Soap Lake schools eligible for federal grant

SOAP LAKE - The Soap Lake School District is one of 50 around the state eligible to receive up to $2 million in federal funds for school improvement.

The U.S. Department of Education will provide $7.2 million to Washington education officials to distribute.

Soap Lake School District Superintendent Dan McDonald says the school is planning to apply for the school improvement grants but will first undergo an "academic audit" by the BERC Group later this month.

The BERC Group is an independent evaluation, research and consulting firm aimed at utilizing data to improve schools.

"Our biggest focus is on teaching and learning and within that there's a lot of things in that structure," McDonald says. "It's important that what we are giving our kids is going to make them top-notch for years to come and we need to be making sure the school is getting good feedback."

Schools can receive between $500,000 and $2 million for three years, depending on the availability of funds.

Soap Lake School District is on a list federally known as "persistently lowest-achieving schools," according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The schools are ranked using reading and math scores from the past two years as well as  graduation rates and Adequate Yearly Progress as outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act. 

Four districts, with schools on the persistently lowest-achieving list, were designated for Required Action today by the State Board of Education. The designation guarantees funding for those schools grants.

The districts include Morton, Onalaska, Renton and Soap Lake.

"Schools were identified using both academic performance of all students and improvement trends over the past three years," said Tonya Middling, Director of Project Management of District and School Improvement and Accountability at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

But schools will have to choose between four "intervention models" which may include closing the school or replacing the principal in order to receive the grants.

McDonald says Soap Lake schools will be focusing improvement in the areas explored during the academic audit.

"One of the critical things about getting our kids at state standards is that we have designed clear instructions," McDonald says. "We're really going to stress hard on classroom curriculum design. We are going to focus on supporting the whole child."

McDonald says that while the school district is in the process of applying for the grant, he sees school improvement in the future with or without the grant money.

"It's a big process, and it'll be a big change, but it holds a bright future for Soap Lake," McDonald says. "We see it as an opportunity, I know I've only been here less than a year but I think it's a great opportunity. There's a lot of different pieces that go along with this and then planning for the future. It's just important that were efficient and effective in what we're trying to accomplish."

Applications for the grants are due to OSPI by March 4.