Submitted by Lakewood United.
Superintendent Banner has led the Clover Park School District since 2019 and has a 26 year background in education with 18 of those years in administration.
Please join Lakewood United to learn how Covid-19’s challenges have been met and what our district has been doing to meet the educational needs of our children.
The in-person meeting: Time 7:30 AM at Burs Restaurant, which is located at 6151 Steilacoom Boulevard SW in Lakewood.
A mask and being Covid Vaccinated are required to attend in person at this time.
We are offering both in person and a zoom program. If you wish to attend via Zoom email LakewoodUnited@gmail.com to request to be on the zoom guess list.
Please note our next two general meeting is: October’s 21st, 2021, Feature the top two candidates for the School board. And the November we have the LPD with speaker Mike Zaro
The dues for our fiscal year, which started on July 1, 2021 has been post pone to January 1, 2022. Dues of $25 per year.
Lakewood United operates with a volunteer board and our guest speakers are volunteers. Dues cover for operational expenses.
You can pay your dues by mail to: Lakewood United, P.O. Box 99785, Lakewood, WA 98496 or directly to our Treasurer, Sue Boguszewski, if she is present at the weekly Thursday morning events.
Burs Restaurant does not charge us a room fee. Hence, please ensure that you at least order a beverage if you attend the meeting and remember to leave a gratuity.
If you wish to make suggestions for future topics or speakers, please contact any of our board members: Kris Kauffman, John Huber, Sue Boguszewski, Pamela Maddess, Laurel Lemke, or Herb Stumpf.
Those who are only receiving this notice as a handout at the weekly meetings and would like to get it by email, please contact Lakewood United at: lakewoodunited@gmail.com. Alternatively, or if you are a visitor, you can note your name and email address on the Sign Up sheet at the Thursday morning events.
The state of Clover Park School District in 2021? In one word: failing!
Don’t blame COVID for “challenges” in academic performance. Every school district has had the same challenges so that’s a common factor not unique to Clover Park School District.
So let’s take a look at the District’s academic performance through 2019 before the COVID pandemic. The following information is available at the OSPI Report Card website below:
50.6% of students are grade level for English Language Arts (ELA)
38.4% of students are grade level for Math
39.8% of students are grade level for Science
85.4% of students attend class regularly
88% of students graduate after 4 years
These State supplied statistics are shocking at best: what would you give as a grade to a test or term paper that warranted a 50.6% or 38.4% or 39.8%? Probably a well deserved “F”! Despite these grades and that only 85.4% of students regularly attend school, the District manages to “graduate” 88% of them after 4 years! This is astounding! Who is it exactly that the District is graduating. Answer: students ill prepared for adult life after high school.
https://washingtonstatereportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/100047
If this wasn’t bad enough then take a look at the District’s performance overall as shown by the “schooldigger” webpage below:
The District stands at 160th out of 247th districts or 35.2 percentile in academic performance: very nearly the bottom third of all districts within the State. 64.8% of the districts are doing better than Clover Park School District.
The District has dropped from a “high” (if it can be called that) of 46.3% down to a low of 35.2%, a drop of 11.1% in just 4 years. This is not progress!
In terms of standing, the District between 2018 and 2019 dropped 23 places from 137th to 160th. That is not progress.
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/WA/district/01410/search.aspx
Academic performance, or lack thereof, however doesn’t seem to bother either the Clover Park School Board or Superintendent as evidenced by the apparent lack of any real discussion or corrective actions proposed by the Superintendent or Board and passed by a formal vote. My research of 123 Board meeting minutes is detailed in the Suburban Times 12 September 2021 article “Letter: Clover Park School Board: Leading from behind with predictable results”.
https://thesubtimes.com/2021/09/12/letter-clover-park-school-board-leading-from-behind-with-predictable-results/
What the Superintendent and Board have chosen to do instead is launch out on an ill defined “equity journey”, essentially “critical race theory lite” to nowhere academically but rather to create graduating classes of indoctrinated “social warriors” who will remain just as ill prepared for adult life after high school. Is that really the purpose of our schools and tax dollars that fund them?
That is the sad state of Clover Park School District in 2021 which will continue unless change comes to the Board and Superintendent. You have that chance to change that on 2 November 2021. Vote for David Anderson and Jeff Brown if you think things need to change. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting change is the definition of insanity. Out students, parents and community deserve better. The choice is up to you.