The I.S.D. 166 school board met at The Old Log Cabin in Grand Portage on Thursday, October 25, with about 20 people in attendance.
The regular business meeting was over fast, starting at 5:04 p.m. and ending at 5:13 p.m.
However, following supper, which was open to the public, superintendent Dr. Crandall gave a presentation about the number of native students involved in extracurricular activities at school (band, sports, choir, Knowledge Bowl, robotics, etc.). He then discussed state and national tests scores for the last eight years, comparing the I.S.D. 166 Native American students to other indigenous kids throughout the state and other non-native students.
The I.S.D. 166 school district administers the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) and alternate assessment Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS) each year.
The tests for each subject help school districts measure the student progress toward Minnesota’s academic standards, and those tests meet the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Most students take the MCA, but students who receive special education services and meet eligibility guidelines may take the MTAS.
Those tests, said Dr. Crandall, are given on one day, and if a student isn’t feeling well, or has test anxiety, or is out of sorts for any number of reasons, the student may not perform well on the exams.
Also, if a student chooses to skip the tests, it goes down as zero, and that is factored into the average. For a small population of Native American students like I.S.D. 166 has, it doesn’t take much for the average score to go down, he said.
A better assessment of student achievement, noted Dr. Crandall, is the NWEA or MAP assessments, which are given once in the fall and once in the spring. These assessments are used to show students’ academic progress and growth over the school year.
Another test given to all eighth-grade students in the country is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics and is the most significant national representative and continuing assessment of what the students in the country know and can do in a variety of subjects.
The school also gives ACT and SAT tests for college entrance exams, but these weren’t part of the school board discussion.
Official graduation rates released by the state of Minnesota are built on lagging data, meaning they are based on the previous year’s class. This says that during the summer of 2018, the Class of 2017’s graduation rate was finalized and released to the public.
This year’s graduates (Class of 2019) graduation rate will not be released until the summer of 2020.
It was reported by the school district that I.S.D. 166 High School’s official Native American graduation rate was 100 percent for 2016. But, said Dr. Crandall, newer data showed the district didn’t quite meet the 100 percent mark. That happened, he said, because students who start in the district in 9th grade and then transfer to another school district are tracked by where they began as a freshman. This is true of all students, despite their ethnicity.
These students are listed in the “unknown” category and counted against I.S.D. 166’s graduation rate. Technically, these were transfer students, said Dr. Crandall.
Minnesota’s statewide graduation rate for Native American students was 52.6 percent for 2016.
Diversity Day
Last year the school district held a Diversity Day program that was judged by most who attended to be very successful.
But some parents complained that an academic day—or part of an academic school day—was lost so that the diversity training and workshop sessions could be held.
In responding to parental concerns the school district decided to hold the 2019 Diversity Day on a non-school day.
“Who’s going to attend that?” asked one incredulous Grand Portage parent.
That led to a wide-ranging discussion about the importance and significance of Diversity Day, and in the end the school board said it would work on a solution to bringing the program back to the regular school calendar.
The Diversity Day program won’t be held until late winter or early spring, 2019.
Notes from the business meeting
Donations to the school district for the last month included a $2,753.56 SHIP grant for water filling stations; $400 from Ruby’s Pantry; $250 from Jerry and Kay Sivets for the donation of a telescope and $2,000 from John Peterson for used band instruments.
The school board approved the resignation of the Early Childhood Special Education teacher Kelly Hawsen. In her resignation letter to the school board, Hawsen said, “I do not take this decision lightly as I know it puts a huge burden on staff as well as the emotional exhaustion of yet another turnover in this position. However, based off of new life changes, this current position no longer works for my family or me. I plan to continue working with students and families in the mental health field as I was prior to this job.”
Hawsen’s position will be filled by new hire Jodi Tervo Roberts. Roberts was hired as a .75 Early Childhood Special Education teacher.
The board also accepted the resignation at the end of the first quarter of Cathy Penning, the school’s K-12 choral director. Penning cited major health issues that she had last year, “that I thought were resolved but unfortunately have come back.”
Kasha Hansen was hired as a full-time physical education teacher, and Kris Elfvin was hired as a parttime health nurse. Kris will work two days per week during the school year.
Nancy Dumas was hired as a .85 full-time fifthgrade teacher, and Bradley Shannon hired as the new school counselor. Bradley’s position is .75 FTE.
I.S.D. 166 enrollment for 2018-2019
This year there are 24 kindergarteners enrolled at Sawtooth. First grade has 23 students, second grade 33, third grade 26, fourth grade 27, and fifth grade 32 for a total to 163.
The middle school has a total of 108 students. There are 34 kids in sixth grade, 40 in seventh grade and 34 in eighth grade.
Cook County High School has an enrollment of 180 students this year. There are 38 kids in ninth grade, 48 in tenth grade, 47 in eleventh grade, and 47 in twelve grade.
In his superintendent’s report, Dr. Crandall said the new science wing “still has some finishing touches required on the punch list for the project to be fully complete.” He also said the new culinary arts room passed inspection on October 16. And while there are still many items to complete on the punch list, the school is now using the classroom space.
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