Wright City R-II school officials used Tuesday’s community meeting as an opportunity to inform parents of potential grant money it could receive, following the news the middle school was named to a national list of low-performing schools. The district learned May 6 that the middle school was named to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary (DESE) Persistently Lowest-Achieving List due to being in the bottom 20 percent of school achievement across the nation. Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines said he wanted to be honest with parents and tell them the reasons for being on the list, firsthand. “We’re trying to get out in front of it and prepare as much as possible,” he said to a crowd of approximately 80 parents in the middle school cafeteria. Gaines admitted he knew the middle school had been underachieving, but being named to the list came as a surprise. “We’ve seen some declining trends in the 2000s,” he said. “We’re improving, but the thing is that everybody else is improving faster.” The $8.9 million available in School Improvement Grant (SIG) money to the nation’s 88 schools on the list would be spread out over a three-year period. However, a grant application deadline is still unknown. Although the district may not receive any of the grant funds, Gaines said he feels they have to apply. “How can I sit up here and tell you we’re doing everything possible to better our students if we’re not going to apply for this grant?” he said. Receiving funds from the grant would involve writing a school plan around one of four models: turnaround, restart, closure and transformation. The turnaround model would see the middle school principal replaced, existing staff screened and have no more than 50 percent rehired. This model also calls for a new governance structure and school improvement through curriculum reform and professional development. The restart model would not be possible for the district as it involves closing the school and reopening it as a charter school. Only St. Louis and Kansas City school districts are allowed to operate as charter schools. Gaines said school closure is not an option as it involves closing the school and sending students to higher-achieving schools in the area. The transformation model would replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extended learning time and the use of student data to implement instructional programs. Although three of the four models involve removing the principal, DESE informed district officials that because Principal Dr. Jeff Haug has only been employed for one year, he would be an exception as he would not be held accountable for previous student data. Gaines focused on the turnaround and transformation models as the most likely options, but said there was still much to learn that DESE has not yet made public. “We’re still trying to figure out if tenured teachers are protected or if they lose their jobs, are they going to be out of the district completely or just placed in another school,” he said. Tenured teachers have presumably been working longer than other teachers. Gaines said if a school has been persistently low-achieving, the federal government views the longest working teachers as “being accustomed to failure.” School Board President Austin Jones said knowledge of what would be done with tenured teachers, whom officials estimated make up half of the middle school faculty, would play a role in his decision. “Once I know that, that’ll make a big difference in how I’m viewing this,” he said. Gaines said dealing with tenured teachers is a difficult road to travel. “When you give teachers tenure, you’re essentially giving them two things,” he said. “A million dollars over the rest of their career and basically a job for life. “It’s not that you can’t get rid of tenured teachers, but there are a lot of emotional and bad feelings and it’s an expensive and laborious process. The school board could vote to eliminate them, but the teachers could appeal to the circuit court and we need attorneys for this.” Gaines assured those in attendance that the teachers who have a contract with the district for next year would be returning unless they pursued other options. “Why would I want to waste a year for my child with these teachers coming back?” said a woman in attendance. Gaines said the district has historically had trouble attracting and retaining teachers because of its proximity to the St. Louis metro area. “We’re on the fringe of the St. Louis metro area,” he said. “Nearly everybody east of here can get $3,000 to $10,000 more at a starting position. They’ve become attracted to higher salaries. When teachers get to 10 or 15 years of experience, the salary discrepancies are (much higher) compared to here. “Because of the economy, St. Louis is laying off teachers and the quality has increased in the last two years,” he added. Gaines outlined three plans the middle school had been working on implementing and said grant money would “allow us to do what we’re already doing, but on steroids.” “We’re bringing data to action, increasing student rigor and increasing student engagement,” he said. Gaines said there have been community arts staff development, math program alignment throughout the district and benchmark assessments made available through Aimesweb and Discovery. Looking at the benchmark assessments, school officials learned the only group not showing improvement throughout the entire district was fifth grade. Assistant Superintendent David Buck said the previous 12 years of student data reflect a drop-off in middle school student engagement, while elementary school and high school performances have stayed in either the top-half or top-third of highest achieving schools nationwide. “They’re checking out in the middle school,” said Buck. “We’re bringing in outside trainers to help the staff engage the students.” Last year marked the first time the persistently low-achieving list had been put together. Over 73 percent of schools last year chose the transformation model. Park Hills School District, located in Kansas City, has been a model Gaines said they are looking to follow. “They’ve gone from the middle of the pack to the top of the pack,” he said. “They are modeled around the state. They described their school as being a building nobody wanted to be in and now when you hear top schools, their name is mentioned over and over again. “We’re not following what we think will work, we’re going with what has worked in other places,” he added. Parents in the crowd had mixed reactions, ranging from anger to disappointed, following Gaines’ presentation and discussion among themselves at their respective tables. “It’s the head of the ship that needs to be blamed for this underachieving,” said one man in attendance. “I’m not surprised, but I’m disappointed,” said another woman. Michelle Heiliger, who has a daughter who will be an incoming freshman and a daughter who will be going into fifth grade, made a suggestion. “There are about 360 kids in the school,” she said. “If we could get one parent from each child to shadow the class, that would give parents a better view of what is going on. “What kids tell their parents may be completely different from what actually goes on in the class,” she told The Record. “Teachers would see parents in the classroom as a challenge and focus more. It’s like having your boss show up to watch you.” Another community meeting could be scheduled in the near future should new information arise.