Friday, May 16, 2014 • Port Orchard Independent
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SKSD set to bolster Advanced Placement offerings Reid wants grads to be ‘career and college ready’ By CHRIS CHANCELLOR Senior Reporter
South Kitsap School District must do a better job of preparing its students for an evolving workforce. That was the message superintendent Michelle Reid shared at last week’s Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Reid, who earned her bachelor’s degree in natural science/chemistry in 1980 from the University of Puget Sound, said she tends “to think a little more sequentially.” When she reviewed some SKSDrelated statistics after she assumed her new position July 1 — Reid spent the previous 28 years in various teaching and administrative roles in the Port Angeles School District — she noticed some negative trends. For several years, SKSD’s attendance has declined. In October, district officials released a report that stated 692 students who lived
in SKSD boundaries choose to attend other school elsewhere. More local students migrated to the Peninsula School District (22) than any other. Based on conversations with parents that elected to send their children to neighboring school districts, Reid said many expressed concern about SKSD’s ability to prepare their students for post-secondary education. That leads to data. According to Reid, 60 percent of high-school graduates “successfully enter post-secondary education,” which she said means being “career and college ready,” in Washington. She said SKSD’s average is 46 percent. For the Class of 2020, Reid wants to increase her district’s average to 80 percent. That means making strategic changes within the district. According to research she has read, Reid said eighth-grade students who take Algebra are “twice as likely” to attend college as those who do not. Reid wants to increase the numbers of eighth-graders taking Algebra during the coming years. In addition to that, Reid said SKSD will increase the number of Advanced Placement cours-
es offered at the high school. In September, South Kitsap High School will add 13 Advanced Placement courses, while the district’s junior highs will offer Advanced Placement Human Geography and Environmental Science for freshmen. Using the Bellevue School District as an example, Reid said 91 percent of its graduates took an average of 6.1 Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. Within SKSD, only 31 percent took at least one Advanced Placement class as a senior. “Bellevue said we want all kids to be in Advanced Placement classes,” Reid said. She said she has been met with some resistance when making comparisons between SKSD and Bellevue. Reid believes that stems from the perception that people have of that area, which she said is not supported when analyzing demographics. During her presentation, Reid noted that some schools in Bellevue have a much greater percentage of students who receive free- and reduced-price lunch than SKSD. Reid said others have argued that SKSD graduates do not need to
prepare for college because they can find a job at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. But she found that the average age of employees there is 28, which she said does not support the notion that there are an abundance of entry-level positions. She also described Olympic College’s four-year apprenticeship program, which traditionally has supplied PSNS with workers, as potentially more “rigorous” than college. Reid, who told the Independent in March that she plans to have free, all-day kindergarten programs at every elementary school in the district by September 2016, said it is important for SKSD to evolve as the workforce continues to change. She cited a study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce that shows 68 percent of jobs will require a post-secondary degree by 2020. Given that data, Reid said it is imperative for the district to increase standards to better prepare its students for the future. “With the right support, I think that can happen for all of our kids,” she said. “It doesn’t do any good to have high expectations without high support.”
Stalking charge filed against local man By DANNIE OLIVEAUX Editor
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A Port Orchard man who violated a protection order will now face a felony charge. Austin Eli-Orion Sampson, 20, was was charged with one count of stalking on May 7 in Kitsap County District Court. According to charging papers, a female reported on April 22 that she had received texts and phone calls from Sampson after she filed for a protection order on March 10. She told Port Orchard police that Sampson was waiting for her at her home on April 21 and 22, but he left after she advised him she would call the police. Sampson also had a protection order between he and his mother, stated court documents. Sampson was arrested May 7 for stalking and second-degree burglary,
and booked into the Kitsap County Jail. Bail was set at $85,000 for both charges. The following charges were filed May 7-13 in Kitsap County District Court. • May 12: Justin Daniel Sizemore, 31, Port Orchard, fourth-degree assault; Kory Allen Vincente Tremlett, 21, Port Orchard, violation of a court order (felony) and third-degree assault; Gregory James Sprague, 44, Port Orchard, violation of a court order (felony); Richar Lee Abbott, 36, Port Orchard, first-degree in trafficking in stolen property. • May 8: Jeffery Scott Farris, 37, third-degree malicious mischief (gross misdemeanor); David Charles Moores, 47, transient, possession of methamphetamine. • May 7: James Edward Lampson, 42, Port Orchard, third-degree driving while license suspended or revoked. • May 6: Josue Armondo Ramierez, Jr., 28, Port Orchard, driving under the influence.
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