Lovell School Board mulls graduation rates, test scores

A peek at standardized test scores, some policy changes, graduation rates and student achievement highlighted the February 10 meeting of the Lovell School Board.

District No. 2 superintendent Dr. Doug Hazen noted in a report at the meeting that Lovell High School’s graduation rate for students who went through the system and were in line to graduate in 2024 was 82.1 percent, just above the state average of 81.6 percent. He termed the rate as “a little bit of a concern,” noting that the goal is 100 percent and LHS has traditionally been in the 90s.

Hazen expressed some frustration with how the State of Wyoming calculates dropout rates, noting three examples. One student didn’t technically graduate “on time” but met the requirements the following semester and could “walk” with the next year’s class.

“That’s a victory for us,” Hazen said, but the student is recorded as a dropout.

Another student who left the school to become homeschooled also counted as a dropout, and a third student went into the Job Corps program and is meeting a high school equivalency standard but counted as a dropout.

“Just with those three students, our rate would go from 82 percent to 88 percent, close to the 90 percent range,” Hazen said.

He also noted that some ninth and 10^th graders drop out with their parents’ consent, which almost never used to happen. As schools put pressure on parents and students to go to school or meet other demands, they sometimes simply drop out, and Hazen said that trend has increased in recent years.

“One thing we try to do is gather data from parents, ask why and try to be supportive,” LHS principal Craig Lundberg said. “We received some feedback, going back two or three years, and 11 responded. Four of them said there’s ‘nothing you could have done.’ Three kids in recent years had enough credits to graduate but chose not to, so you sign them out. It’s frustrating.”

Asked if there are warning signs of an impending dropout, Lundberg said the main thing is attendance. If a student is not coming to school, that’s a major sign, he said.

WY-TOPP test

Hazen reviewed for the board the results of the winter Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress, which is the state accountability test to see how schools and students are meeting expectations in a variety of core areas. Wyoming has traditionally conducted both a fall test and a winter test as, essentially, practice tests for the spring test, which is the “summative test” or primary test the district will be evaluated on, Hazen said.

This year, however, the state did not hold the fall test but did administer the winter test in early January. Students in grades three through 10 are tested in math and language arts, and students in grades four, eight and 10 are tested in science.

“We always look at how our district is doing in comparison to the state, but we also ask how much emphasis do you put on a one-time test versus educating the whole child?” Hazen said during a follow-up interview. “At a base level for a district like ours, we have the philosophy that we’re an above average district, because we have a lot of things going for us in the community and as a district compared to others: parental support, solid homes, parents engaged in the process, support for the district.”

And so the baseline is to at least meet or exceed the state average for a given test, but in the few areas where the district scores below, they attract special attention, Hazen said, adding, “Generally speaking, we’re above the state average except for a couple of pockets.”

The test scores are compared to the spring of 2024 test, Hazen said, but the numbers can be deceiving because, in some cases, students haven’t yet received instruction on areas they were tested on. But they will be receiving that instruction in the months ahead.

“Quite a lot of instruction happens between now and the end of April,” he said.

A series of evaluations are used comparing the data to the previous scores, what Hazen referred to a “trend data,” and he said when teachers see the results, they can dig deeper classroom by classroom, student by student or skill by skill.

“It’s important for the board and myself to see a realistic view of where we are in the winter,” Hazen said.

Policies

The board passed three policies on first reading:

• Policy DID updates the district’s inventory recording policy to match actual practice. The current policy states that the business office staff will maintain a fixed asset inventory of items valued in excess of $10,000 when, in reality, the office has maintained an inventory of items valued in excess of $500. The policy is being amended to state $500.

• Policy GDD amends the policy on classified staff vacations and holidays to clean up ambiguous language by removing a paragraph that reads: “Twelve-month employees may also be granted holiday leave for those days school is not in session during the regular school year subject to approval from the immediate supervisor and the superintendent.”

• Policy EHA comes from the recent PowerSchool data breach and updates the district data security guidelines to fit a memorandum from the Wyoming Department of Education dated January 22, 2025.

Personnel

The board recessed into a closed executive session for about 40 minutes, then reconvened and voted to accept the resignation of Madison Hecker as a paraprofessional at Lovell Elementary School, John Mickelson as the LHS head speech and debate coach and Brian May as the seventh-grade football coach at Lovell Middle School.

The board also voted to rescind the offer of hiring Keli Morgan as a school bus route driver and hire Stephanie Montanez as a route driver.

Student recognition

The recognitions portion of the meeting once again caused the meeting room to be filled with students being honored for their achievements. Students of the Month presented to the board were eighth grader Brynnlee Spanier, Lovell Middle School, presented by principal William Hiser; junior Owen Hill, Lovell High School, presented by principal Craig Lundberg; and Emily Jensen, Lovell High School CTE honoree, presented by Lundberg on behalf of teacher Jode Kraft.

Lovell Middle School music director Keath Fenton presented  seventh grader Gage Bair, who earned Best of Showalter and Best of Room honors for his drum solo at the recent Showalter Music Festival at Northwest College.

Dance coach Kari Angell presented Wyoming All-State dancers Livee James, Anastyn Leithead and Ella Spanier and members of the Class 3A state champion hip hop dance team, noting how hard the team worked including, at times, 12-hour weeks and practice every day except Sunday.

“Everything we threw at them, they were for,” Angell said. “They’re the hardest working group since I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”

Lundberg presented the Class 3A state champion game day cheerleading team on behalf of coach Nicole Hendershot. Hendershot, in a statement read by Lundberg, said the team’s presentation in the fight song portion of the routine put the Lovell squad over the top, and the team overcame the pressure of trying for a three-peat, especially after moving up from Class 2A. Senior Whitney Hendershot and junior Ella Spanier have been members of all three recent state championship teams, Lundberg said.

In other action at the February 10 meeting:

• In his monthly report, student council representative Matthew Allen discussed the success of the Dawg House, sports teams and the state spirit competition, FCCLA Week and a student swap with Burlington High School.

• In his monthly report, Hazen introduced new district maintenance director Dr. Todd Wilder, who said one boiler in the high school was having problems in the extremely cold weather but added, “We’re staying on top of it.”

• Hazen reported that the district is in the process of purchasing a new activity bus but noted that the process could take a year or two.

• In the February financial report, business manager Lane Partridge-Black said the district has received around $43,000 from a mental health grant that must be spent by the end of the fiscal year, and she said a recent audit of the district free and reduced lunch program came back recently with favorable results.