Barstow High ranks among state's lowest-achieving schools, report says

BARSTOW • Barstow High School ranks among the 188 lowest performing schools in the state, according to a new report released Monday by the California Department of Education.

The report listed five percent of schools in the state and named Barstow High, along with three Victor Valley area schools, as being “persistently lowest-achieving.”

Schools on the list must implement reforms by the 2010-11 school year or  risk being shut down. School districts may implement one of four intervention models, ranging from replacing the principal and half of the school’s staff, replacing the principal and increasing instruction time, reopening as a charter school or closing the school and enrolling students in a nearby higher-achieving school district.

“This is an opportunity to make dramatic changes at chronically under-performing schools,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell in a statement. Barstow High principal Scott Godfrey and district officials could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Schools were identified as low-performers based on factors including graduation rates and a three-year average proficiency rate for English and math.

The Monday report was a preliminary list and will be finalized Thursday, according to Tina Jung, spokeswoman for the state department of education. The state compiled this list for the first time in accordance with requirements for federal stimulus funding for schools under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Jung said.

The full list of low-performing schools is available on the California Department of Education’s Web site at www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/pl/tier2.asp.

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