A new grading system unveiled by Gov. Paul LePage doesn't change what school officials already know, but some hope it will spur further discussion and increased parental involvement.

In collaboration with Maine's governor, the Department of Education released a report card for each school in Maine on May 1. The Maine School Performance Grading System seeks to illustrate school performance by letter grade (A through F.)

According to the data, the majority of schools in Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 (which includes the towns of Alna, Somerville, Palermo, Chelsea, Windsor, Whitefield, Wiscasset and Westport Island) received a C grade.

The Rocky Channels School RSU got a B average (Edgecomb Eddy scored an A) and Dresden Elementary School (RSU 1) also scored an A on its report card.

Here is what RSU 12 schools received for a letter grade from the Department of Education:

• Chelsea Elementary: C

• Palermo Consolidated School: C

• Whitefield Elementary School: F

• Windsor Elementary: C

• Wiscasset High School: C

• Wiscasset Middle School: C

• Wiscasset Primary School: B

“These report cards show the majority of Maine's schools are average, but I believe Maine's students deserve an above-average education,” LePage said in a press release.

“All it does is ascribe a letter grade to the standardized testing data that we already know,” RSU 12 Board of Directors chairman Hilary Holm said, adding she did not think the letter grade helps the school district all that much.

A lot can change in that data, too, as students shift in and out of grades and the district. “We could tell Whitefield was not doing as well. The governor just put a big 'F' on it,” Holm said.

There is hope, however, that parents will get more involved when they see the grades at the schools in which their children attend, Holm said. She expressed some concern school report cards would influence parents to withdraw their children from lower achieving to higher achieving schools, a side effect she said schools suffered as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act.

“Parents do need to be informed,” Holm said, acknowledging some usefulness to the grading system. “Hopefully that will motivate them to come to the schools and say, 'I want to be a part of the school. I want to help make this school better.' If that's what the score cards do, that's cool with me.”

Wiscasset Middle School is better than the C it received, Principal Linda Bleile said.

“We certainly want to be held accountable, however, when you take a look at the whole picture … we're doing incredible things at this school,” Bleile said in her office May 2, one day after the state released the grades.  “A 'C' does not reflect all of the wonderful educational and other things we provide for our students here.”

WMS students learn from those other experiences, including trips to the Chewonki Foundation, working on the school's recent variety show that benefited nonprofits, and exercising every morning, which benefits their health, she said. “How does a state test measure those lifelong skills?”

“Now we're getting ready to go out and do clamming,” Bleile said.

The governor and education commissioner should be looking at more forms of measurement than those that went into the grades, she said.

In a May 1 letter to parents, Bleile wrote, “We know that one grade does not tell the whole story. We hope that the grade will add to our community discussion about how to constantly improve our school … (E)veryone at Wiscasset Middle School is committed and dedicated to helping all students reach their potential and will continue to do so.”

Wiscasset High School administrators also described the high school's C as limited in what it reflects. But they were pleased the school fared as well as it did despite graduation rates being factored in.

WHS's dropout numbers have external factors the school can do little about, Assistant Principal Susan Poppish said.

“We're pretty happy with the grade,” Poppish said. “Of course we know we have work to do, but it certainly makes us feel that we're doing a lot of things right here,” she said.

“It supports the measures the school has been taking in the areas needing attention,” WHS Principal Deb Taylor said.

Dresden Elementary School Principal Mary Helen Williams said she was very proud of that school's A grade.  “Our teachers are very proud of our students here and the community is proud,” she said. “We do our level best and work hard with these kids to get them as far as they can go, and we were very happy to know that all that hard work paid off.”

It doesn't change the budget

Holm said she thinks the board has a good handle on the obstacles that get in the way of schools achieving higher scores. She said the reports clearly indicate the more impoverished a town is, the poorer grade they received. “What can we do in Whitefield to help counteract that? It may have to wait,” Holm said.

Holm referred to a news article linking poverty with low test scores and the recommendation for school districts to provide after-school programs and additional services.

“With this budget, we are not going to be able to provide an after-school program or a before-school program,” she said. Holm suggested a school could help students by opening its library during the summer months.

Board members wanted to employ social workers at each of the schools in RSU 12, she said, but due to budget constraints they cut this service back. They decided teachers could be trained to address some the issues that crop up.

Holm referred to a pilot program called, “Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support” in which teachers learn how to handle a variety of issues under the guidance of already trained staff.

“I hope (the report card system) motivates parents to go to the schools and say, 'what can I do to help?'” she said, pausing. “We need more help, we need more parents involved.”

Acting Superintendent Patricia Watts recognizes the state's report cards as a starting point. “We've got some work to do,” she said, noting the disparity of grades (B, C and F). “But in fairness to the principal of the school that got an 'F', he has been there a short time (two years) and has made some great changes.” Watts said it takes between three and five years for programs and changes to really take hold. “I know he has a vision to see this through.”

School administration has formed a committee to work on subjects related to a state-mandated program called the Common Core, Kindergarten through grade 12 state standards in mathematics, history, social studies, science and technical subjects.

Watts said they are training staff to use an online program called “Atlas Rubicon,” a curriculum mapping program that connects staff members in their work toward meeting these standards.

Watts said the school board is trying to schedule early release days during the school year to make training hours available to teachers. Also, a Teacher Incentive Fund helps in this same direction, by providing necessary funds for professional development.

The grade the RSU received from the state, “is a snapshot,” Watts said. “And I don't think we can afford to ignore it.”

Board members have heard a lot of feedback on the budget and proposed cuts. Watts said school district administrators and board members are walking a fine line as they try to keep staff positions and certain programs while staying within acceptable budget limits, and not at the expense of the children. “I don't have an easy answer,” Watts said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.

John Maguire can be reached at  844-4634 or jmaguire@wiscassetnewspaper.com.