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ROOSEVELT, Utah (AP) -- A Utah middle school has flunked federal education standards for a fifth consecutive year, but a takeover seems unlikely, officials said.
"There are other options that would be more appropriate and produce better outcomes," said Karl Wilson of the Utah Department of Education.
West Middle School, 145 miles east of Salt Lake City, improved its scores in math and language arts but missed the attendance target of 93 percent by 3 percent, Principal Deborah Clarke said.
Federal law requires the state to take drastic action when a school repeatedly fails Adequate Yearly Progress standards, known as AYP. But Utah law prevents a takeover, state education spokesman Mark Peterson said.
West Middle is on the edge of the Ute-Ouray Indian Reservation. To improve instruction, the school doubled the length of math and language-arts classes to 90 minutes.
"We have such a small population that just three or four students who are having an attendance problem affected the whole school," Clarke said.
To motivate students to attend classes, she is offering free time to play basketball and other perks. Clarke is considering literacy and math coaches. West Middle must pass AYP for two consecutive years for sanctions to be lifted.
If schools fail AYP for two consecutive years, they are required to pay to transport students to another school. Five Utah schools are in that category, and six others must provide outside tutoring because they failed for three consecutive years.
Brent Shaw, principal of Copperview Elementary in Midvale, will inform parents that they have the option of paid busing to a new school. He offered it two years ago but there were no takers.
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Information from The Salt Lake Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
