Measuring change
Thursday, January 26, 2006 12:30 PM PST
JESSICA KELLER ARGUS OBSERVER
ADRIAN
The smaller, rural school districts in Malheur County do not appear to have the same concerns about the impending graduation requirement changes than their larger counterparts, although they face the same difficulties in hiring qualified teachers.
The Oregon Department of Education has imposed new graduation requirements affecting next year's freshmen, graduating in the 2009 to 2010 school year.
The 2009 to 2010 graduates will be required to have 24 credits to graduate, rather than 22 - four of those in language arts and three in math.
The changes in requirements have the potential to affect smaller school districts negatively, if the districts have to scramble to hire more teachers to teach the additional core classes. The four rural area school districts - Adrian, Harper, Huntington and Jordan Valley - however, will not be affected, as all four already require at least 24 credits to graduate, including four language arts and three math.
Gene Mills, principal of Adrian High School, said he does not think the idea of additional credits is a bad idea.
“I can see where the state's coming from,” Mills said. He added, however, the school district already requires high school seniors 26 credits to graduate, including the required math and language arts, so they are not affected.
Mills credits the Adrian School Board with prioritizing the students' educational needs.
“The School Board here has done a really good job, I think, in determining what the kids' needs are,” Mills said.
He said the Adrian School District and many other small school districts place a lot of emphasis on the basic core classes because they are not able to offer extensive electives, which would require hiring more teachers. The instructors the districts do employ typically teach most, or all, of the required classes in their specialty area at all grade levels. Adrian High School, for example, has one English teacher, and Mills said she is utilized for both the basic and elective language arts classes.
“It's kind of a management issue,” Mills said.
Jordan Valley Superintendent Mike Sessions said his school was also ahead of the curve. He said while he has not spoken to officials from other school districts, he imagines the new requirements could put pressure on the number of teachers they have if they need to pick up an extra required class. It could also pose a problem if the classes are already full.
Jordan Valley High School has only 45 students, Sessions said, and he said he guesses most smaller school districts with the same numbers put their resources where their students need them most.
“I just always thought (students) took four years of English,” he said. “We don't have that many electives anyway because we don't have that many kids in school.”
Even if smaller school districts could offer more elective classes, they would not have the number of students to fill the classes and have the teacher work a full day, Harper School District Superintendent Dennis Savage said. Like the other small school districts, Harper does not have that many to offer students.
“So they have to go into core curriculum classes,” he said. He said in larger school districts a greater variety and number of electives are offered to students, and balancing the number of credits needed and the number of teachers among all the different subject areas would be more difficult.
“I would think it causes more problems for bigger schools than it does for little schools just because of the demand for other than a core curriculum educational program,” he said.
Other school districts are concerned over the graduation requirements Huntington Superintendent Gerald Hopkins said. Changes in graduation requirements and stricter qualification regulations imposed on teachers by No Child Left Behind make it a problem for smaller school districts if they need to hire more staff, he said.
“I think that is a concern because it's hard to bring in staff to small schools who are certified in their courses,” he said. In addition to arguments that it is harder to attract teachers to small, rural, isolated areas, smaller districts that are isolated but not able to consolidate often do not have the budget to hire extra teachers, Hopkins said. Budget problems are more problematic for school districts than academic demands, including the Huntington School District, he said.
“In terms of requirements we look great,” Hopkins said. “In terms of funding, we're not looking so great.”
