As you probably know, Park City High, long considered one of the best schools in the state, fell out of the “US News Best Schools” rankings a few years back. According to US News, the best high school in the state is Skyline (near the base of Parley’s Canyon). There are a total of 26 Utah high schools that were given rankings 2016, including Wasatch High in Heber (ranked 21st). Park City is unranked, so we guess if all you care about is rankings, we’d recommend moving to Heber (or better yet to Olympus Cove). However, we believe there is more to the story than that. As we’ve learned about how US News ranks schools, it has shown why we both care and couldn’t care less about these rankings.

How does US News determine their rankings? Its based on a 4 step process. If you don’t pass the first 3 steps, you are unranked. Here are the steps:

1. Identify high schools that performed better than expected on state accountability assessments, given their population of economically disadvantaged students; or were in the top 10% of the state’s distribution of performance.
2. Identify high schools whose disadvantaged students performed better than the state average for disadvantaged students.
3. Identify high schools that met a basic criterion for graduation rates (> 68% graduation rate).
4. Identify high schools that performed best in providing students with access to challenging college-level coursework.

Looking at the data, Park City passed step 1 with flying colors. We were 6.3 points better than expected based on the proficiency of our students in Math and English. Top Utah school, Skyline, was 4.6 points better than expected. So, our district rocked that one.

Park City also easily would have passed step 3 with a graduation rate of 91%. We would have done well on step 4 with a College Readiness Index (based on AP exams) of 58.7. Skyline was a little better at 60.3 but we would likely be in the top 5 of high schools in Utah.

Oops, what step did we leave out? Yep #2 — the assessment of how well a school district meets ALL kids’ needs. We didn’t fare so well there. Park City High School was 1.5% below the state average in proficiency of disadvantaged students (defined as black, hispanic, and low-income by US News). That’s not so good. That’s also why we were not ranked.

So, if you have a middle class or above income and have a white kid, congratulations, your child goes to the second best high school in the state!!! The problem becomes when that’s not the case.

The school district isn’t blind to this fact and that’s part the reason behind two recent initiatives. The first is dual immersion. Studies about quality dual immersion programs have shown that English language learners (ELL) who have been in dual immersion programs since first grade are generally proficient in English and math by fifth or sixth grade.

The second step was the introduction of all day Kindergarten (and pre-K). The thought being that all day Kindergarten (versus half day) would close the educational gap for ELL students and low-income students. Unfortunately the research on full-day versus half day is a mixed bag. Studies generally show that all day Kindergarten increases performance in the short-term. This is especially so in ELL and low-income groups. However, other studies show the difference gained for students in all day K versus half day wears off over time. Likewise, other studies don’t seem to see any math proficiency benefits for ELL or low-income children attending all day K.

There have also been other changes that the school district is undertaking to help ELL and low-income students improve their educational experience.

The take-away is that the Park City School District is trying. The other take away is that this could take a long time to impact high school rankings. This year’s rankings are based on 2013-2014 data. So, they are 2-3 years old. Likewise, Kindergartners won’t be in high school for 8 years and it could take dual immersion ELL students years to achieve proficiency (and impact high school rankings).

So look for that return to rankings sometime around 2028. ????

Like we said, we CARE and DON’T CARE about the rankings. We care because it shows an Achilles heal in the district. Disadvantaged kids are both underperforming other kids (which unfortunately is the norm almost everywhere) but also doing worse than the state average (at least as of 2014). It’s just not fair with the resources we have in our community.

We don’t care about the rankings, outside of that (major) flaw, because we have a district that seems to educate children well. We have good teachers. We have small class sizes (our student to teacher ratio is 19:1 while Skyline’s is 25:1 for instance). Whether we are ranked or not, it doesn’t change that.

We have a well performing district, with the exception of that big but… That said, it’s more important to us to make sure everyone gets a quality education (that prepares them for the future) than an arbitrary ranking that may help one of our students get into Stanford.

All that said, we do have a gripe. During the last few years we have heard school officials say that they want to have the best schools not only in Utah but in the country. We love the moxie, but in researching this story we learned what THE BEST really meant. The best high school (according to US News) is The School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas but it only has 248 kids. So, let’s take the 7th best school in the country — Pine View School in Sarasota. Pine View has 2148 kids (by the way it’s 2nd grade to 12th to add some fire to the grade realignment discussion). Minorities make up 26% of the population (Ours is 17%) and 11% of the kids are economically disadvantaged (Ours is 14%) . They have a graduation rate of 100% (Ours is 91%). 100% of students take AP exams and 99% pass (74% of our students take AP classes and 72% pass). 99% of students are proficient in Math (ours is 44%) and 99% are proficient in English (ours is 52%). 98.1% of disadvantaged kid are proficient in both Math and English (ours is 16.9% proficient).

Is Park City High and Pine View a perfect comparison. Of course not. That said, to truly be the best, it shows we have a long way to go.

To truly be among the best we need a lot of improvements — for all students. We hope the district is up to the task.

