The good, the bad, and the ugly

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Westfield High School Principal Stacy McGuire and her students attend the annual State of the Schools Address on Sept. 19. From left: Derek Shireman, Nathan Fauntleroy, Alleah Thompson, Amy Bennett and Brian Henn are all on the high school student board and are taking an AP Spanish course in addition to other AP courses. (Photo by Katy Frantz)
Westfield High School Principal Stacy McGuire and her students attend the annual State of the Schools Address on Sept. 19. From left: Derek Shireman, Nathan Fauntleroy, Alleah Thompson, Amy Bennett and Brian Henn are all on the high school student board and are taking an AP Spanish course in addition to other AP courses. (Photo by Katy Frantz)

Westfield Washington Schools Supt. Mark Keen summarized his annual State of the Schools Address as covering “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of the school system. The address to the Westfield Chamber of Commerce members, which took place at the Bridgewater Club on Sept. 19, can be summarized in three key points.

Beginning with the ugly, Keen shared about the “financial disparity” in the state’s general fund dollars per student. In 2014 it is estimated that Westfield will receive only about $5,000 to support each student. The rest of the money is supplied through other sources, like Westfield tax dollars.

“If we received the state average (amount of support) the referendum would go away and we would have $1 million extra to spend,” Keen said. “We are asking people to do more with less.”

Continuing on with the bad, Keen spoke of upcoming legislation that could affect the transportation of children to and from the schools.

“In 2012, the legislature passed House Enrollment Act 1072,” Keen wrote on his blog, http://blogs.wws.k12.in.us/keenm/. “If HEA 1072 is not changed, it will cause us to lose 91 percent of the funds in transportation and we cannot operate transportation with that loss.”

Right now the schools will have enough money to pay any debt, cover operating costs, such as transportation, as well as lower the tax rate. Yet if the funding formula and regulations are not changed in the next legislative session, many schools will not have enough money to provide transportation in 2014-2015 school year.

There is a lot of good happening in the district with students earning AP college credits. Westfield High School Principal Stacy McGuire shared about the leaps and bounds students are making in their education through AP courses.

“The importance of AP is that it introduces them to college-level work, but then they can benchmark themselves on a national standard,” she said.

The high school has a goal that 86 percent of the kids take an AP or an ACP course.

“The research is clear that if you take an AP course, you are 14 times more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree in four years without remediation,” McGuire said. “If you take a dual credit, you are seven times more likely.”

WHS has seen an increase in the number of students taking AP courses and those experiencing success. In 2010, 501 students took the test, with 208 succeeding. This past year 710 students tested, with 440 passing.

While financial pressure may be high, the students of Westfield have many opportunities to succeed and excel in their careers.


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