, including possibly on weekends or with a longer school year.
The transformation model is the least drastic option provided by the state. Others models would call for closing the schools, choosing an outside group to run the schools or replacing at least half of the teaching staff at both schools.
Board vice president Sili Savusa said she knows Cascade is a "special place" because of her daughter's experience there.
But she added, "The board is committed to making the system better. We should see this as an opportunity to get more meat behind some great things we are already doing."
