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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grants for remedial help run dry


Ray Schatz, a math teacher at Shadle Park High School, explains an algebra problem to Clayton Malmoe, 15, during a recent after-school math lab. 
 (Kathryn Stevens / The Spokesman-Review)

Every day before or after school, Shadle Park High School freshmen struggling with math have a place to go for help.

Last semester, about 154 students benefited from the school’s tutoring labs paid for through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

But as those funds dry up in Spokane Public Schools, it’s possible that next year the students will have to get assistance elsewhere.

The remediation classes are part of a $16.4 million grant awarded from the foundation five years ago through a project called SHAPeS, or Spokane High Achieving and Performing Schools.

“The money has to be spent by the end of this school year,” said Nancy Stowell, Spokane’s associate superintendent for teaching and learning, “and many of our schools have already spent everything.”

Every Spokane elementary, middle and high school was awarded a piece of the pie for professional development and training for teachers, and more personalized learning opportunities for students, such as reading and math remediation before and after school.

“It’s been a good resource for kids that are struggling,” said Linda Hutchinson, a math teacher and math coach at Shadle. “The tutor center gives kids more time, more ways to access teachers and help so they can reach the standards.”

As sophomores next year, freshman students, like those accessing Shadle’s tutoring center, will be required to pass the reading, writing and math portions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, also known as the WASL, to graduate. By 2010, they’ll have to pass science too.

“If you take a look at any of the district assessment data, you very clearly see that it’s had an amazing impact on student performance,” Shadle Principal Herb Rotchford said.

WASL math scores for 10th-graders at Shadle improved by 8 percent between 2002 and 2005.

“But we can’t stop there, we have to continue the initiative; we have to continue the improvement that we are being asked to do, because the bar continues to go up,” Rotchford said.

Grant funding can be a very challenging, but necessary, source of funding for schools. As programs are implemented and start to take root, the funding goes away and schools struggle to finish what they started.

As Spokane heads into budget planning this month, district officials said they will struggle with ways to keep programs like Shadle’s alive and to keep more professional training opportunities coming for teachers.

The district continues to experience declining enrollment, which equates to lost state dollars and a smaller budget.

“Many of the schools’ common focus have been around improvement of literacy and math instruction and more professional training for teachers,” Stowell said. “We’re always looking at what other resources are out there. We have been doing some really good work with that money, and it’s a challenge to keep it going.”

Spokane gets about $33 million in grants from the federal government each year, plus some state grant money, like funds from voter-approved Initiative 728 to reduce class sizes.

Private grants, like that from Gates, account for about $5 million each year.

“It’s not critical to our overall mission, but it is critical to student learning and staff development,” said Neil Sullivan, executive director of finance.

“I’ve looked at other districts getting Gates money, and Gates has told them ‘we’re done,’ he said. Then I hear about another four-year award for the very same district, so there’s no reason that would prevent us from a potential future Gates grant. We’re hopeful.”