Submitted by John Arbeeny.
Lakewood CARES is providing an academic-based response to schools highlighted in the Clover Park School District (CPSD) “#SuperSchoolShoutOut“articles in The Suburban Times. This is data you will not find elsewhere in CPSD community relations pieces, School Board meeting agendas or monthly “Inside Schools”. This week’s CPSD “beaming with pride” article covers Meriwether Elementary which was featured in a Suburban Times article on 16 February 2025:
The CPSD article is devoid of any actual academic-related information. Can you tell by reading it how things are academically at Meriwether? How about any of the other CPSD schools in previous
CPSD “community relations” puff pieces? This is what is so unfair about these CPSD puff pieces. CPSD treats academically successful and failing schools exactly alike when it comes to community relations rather than praising success and examining failure. That’s what “equity” is all about: no winners; no losers; everyone is the same.
“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
I commend teacher Jazmine Ross and fifth grader Liam Bennett for their effort and interests. However, they are but specific anecdotal examples of Meriwether’s success which should have been addressed in a far broader context as well.
This Schooldigger.com graph displays Meriwether’s academic rankings since 2017 to present:
Meriwether Elementary School Academic Ranking
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/WA/schools/0141003473/school.aspx
Meriwether is one of six elementary schools on Joint Base Lewis McCord (JBLM) which together academically out-perform the other 10 CPSD elementary schools off-base. Meriwether has been academically ranked well above average statewide since 2017 with an average 61.3 percentile. In 2024 Meriwether was academically ranked at 71.1 percentile. Compare this academic ranking with that of off-post CPSD elementary schools at 17.3 percentile in 2024. This is the most relevant academic disparity within CPSD, between schools, rather than between racial or ethnic groups. Yet this disparity has not been addressed effectively by the CPSD School Board or Superintendent. Indeed that disparity has been growing over the last 10 years. A past CARES article addressed the academic disparity between JBLM and off-post schools:
What is especially revealing is Meriwether’s academic performance between 2019 and 2022 in the midst of COVID and thereafter. Meriwether went from an academic ranking of 49.1 percentile in 2019 up to 73.1 percentile in 2022. This academic ranking gain and continued superior performance flies in the face of contentions by CPSD School Board and Superintendent that COVID was responsible for falling academic achievement which hasn’t otherwise recovered nearly 4 years thereafter. If Meriwether can do it why not the rest of CPSD? Has the CPSD School Board or Superintendent investigated this phenomenon or is COVID just an easier convenient excuse for academic failure elsewhere?
The Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI) data shown below on the next two slides come from its “Report Card” website and go into further detail about Meriwether’s academics and related factors:
Meriwether Elementary School academic performance, student population
https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/105792
“Students on Track for College-level Learning Without Needing Remedial Classes” is an OSPI confusing nonsense term, especially at elementary and middle school level, which replaced the previous easily understood and relevant “Students Meeting State Standards”.
In 2018/19 the percentage of Meriwether students meeting State standards in
English Language Arts (ELA) was (63.4%), math (49.7%) and science (43.4%) for an average of 52.2%. In 2024 the average percentage of Meriwether students meeting State standards was 59.8%: ELA (59.3%), math (53.4%) and science (66.7%). That gives you some idea of Meriwther’s academic performance improvement over the last five years through the midst of COVID and beyond as reflected in its academic ranking increase over that same period.
Meriwether Elementary School attendance, teachers, spending
Meriwether’s regular attendance is 87.1%, which is far better than the CPSD average attendance of 65.7%. Meriwether’s teacher/student ratio is about one teacher to 12.7 students (1:12.7) which is below the CPSD average ratio of 1:15. In 2019/20 the Meriwether expenditure per student was $14,841. By 2022/23 (latest figures) it had ballooned to $20,900 in just four years. That’s an annual increase of about 7.1% but consistent with CPSD per student expenditure increases over that time period. Meriwether teachers surprisingly have among the lowest average years of teaching experience (7.9 years) in CPSD. JBLM elementary school teachers have an average of 8.25 years experience while off-base elementary school teachers have an average of 12.6 years experience. Despite having teachers with less experience, Meriwether and other JBLM elementary schools out- perform off-base schools where teachers have 50% more years of teaching experience
.
These Meriwether statistics should raise some questions with parents, tax payers, CPSD School Board and Superintendent. Clearly attendance is one of the most important keys to high academic performance: you can’t learn if you don’t attend class. What has CPSD done to increase attendance across the entire District? Class size, teacher/student ratios are alleged to be an important variable but we found that it is not a predictor of academic success. The same can be said for spending: more spending is not a predictor of academic success. Teacher education and experience is another questionable variable. Some of the lowest performing schools have the most experienced teachers and vice versa.
Some will opine that JBLM elementary schools have some kind of “unfair advantage” in that they have two-parent families, income, sense of community, isolation, better sense of ethics, parental involvement, etc. These claims of “advantage” are nothing more than suppositions without actual research into these factors. Has the CPSD School Board or Superintendent investigated these “advantages” and developed programs in conjunction with City of Lakewood to implement these “advantages” in off-base schools?
The Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI) data shown below on their “Report Card” website goes into further detail about Meriwether’s Student Growth Percentile (SGP):
Meriwether Elementary School “Student Growth Percentile” (SGP)
Meriwether’s 2018/19 Student Growth Percentile (SGP) in ELA was 35.5 percentile and in math 44.0 percentile. In 2023/24, just six years later, it increased to ELA at 56 percentile and math at 56.5 percentile. The State median SGP score is 50 percentile. Thus the 2018/19 SGP signified that Meriwether was significantly below the median while the 2023/24 SGP indicated that Meriwether’s academic growth was above average. Unfortunately, the OSPI SGP data for Meriwether is not as detailed by race/ethnicity as that of other CPSD schools.
If you have a student who attends Meriwether, or any other CPSD school, and want to improve academic performance, then you’re going to have to get involved! You deserve more in return for your hard-earned tax dollars. It’s the future of your children! Find out how your school is performing academically and what it is going to take to improve that performance.
School Board members are your elected representatives, not just rubber stamps for hired CPSD employees. Contact them and hold them accountable. Wondering who your CPSD Board representative is? Try contacting the Board’s President, Alyssa Anderson Pearson, via email at: apearson@cloverpark.k12.wa.us
I’m sure she’ll welcome the opportunity to answer all your questions.
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