News

Hamilton-Wenham High School placed on warning: Teacher, class cuts threaten school's accreditation

By Amanda McGregor
Staff writer
Published: May 2, 2008

HAMILTON — Mere days before Town Meeting members vote on a tax increase to fund the schools, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges placed Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School on warning status for a laundry list of concerns.

The regional accrediting agency sent a three-page letter to Principal Robert Krol on Tuesday, citing the elimination of core courses, increasing class sizes and 100 percent student user fees for athletics among their reasons for the status change. The letter also mentioned an "inadequate level of funding to support the school's staffing levels, course offerings, co-curricular activities and technology," among the issues.

"This is a very objective assessment ... judged on the same criteria as other schools in New England," said Nancy Peterson, one of the leaders of the Support Our Schools parent group. "That's what's alarming. It's no longer a subjective opinion — it's saying, 'Your high school has a funding issue.'"

The school budget has drawn support and ire in recent weeks. Of the district's proposed $27 million budget for the coming school year, about $1.29 million is contingent upon an override approval from Hamilton, and another $601,000 depends on the same action in Wenham. Hamilton's Town Meeting is Monday; Wenham's is tomorrow.

Superintendent Marinel McGrath broke the news to School Committee members in an e-mail on Wednesday, saying "it came as a surprise." She didn't expect a determination from NEASC until after the budget cycle, when it will be clear what level of funding the towns will provide their schools.

"However, after talking to them," McGrath wrote to the committee, "we learned that when they met on March 30 to March 31 and read our Feb. 1 report, the Commission did not see evidence of adequate progress in the last year, so felt they should not wait."

The agency had issued an evaluation a year ago citing similar concerns. At the time, the superintendent and School Committee members were worried but said they didn't expect to be placed on warning status.

Lots of company

At any given time, approximately one in 10 schools are on warning status, mainly in Massachusetts, out of a membership of approximately 655 schools reviewed by the NEASC's Commission on Public Secondary Schools, according to its Web site, www.neasc.org.

Danvers High School is also on warning, and Beverly High School is on probation.

This week's letter said the Commission on Public Secondary Schools voted on the high school's status at its March 30-31 meeting.

The Hamilton-Wenham district must submit a two-year progress report to NEASC by Oct. 1 in which it is asked to address 22 specific concerns. The agency's concerns, which centered on the curriculum and "community resources for learning," include the following:

r elimination of 17 sections of regular education course offerings

r cutting three full-time-equivalent teaching positions

r increased class sizes, especially in science and science labs

r limited funding to support the technology plan

r institution of a 100 percent user fee for all athletics, ranging from $325 to $1,524 per sport, which "may, in fact, be limiting students' equitable access to a component of the school's curricular offerings."

McGrath said last year that since 2002, the district has eliminated 80 full-time teaching positions. Other cuts have included phasing out the French program for incoming students, so the high school will only offer Spanish in a few years.

The agency's letter said it's clear the school has inadequate funding from the failure to upgrade the auditorium and its electrical system and to replace lockers, and the reliance on private fundraising to pay for operating expenses.

The community raised $255,000 in June to restore teaching positions in an effort spearheaded by Support Our Schools, which is advocating for the override. More recently, opponents of the override banded together under the name Enough is Enough.

'Silver lining?'

"I find it unbelievable there are people who would cut our budget when we're under this kind of warning," said parent Tom Rogers, a member of Support Our Schools. "Maybe it's a silver lining that will wake people up. We're in a really serious situation here."

School supporters say a laundry list of programs and services will have to be stripped from a budget that is already too lean, while opponents say they simply can't continue to pay an ever-rising bill to operate the schools. Peterson said she feels for both camps and noted that many Massachusetts communities are in similar predicaments relying on property taxes to fund the schools.

"I really feel for people saying, 'This is an economic hardship,'" Peterson said. "It's an unreasonable place that we all find ourselves in. But we cannot afford any longer to back off from the schools. We just can't."

The regional district consists of five school buildings and an administrative headquarters in Wenham. According to figures from the state Department of Education, approximately 2,090 students attended prekindergarten to grade 12 classes in 2006-2007, and the district had the equivalent of slightly more than 192 full-time teachers.

The district spent $12,100 per pupil in that fiscal year, compared to the state average of $11,865.

If the overrides prove successful at Town Meeting, both towns would also need to pass the article at the ballot box.

In addition to criticism, the NEASC letter praised the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School for its portfolio project for students, professional development, a new phone/communication system and using local donations to purchase computers and software, among other programs and initiatives.

Krol and Superintendent Marinel McGrath could not be reached for comment yesterday. Neither could Janet Allison, deputy director of the NEASC's Commission on Public Secondary Schools.

"This objective assessment is really coming from the fact we've been cutting programs, curriculum (and) teachers," Peterson said, "so we're lacking the depth and breadth of the offerings we should have to be a good school."