Schools

NK Schools Make The Grade, NKHS Falls Short

NKHS is the only NK school to not meet state requirements.

The Rhode Island Department of Education has released its yearly report cards on schools across the state and, overall, North Kingstown schools are doing well with nearly every school making the grade. , however, fell short of RIDE’s adequate yearly progress (AYP) after scores for special education math failed to meet requirements.

The “caution” classification from RIDE for NKHS is disconcerting for Assistant Superintendent Phil Auger, but he says the term is slightly misleading. Unlike other high schools in the state that only had to hit nine targets (like Barrington and East Greenwich high schools, which received commendation classifications from RIDE), North Kingstown had nearly double with 17 required targets. For a school to be graded on a target, there must be at least 45 students enrolled in that group, such as special education math.

“At this high school, we have a big student population,” Auger said of NKHS, which hosts a student population of just over 1,600. “If you look at every other high school in our region, none of them have a populate large enough to meet the special education target.”

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Despite the missed target in special education math, Auger said that progress in the district’s special education program has been good.

“The ironic thing is the school district has made gains in special education, but not enough to get over the bar,” said Auger. Last year, the high school met AYP requirements and was recently named one of America’s top 100 high schools by U.S. News and World Report.

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Last week’s move by the North Kingstown Town Council to may also pose a problem to the district. North Kingstown, which has the lowest per pupil costs in South County with $13,983, while South Kingstown hosts a $17,279 cost per pupil and Narragansett holds $18,163.

“We have a district that has a relatively high scores for a relatively low cost and we’re being asked o cut more. It’s frustrating,” Auger said.

Auger adds that Superintendent Phil Thornton and members of the North Kingstown School Committee are working to make sure the $713,000 in cuts will not impact the district’s education programs. The school committee’s next meeting is tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the North Kingstown High School auditorium.


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