Marysville middle school will pick a new principal

MARYSVILLE — Principal Judy Albertson will be replaced at Totem Middle School this fall, but she’ll still be a part of efforts to increase learning on the campus.

The Marysville School Board voted Monday evening to adopt a federal model for changing the school that landed on a list of Washington schools most needing improvement based on student test scores.

By a 4-0 vote, the board reluctantly agreed to bring in a new principal — one of several requirements to qualify for federal grant money aimed at turning around the nation’s lowest-performing schools. Albertson will be hired into a position that will work with Totem and Tulalip Elementary School, which also ended up on the list, district officials said.

“It is our intention that Judy Albertson isn’t going anywhere,” said Gail Miller, the district’s assistant superintendent.

This spring, the U.S. Department of Education will award states a total of $3.5 billion in school improvement grants to turn around their lowest-performing schools. That includes $50 million over three years to as many as 50 schools in Washington state.

Each state comes up with a list of schools that qualify based on test scores. Although Marysville officials dispute the ranking, Totem is on a yet-to-be-released state list of schools scoring in the bottom 5 percent in WASL math and reading exams when averaged over the past three years.

School districts are given four models from the federal government that they can choose from. The Marysville School Board on Monday picked what is called a “transformation model.”

Besides replacing the principal, the district must take steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness, change instructional methods and add learning time. Marysville plans to increase the school day by at least 30 minutes. Other expectations call for creating more community-oriented schools and adding more flexibility to how the school operates.

Miller, the district’s assistant superintendent, said Totem already is taking many of those steps, but more can be done.

Extra federal money, for instance, can help set up a school-level data base for more useful and timely reports to guide instruction. It also could help buy new science books to improve math and reading skills, Miller said.

The board rejected other federal options that included closing the school and replacing the principal and at least half the teaching staff.

The school board could have ignored the federal call for change at Totem but it would have lost a chance at the federal money and most likely would have to adopt one of the improvement strategies sooner or later. The Legislature is considering a bill that includes a provision requiring schools in the bottom 5 percent adopt one of the federal options.

Albertson had several supporters in the audience Monday night, as well as on the school board. Three board members have had children of their own at Totem or its predecessor, Marysville Junior High, under Albertson.

“I know you do care,” said board member Cindy Erickson, whose son attended the school “Judy has made a difference in individuals’ lives” as well as the whole school.

“Judy has made a huge, huge difference on our staff,” said Cindy Vetter, a math and science teacher at Totem.

Albertson said afterward she is thankful for the chance to continue working for the district and with staff and students at Totem and Tulalip Elementary School.

“I just don’t want to get too far away from kids and teachers,” she said. “They are the ones who have to do the hard work.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.

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