So imagine the Clearfield man's surprise when he learned last month that Antelope was among 14 Utah schools facing sanctions for failure to make adequate yearly progress toward federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education reform goals.
"I was stunned," he said. "My son really likes his teacher here and has been doing well."
Luckily, Antelope - and three other schools - are no longer on the list.
The Utah State Office of Education on Monday released a fourth version of its list of sanctioned schools, acknowledging it also erred in including Doxey Elementary in Sunset, Lewis Elementary in Ogden and Santaquin Elementary on earlier lists.
The numerous revisions frustrate Antelope Principal Jody Schaap and administrators at other schools affected by the changes.
Schaap sent parents a letter saying Antelope's inclusion on the earlier lists was a mistake. Antelope, along with the three other schools, demonstrated strong enough student test scores and met other requirements to avoid sanctions under NCLB. "The state office said they'd send me a letter of apology, but that letter wouldn't reach the media and the students' parents," Schaap said.
The state said Monday in a statement it "regrets" the errors.
Antelope and Doxey were erroneously included because their appeals of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results from the previous year under NCLB "didn't make it into the right hands," said Myron Cottam, state associate superintendent over student achievement and school success.
Lewis and Santaquin were incorrectly included because the state did not remove the two schools from the sanctioned list after they made AYP in subject areas in question for two consecutive years, qualifying them to have sanctions lifted.
Earlier revisions to the list occurred because state officials misread or misplaced data.
"This is a work in progress, and we're working toward refining the system," Cottam said. "We sent out the new list to express our apologies. We're continuing to work to improve the system, and I think we're making progress."
A total of 10 schools did not meet AYP standards and face sanctions. Only schools that receive federal Title I funding, which is given to schools that serve a large number of disadvantaged students, can face sanctions.
The U.S. Department of Education requires all schools that receive Title I funds to notify parents if schools do not pass AYP. If schools fail two consecutive years in the same subject, they must use Title I funds to transfer any student who chooses to a higher-performing school.
However, the state did not release its first, incorrect, list to the public until Sept. 29, a month into the school year, making it difficult for parents to know whether they should remove their students.
Judy Park, state director of testing and assessment, said schools were notified Aug. 15 of their failing status, but many appealed the decision throughout September.
"The Title I office has kept in close contact with all of the schools and has been keeping them informed," she said.
Elaine Quesinberry, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education, says every state has individual deadlines for releasing AYP data. The department is collecting release dates from each state to make sure they each made their deadlines. If a state does miss its deadline and cannot provide acceptable mitigating circumstances, the department could withhold a piece of the administration money from Title I funds, she said.
smcfarland@sltrib.com
