By Marianne Lincoln
Introduction to FPSD 2012
The room was crowded, that was the first clue that this tour was going to be worthwhile. On hand were three college presidents, several elected officials, a few candidates, public administrators from the Washington Association of School Administrators and Washington State School Director’s Association, PTA representatives, members of the school board, representatives from Community Healthcare and the FP Foundation Director, Jim Ross. It was a discerning audience to say the least.
So the tour began with everyone in a conference room at Franklin Pierce High School. The superintendent, Dr. Frank Hewins, introduced himself as the “Local myth buster.” He presented some facts and statistics about the district and noted education is a race where, ”There is no finish line.” Most people have memories of their time in school, good or bad, the memories are mixed with some nostalgia and some amnesia. This tour was designed to bring us back to the reality of what schools are today.
Dr. Hewins noted that in the 1950‘s, the average high school drop-out rate was 50%. In the 1960’s, 12 nations first experimented with student testing. The US placed 12th out of the 12. So if we get nostalgic about how good schools used to be, just what is it we are looking for? Dr. Hewins pointed out that schools have never been as good as they are today and this event was designed to point out the reasons why.
The Franklin Pierce School District (FPSD) runs the largest restaurant, transportation system and recreation system in the area encompassed by the district. It is a major employer and business operation serving almost 7500 students with a general fund budget of 77 million dollars. 64% of that comes from the state, 12% from the Federal governments and 19% by the publicly authorized levies. Those levies contribute about 14.3 million dollars to the general fund. As a local employer, FPSD pays over $5.9 million per month in salaries and benefits and $5 million for maintenance and operations. The schools contribute significantly to the local economy.
The Franklin Pierce School District was formed in 1952 from the Central Avenue, Collins, Midland and Parkland districts. The demographics of the FPSD have changed significantly since then. In 1949, the area spoke primarily English and Norwegian. In 2012, there are 50 to 60 different native languages spoken by students in the district. In 1968, there was about 16% of the population qualifying for free and reduced lunch, a local measure of poverty. In 2012, 70% of the students district wide qualify for free and reduced lunch.
The good news is that in spite of the statistics that usually show performance trending lower in students with higher poverty levels, that is not the case at Franklin Pierce. The students tested there are performing consistently above the “line of regression,” trend on the charts comparing FP with other local districts. The graduation rate in the district over the past few years has increased from 60% to almost 80%.
So the district officials say they have reason for hope and with this hope, they are working to increase student engagement. They are working with teachers to help them be more effective through peer coaching and professional learning communities or PLC’s. They are seeking to keep the students interested, challenged, satisfied, to stay persistent and be committed to learning. Of course, some of this effort is being necessitated by the need to be in compliance with new educational rules set by external forces. The No Child Left Behind Act has forced schools to work hard to keep all students engaged and learning. It has forces school district to make additional efforts to keep schools above a par and make special effort to correct those who have fallen below that level through testing.
New posters in the district say T.E.A.C.H.: Targets for learning, Establish relationships, rules and routines, Acquire new knowledge and/or skills, Check for understanding and engagement, High expectations/no excuses.
The tour on October 25 lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and covered Franklin Pierce High School, Ford Middle School and Elmhurst Elementary. It was the school district’s chance to show what the new teaching processes are and how they are working in the classroom setting. The visitors were divided in to 6 groups led by a couple students from each school and visiting three classrooms for 8 to 10 minutes at each school. This is the first of what will be multiple articles about the tour, the district and the visitors.
