Rogers School Officials Report Slowing Growth

Teacher arrested in August on drug charges resigns position

Last updated Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:44 PM CDT in News

By Lana F. Flowers
THE MORNING NEWS

Planning may have to start next fall for a new elementary school to be constructed, said David Cauldwell, district business manager. However, that will depend on growth patterns.

Tucker Elementary School in Lowell has room for more students, after changing this fall to kindergarten through fifth grades. The school previously housed kindergarten through sixth grades.

"That has helped us tremendously," Superintendent Janie Darr said of more available elementary spaces at Tucker.

Elementary schools, with kindergarten through fifth grades, added the most students, 129, this year, Abernathy said. Secondary grades added 69 students, but high schools typically grow at slower rates because older students can drop out, she said.

Cauldwell said the district has room in various elementary schools for about 500 more students. However, some schools may need additions in the next few years or the district could build a new school, Cauldwell said.

In other business, the school board approved the resignation of Matthew Reese, 26, of Springdale. Reese taught at Oakdale and Greer Lingle middle schools. He had been on leave and not teaching since his August arrest on drug charges.

Reese was accused of trying to buy methadone, hydrocodone and oxycodone in the parking lot of the Walmart Supercenter at 4208 Pleasant Crossing Blvd.

Reese was scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 22 in Benton County Circuit Court. However, the status of his case could not be determined as of 8:40 p.m. Tuesday.

SUPERINTENDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT TO THE PUBLIC 2008

By any standard measure, the Rogers School District is a good school district. We are in full compliance with the Standards for Accreditation for Arkansas Public Schools and also those of the North Central Accreditation Association for our high schools. We are truly committed to our mission to provide an environment of educational excellence where all belong, all learn and all succeed. We have a lot to be proud of in Rogers. We are...

• A school district with 97 AP Scholars

• A school district where 30 teachers have now earned national certification - 12 of whom earned it last year

• A school district with a new National Educator Award winner to add to the three other Milken Fellows we have had in the past

• A school district with an award-winning curriculum for gifted and talented students

• A school district with the state championship team in boys golf

• A school district with the boys state triple-crown winners for indoor track, cross country and outdoor track and coach of the year as well as the girls' indoor track and cross country state champions

• A school district with the state Walmart Teacher of the Year

• A school district with a Master Principal

• A school district with the state Geometry competition winner

• A school district that is a National Best Practices site for Waterford software

• A school district whose innovative physical education program was featured in Time magazine

• A school district with the state high school newspaper editors of the year

• A school district with 6 All-State orchestra members, 8 All-State band members and 2 All-State choir members

• A school district with two National Merit finalists

• A school district with the Arkansas Council of Mathematics Teacher of the Year

• A school district with 10 seventh-graders who have been recognized for their exceptional scores on the ACT by the Duke Talent Identification Program

• A school district with two Polly M. Jackson Master Economics Teachers

• A school district with graduates who received over $3.3 million in scholarships

• A school district with one of Newsweek's top 1,400 high schools in the United States - three years in a row

We also have hard evidence of our students' learning. I am pleased to report that in our first year of taking the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT10) we scored very well. Typically, you would expect to see a dip in performance in the first year of a test as we did in a few grades, but we know that next year we will build these scores even higher. Still, in most grades to score above the national average, which is the 50th percentile, is something of which we can be very proud. The SAT10 percentile scores for 2007-08 were: 1st Grade - Reading 46, Math 54; 2nd Grade -- Reading 57, Math 65; 3rd Grade - Reading 50, Math 66; 4th Grade - Reading 68, Math 72; 5th Grade - Reading 61, Math 72; 6th Grade - Reading 44, Math 62; 7th Grade - Reading 61, Math 63; 8th Grade -- Reading 58, Math 66; and 9th Grade - Reading 60, Math 70. In April 2008, students in grades 3-8 took the Benchmark examination. The percentage of our students who scored proficient or advanced by grade level was: 3rd Grade - Math 83, Literacy 67; 4th Grade - Math 79, Literacy 72; 5th Grade - Math 80, Literacy 70; 6th Grade - Math 73, Literacy 65; 7th Grade - Math 69, Literacy 68; and 8th Grade - Math 61, Literacy 74. On the end of course exams, 76 percent of our students scored proficient or advanced in Algebra I, 77 percent in geometry, and 57 percent in 11th grade literacy. Although most of our test scores are above the state and national average on the SAT10 and the state average on the Benchmark exams, our goal is to have all students score proficient or advanced. While there were significant gains in the performance of students at Kirksey, the percentage of students in Limited English (LEP) literacy did not make the adequate yearly progress, so Kirksey remains in year three of school improvement. Elmwood made AYP in special education literacy and with another year of making similar growth will be removed from the state's school improvement list. We are offering students at both of these schools tutorial services. We have room for improvement and will continue to focus on increasing student achievement in the general population as well as the sub-populations.