A reader forwarded this letter sent in the past few days from the Park City School District. If you haven’t read it, you may find it interesting. Thanks to the reader who sent this in…

Parents, Students and Community,

We (Board, administration and staff) are in full support of grade realignment — independent of when it is implemented. We will continue to keep you posted as the process moves forward; the PCHS Expansion, the 5-8 Curriculum Team’s findings of the ideal learning environment for middle-level learners, and discussions and decisions around realignment and bond timing.

It is evident we are a unified team in support of the middle level philosophy researched and recommended by our own team of Park City School District professionals, and it comes down to this: we need more space and appropriate facilities not only to manage our current, excellent programs, but also to accommodate anticipated future growth. Here’s what we will do to demonstrate that need:

• Middle Level Learning Philosophy Events
  • STAFF ONLY: Today at 3 p.m.
  • COMMUNITY: Thursday, February 16 at 6 p.m. at Ecker Hill Middle School Auditorium
• Tours (for community and media) of ALL buildings during school hours: this will shine a bright light on the urgent need for our students (and programs) to have more space.
  • Three of four elementary schools are at capacity and need additional rooms immediately
  • TMJH is a building we are band-aiding year after year
  • PCHS Expansion tours will show where options will go to ease overcrowding when our 9th graders are moved into the building
• Regular Board update emails and communications with links to relevant videos

A bit of great news – your voices are being heard! The Board listened to both benefits and concerns from staff and administration — and read dozens of emails from the community. We are working closely with Board members to demonstrate that all concerns, while valid, are not going to stop us from doing what’s best, academically, for our students. We will find answers and workable solutions. We continue to welcome your feedback and thoughts as we work to implement what we all know is best — realignment of our grades.

As we move toward that goal, funding is a big question mark. We must be sure our staff and our community are on board for the next bond attempt. As you know, we need all the support we can get as we ensure our students have access to the very best resources for learning, both in facilities and programs. We need your input: we need to make sure you know your questions are being heard, that we are providing solutions to your concerns and that you have complete understanding of this complex facility issue – we want you to be assured that we are taking the most thorough, thoughtful steps we possibly can.

The next big step: the Board has scheduled an additional work session to continue to outline details for realignment facility needs on Thursday, February 16 at 9:00 a.m., here at the District Office (2700 Kearns Blvd.). A change to the existing decision for grade realignment (scheduled for 2017-2018) is anticipated (but not certain). Here’s what that means: the Board could make a motion to rescind or amend the realignment decision with a 2017-2018 timeline. They could also make a motion to implement a Fall 2018 realignment implementation, although that may happen in a later meeting. 

The next regular Board meeting is MONDAY, February 27 (not Tuesday, Feb. 28). This will be the public’s opportunity to give feedback (the public comment period begins at around 5:30 p.m.). However – WE WANT YOUR INPUT BEFORE THEN! Please send me an email or call me at 435.614.0234.

It seems highly likely that additional Board work sessions will be scheduled in March to review final costs and adjustments for the PCHS expansion and grade realignment timeline. Please stay involved. We value your opinions and input!

Ember Conley, EdD

Superintendent, Park City School District ​​​​​​​

On Tuesday, the Park City School Board discussed grade realignment. They ultimately determined that they will not go forward with grade realignment next year — but it will eventually happen.

It was a fascinating discussion with board members, the Superintendent, and school principals. It is quiet long but very informative. The relevant discussion starts at 17:13.

On a recent article, one of our favorite commenters made the point that he felt the Park City School District school board is desperate because the next school bond will likely fail, just like the last one. One of the reason’s he stated was due to the number of uninformed voters.

The previous bond post-mortem also concluded that there were many uninformed voters and this impacted the outcome of the vote. There has been an effort this year to educate the voters, and that will likely intensify if the school board moves toward a bond vote.

The problem is that education will only go so far. If passing the bond is the goal, we’re not sure education is the key. What’s probably more important is how the voters feel about the organization offering the bond.

To help prove our point, let’s discuss the 2004, 2010 and 2014 open space bonds (2014’s was part of a recreation bond). There is over $30 million in those three bonds dedicated to open space and trails. Our question is: what has been purchased with that money and what areas are they focusing on with the remainder of the money?

Uh…Uh… Uh… Run-A-Muck??? Actually, we have no clue.

We had to go look it up.

We’d guess at least 75% of the community doesn’t know how the majority of the money is being (was) spent. However, those bonds always easily pass. We’d guess another open space and trails bond would pass with flying colors.

Why? First, people here love open space and trails. Second, they trust groups like Utah Open Lands, Summit Land Conservancy, and Basin Rec.

Perhaps the school district doesn’t have an education problem. Perhaps they have a likability problem coupled with trust issues.

The problem with correcting those is that it takes a constant and consistent effort to change your image. Do 6 months of good things and then screw up once, you’re back to square one. People are looking for reasons to criticize. People are going to demand near-perfection. Every slip-up is magnified.

