Seattle forfeited state money by demoting 800 failing students

Seattle Public Schools kept more than 800 students from taking the Washington Assessment of Student Learning last spring by demoting failing sophomores. The reclassification likely improved the district's scores and gave struggling students an extra year to prepare for the important state test.

But it also forced the district to forfeit as much as $800,000 in state money for tutoring and extra classes to help students improve their scores and pass the WASL, which is a graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2008.

Preliminary results show that, statewide, sophomores did better in 2006 than in 2005. In Seattle, 3,803 sophomores failed in 2005, according to the preliminary numbers. In 2006, about 1,700 did. Year-to-year improvements statewide and in other large districts were not nearly as drastic.

Seattle district officials believe reclassifying the students was a good decision, despite the loss of money. Seattle high schools used to promote students to the next grade regardless of how many classes they had passed. But last fall, the district changed its policy to require students to earn at least five credits before they could be considered sophomores.

Sophomore WASL scores still would have improved if students in Seattle had not been reclassified, according to a district analysis. But the improvement over last year would have been less dramatic in all three subjects.

Most high-school principals supported the policy change, although some parents and students were alarmed. Nearly half the sophomores at Rainier Beach High School and about one-third at Cleveland, Chief Sealth and Franklin became freshmen because of the change.

"It was a wake-up call," said Rainier Beach High School Principal Robert Gary Jr. "It woke the parents up."

District officials said it wasn't fair to expect students to pass the WASL when they hadn't passed the classes that would prepare them for the test.

"The main driver was the credit issue, and of course, it did cost us some money, certainly, but we think it was the right thing to do," said John Thorp, who is in charge of the district's WASL remediation programs.

The state Legislature is giving school districts money this year specifically to help the students who failed the 2006 WASL.

In Seattle, for instance, the state allotted about $400 per student who failed. The state's original estimates relied on 2005 WASL scores and predicted that the Seattle district would get about $1.5 million for summer school and the 2006-07 school year.

Seattle Public Schools, knowing that reclassifying the sophomores as freshmen would make a difference in scores, budgeted $1 million. The actual amount is still being adjusted but has fallen to less than $700,000.

Seattle district officials are combining that $700,000 or so from the state with money from three other sources: $1.3 million from the district's general fund; $1.3 million in other state money aimed at struggling students; and $750,000 from Initiative 728, earmarked for reducing class sizes. In all, the money will pay for extra teachers, tutoring, summer school and some online courses.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com