Our college placement scores are above the state and national averages. In 2007-08, 434 of our seniors took the ACT (college entrance) examination. Rogers' average score was 21.9, compared to 20.6 at the state level, and 21.1 nationally. The average score of RHS students who reported that they had completed the recommended core of courses for college admission was 22.7, over one full point higher.

A great point of pride in our school system is our Advanced Placement Program. We had 540 students who took 911 AP tests in 2007-08 -- an impressive number of students taking AP courses and in the number of tests taken. Students who score 3, 4, or 5 are given college credit at most schools across the nation. We are pleased to announce that during the 2007-08 school year, 489 exams were returned with a score of 3 or better with the potential of receiving college credit. This reflects an increase from 49% in 2007 to 54% in 2008.

Rogers is a growing district with a 2-3% growth each year. The increasing enrollment has necessitated additional teachers and building needs for our 13,600 + students. In 2007-08, we hired approximately 81 certified part-time or full-time teachers. In 2007-08, we

• completed the remodel of a portion of the Tillery gymnasium for district-wide copy center and testing center

• completed the installation of a new gymnasium floor at Eastside

• completed classroom addition and gymnasium addition at Lingle Middle School

• completed a football practice field at Lingle Middle School

• completed the installation of a fire alarm system at Frank Tillery Elementary

• added staff parking spaces at Reagan Elementary

• completed an improved car rider drop-off drive at Frank Tillery Elementary

• completed approximately $200,000 in district-wide roofing projects

• reconfigured a new car rider and bus drop-off system at Rogers High School

• completed a new entry/door design at Northside Elementary

• completed construction of an athletic complex at Rogers High School

• completed rebuilding/construction of Rogers Heritage High School, our second high school

In accordance with Arkansas Code Annotated S6-13-629, all members of the Rogers Board of Education have met their state training requirements for the preceding year. We are also fortunate to have board members who spend endless hours attending regular and special meetings, policy and study sessions, strategic planning meetings and serving as committee liaisons.

We would like to inform our public about changes in our transfer policies. The Rogers School District will accept non-resident students who request to transfer into the district as required by Arkansas Statute 6-18-206, known as the Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 1989, and the applicable rules and guidelines for School Choice issued by the Arkansas Department of Education, unless the addition of such students creates the need for additional staff, services, or facilities. School Choice transfer application forms must be on file in the Superintendent's office or postmarked by July 1. The Board may also approve legal transfers of students who have been released from their resident district if the transfer does not cause the district to add personnel or facilities. Petitions for legal transfers must be submitted by July 1 to be considered for the fall semester and December 1 for the second semester. The general policy is that the Rogers Board of Education will not approve requests for legal transfers out of the district but may make exceptions to this general policy in extraordinary circumstances upon the recommendation of the Superintendent.

Our 2007-08 budget was $102,073,052, the majority of which (76 percent) was spent on salaries and benefits for certified and classified personnel. Of the remaining 24 percent, 9 percent was used for debt payment, 10 percent for supplies, 1 percent for equipment and 4 percent for utilities and services. Approximately 5 percent of our funding came from federal restricted funding. Of those federal funds, we received $1,835,036 in Title I funds which were used for salaries to teach reading and math and for professional development. We received $440,900 in Title II, Part A funds, which were used for professional development. We received $444,853 in Title III funds which were used for ESOL salaries and professional development. We received $47,582 in Title IV, Part A funds, which were used for safe and drug free programs. In Title V funds, we received $26,345 which were used for salaries to teach reading in non-Title I schools. The district also received $48,300, and the individual schools collectively received $36,620, from the Coca-Cola competitive beverage contract, which was used for materials, supplies, and professional development, as well as to assist student activity clubs and to enhance activity facilities.

Rogers Public Schools is at a pivotal point in its development. As noted earlier, RPS is a good school district; however, we are not content to rest on our positive attributes but aspire to become a great school district. To help us in our move from "good to great," the district and the community worked together to develop, and are in the third year of implementing, a strategic plan which guides us in our efforts to increase student achievement and close achievement gaps. Our overarching goal is: All students meet high academic expectations and graduate from high school prepared for college and/or successful careers. To meet this goal, we continued to work on the five domains of the strategic plan: leadership, communication, data, professional development, and curriculum. We focus on these domain areas weekly and update board members and the public monthly. The strategic plan is the way we do business.

If our school district and community continue to work together, we can prepare our students to become intelligent, thoughtful, responsible citizens of our community and the world. It's our responsibility to fulfill that vision of greatness - for our community and for our students.

Janie Darr, Ed.D.

Superintendent

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