Submitted by John Arbeeny.
Lakes High School
Lakewood CARES is providing an academic-based response to schools covered in past Clover Park School District (CPSD) community relations 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”. The CPSD article covering Lakes High School was featured in a Suburban Times article on 1 May 2024:
The CPSD Lakes article made much about the 2024 U.S. News and World Report claim that Lakes was among the region’s best public high schools. The article claimed that Lakes was the 16th ranked high school in Pierce County and ranked 113th in Washington State. The rankings were determined by six key indicators: college readiness (30%), college curriculum breadth (10%), state assessment proficiency (20%), state assessment performance (20%), underserved student performance (10%) and graduation rate (10%).
It turns out that there are 24 public high schools in Pierce County, so 16th out of 24 is nothing to brag about. Now, a year later we find that Lakes is 18th out of 24 (25 percentile) Pierce County high schools academically. Nor is the claim that Lakes is ranked 113th in Washington State valid when its academic rank is actually 306th out of 437 State high schools (30 percentile).
Here are the actual 2024 academic rankings (% = percentile) from Schooldigger.com for high schools in Pierce County.
Curtis HS 88.1%
Sumner HS 79.9%
Gig Harbor 79.6%
Stadium HS 79.4%
Puyallup HS 76.4%
Harrison HS 74.6% (CPSD)
Peninsula HS 74.4%
Steilacoom HS 74.1%
Emerald Ridge HS 69.8%
White River HS 67.7%
Fife HS 63.8%
Rodgers HS 53.5%
Tacoma Arts HS 49.9% (AVERAGE ACADEMIC RANKING)
Bethel HS 44.2%
Franklin Pierce HS 41.9%
Orting HS 36.8%
Silas HS 36.4%
Spanaway Lk HS 30.4%
Lakes HS 30.0% (CPSD)
Washington HS 20.6%
Mt Tahoma HS 9.8%
Henry Foss HS 6.4%
Lincoln HS 6.2%
CPHS 3.4% (CPSD)
Lakes is in or near the bottom quartile of academic rankings in both our county and state. Clover Park High School (CPHS) is ranked academically at the very bottom of the 24 Pierce County high schools. That’s the reality missing in the U.S. News and World Report and CPSD puff pieces. If there is a case to be made for a top high school in CPSD, County, State and Nation it is Harrison Prep. Yet ironically, Harrison Prep is unranked in the U.S. News and World Report article, while both Lakes and CPHS are ranked.
Lakes’ academic ranking has been in decline since 2016, through COVID and into the present. This Schooldigger.com graph displays Lakes’ academic rankings since 2016 to present:
Lakes High School Academic Ranking 2016-2024
https://www.schooldigger.com/go/WA/schools/0141000261/school.aspx
Lakes was an above-average high school in 2016 with an academic ranking of 58.8 percentile. That academic ranking fell to 30 percentile, a 49% drop, in just about 8 years. In 2024 Lakes was ranked academically 306th out of 437 high schools statewide. Note that Lakes’ academic ranking was not significantly impacted by COVID, but is in a general declining trend.
Lakes Academic Assessment 2024 Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)
https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/102235
Since 2016 Lakes’ decline in academic ranking is mirrored in the decline of Lakes “students meeting state requirements”, now re- labeled “Students on Track for College-level Learning Without Needing Remedial Classes”. In 2016 students meeting state standards stood at ELA 75% and math 38% with Black students at ELA 69% and math 22%. In 2024 Lakes students meeting state standards stood at ELA 51.2% (-23.8%) and math 15.4% (-22.6%) with Black students at ELA 43.8 (-25.2%) and math 9.4% (-12.6%).
Thus, overall, ELA and math percentages declined significantly since 2016 for all Lakes students, with Black student performance even more so. This seems to contradict any positive U.S. News and World Report ranking for Lakes’ performance regarding college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment proficiency, state assessment performance and underserved student performance. This is especially the case with math for all student groups and particularly Black students.
With such academic ranking and scores it becomes arguable if Lakes students are prepared for college despite the 95.5% graduation rate or whether Lakes is just meeting OSPI graduation mandates. In comparison, Harrison High School’s graduation rate is only 93.9% despite being ranked academically at 74.6 percentile versus Lakes’ academic ranking of 30 percentile.
Lakes Attendance, Expenditure, Teacher/Student Ratio, Expenditure
A common problem found throughout CPSD is low attendance. You can’t learn if you don’t attend. Lakes’ attendance rate of 59.6% is well below the CPSD average of69.9%. Yet pre-COVID attendance was typically 99%+ according to OSPI! I have to wonder whether attendance standards changed post-COVID, or whether the data was false to begin with.
In 2017 the student/teacher ratio was 19.9/1. The student/teacher ratio in 2024 was 17.8/1, which is still among the highest in CPSD. This represents an 11% drop in the student/teacher ratio, which seems to indicate that smaller class size does not guarantee better academic performance given the 49% drop in academic ranking and similar drops in students meeting state standards.
Annual expenditure per student in 2019/20 was $15,312, while in 2024 it had risen to $20,247. That is a $4,935 increase in just 5 years, or an annualized increase of 5.75% at the same time academics were declining. This seems to indicate that more funding does not guarantee better academic performance.
Lakes is struggling academically despite a new building, increased funding, student/teacher ratios and high graduation rate. More people, more money and more “stuff” (buildings, technology, etc.) don’t guarantee academic performance. That’s because these “solutions” did not address the real systemic problems that plague CPSD, including Lakes. The question is, “What are the Clover Park School District, School Board and Superintendent going to do about it?” Perhaps even more important is, “What are the parents and tax payers going to do about it?”
If you have a student who attends Lakes, or any other CPSD school, and want a change in 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 and our community! 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 form at:
https://www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=236158&pageId=61380455
Thanks John, this is a pretty sad commentary on the state of secondary education in Lakewood. I suspect it’s the result of reduced expectations in these schools.
Going back to the 70s CPSD was one of the best school districts in the country. Before COVID they started to decline.
Lakewood – CPSD taxpayers are paying Superintendent Banner over $350,000.00 a year. WHY?
If he were a NBA basketball player he would be fired for not making baskets. The school board members and Superintendent Banner are complicit in defrauding the CPSD taxpayers at the kids expense. They should be in jail.
I don’t understand why they are not removed from office.
You rightly point out that part of the problem is attendance. I’d even argue it’s likely the largest part of the problem. But it seems difficult for the school to “enforce” attendance. Certainly, if the classroom setting is not conducive to learning (for a variety of reasons – discipline, teaching to the lowest level, etc.), kids won’t want to attend. But it seems parents have the bigger role in assuring their kid attends class. Back in the day, kids were simply expelled if they missed too many days, and expulsion was a sure-fire way to get in hot water at home. Not sure that would be effective these days….
Thank you for revealing the falacy of another misleading “puff piece” article which was submitted by the Clover Park School District in the Suburban Times on May 1, 2024. The average reader is not likely to conduct the research that you provide. Your revelations perform a valuable public service: accurate information in correct context, which is necessary for informed evaluation of our community’s public schools’ academic performance. Improvement cannot occur without accurate facts.