Unfortunately, our gut tells us the Park City School District is pretty close to square one.

We’re not sure where they start or how they go about it, but being a little more popular may not be a bad thing.

We received a tip from a community member about PCSD School Calendars being discussed at Tuesday’s Board meeting (2/7/2017). If you haven’t seen them, you may want to take a look. School starts and ends a bit earlier, it appears.

If you have concerns, you can let your school board member know.

Click on the image for a bigger view:

Note: Thanks to the reader who sent this in

Last week we received an anonymous tip that the Park City School District was considering realigning grades this Fall — about a year or two earlier than expected. School Board President Phil Kaplan confirmed that all options were on the table. KPCW later reported that the district did meet with personnel to discuss the issue. So, it’s no longer a rumor.

We now know that the Park City Board of Education will discuss the fast-track option of realigning grades, tomorrow (Tuesday).

That’s all we know for sure… but what fun is the Park Rag without speculation. It also provides readers a chance to chime in on the craziness. So, let’s go.

Why would the school district realign grades (In just 7 months)?

Let’s begin with a quote from one of our favorite movies, Then Hunt for Red October starting Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery. Russian Captain Sean Connery (Ramias) has just stolen a Russia Sub and Alec Baldwin (Jack Ryan) thinks he wants to defect:

Admiral Painter: “What’s his plan?”

Jack Ryan: “His plan?”

Admiral Painter: “Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan. And senior captains don’t start something this dangerous without having thought the matter through.”

Whether you like what our school district does, or not, you have to admit that they are big. They teach thousands. They employee hundreds. They generally do a good job… But they don’t do anything without a plan (except maybe for that snow day 😉 ). It’s unlikely the school lunch program could be changed by next Fall — let alone realigning grades. Think of the logistics of it all. Buses. Textbooks. Toilets, Desks. Lunches. Teachers. Admin.

The notion of making this change in such a short period is crazy. The school board may still do it, but it doesn’t seem rational (given what is public knowledge).

So, why would the school district have held a meeting with school personnel to tell them about this possibility? Here are some possibilities:

Guess 1: A school board member liked the idea and wants to talk about it.

Perhaps a school board member or administrator just wants to make sure all bases are covered and wanted to talk about realigning grades next year. However, the administration as a whole was worried about just discussing the issue during a meeting. So, they decided to inform other school administrators early to “avoid a blowback.”

We could see this as a possibility; however, it seems like the negative perception leveled on both the school board and district for even contemplating a rushed decision would outweigh the benefits of warning personnel it was coming. We would think that a school board member just would have asked the question… “what if we did this next year?” to get the ball rolling. The district’s actions seem more formal in nature than just having a conversation, but we shall see.

Guess 2: District elementary school population is up sharply and it has forced realignment.

Perhaps estimated school population is up dramatically in elementary schools, and rather than add trailers to elementary schools (and their expense), the district has decided to over-populate high school by 22% more than its enrollment threshold.

We’ve heard this as partial justification for considering the rush-realignment. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yes, trailers may need to be added to elementary schools if population spikes… but hopefully we can rent them. We’ve heard numbers like $200K per trailer. You can build a house for $200K (especially when the land is free). Either way, a few trailers seem a better option than impacting all high school students, high school teachers, 5th-8th grade teachers, administrators, etc.

Guess 3: The old cock-thumb

Long time readers, know our affinity for HBO’s show VEEP and their cock-thumb strategy:

“A cock-thumb is when someone makes a radical suggestion in order to prompt the other person to make a more reasonable suggestion, which is actually what the first person wanted. In Veep’s case, the President’s office plans to propose ‘a radical cut to the military, cutting off the cock,’ hoping that ‘the Joint Chiefs in turn propose their own more reasonable cut, cutting off the thumb.'”

If this theory held, the school district would be proposing realigning the grades, so that they could do something crazy, but less crazy, in the future. What’s less crazy? There are just too many ideas to speculate on this one.

Guess 4: Trying to impact teacher negotiations

This is out there, and may be unlikely, but you never know. Teacher contract negotiations are coming up soon. Is this a shot across the bow? “Park City teachers, we’ll hold off on realigning the grades that would make teaching miserable, but you have to help us out too.” Strange things happen in politics.

Guess 5: Manipulation of the public/teachers into voting for a bond

This theory would say that the Park City School Board wants to ensure that School Bond V2.0 passes. To do that, they will make life so miserable for teachers and students, that everyone will vote for the upcoming bond to ease the pain.

This seems almost too far fetched to be true. Why would a school district punish students and teachers in order to get to what it wants? Also, the bond hasn’t been formally voted on by the board. Unfortunately for the district, manipulation seems to be the most commonly held idea by many members of the public. Whether the district goes ahead or doesn’t, in some ways the damage is done. The idea of cramming 9th grade into the high school has been floated and floated for some reason. Many members of the public feel it was malicious and that taints not only realignment but the high school expansion and any bond that may be voted on.

Guess 6: It is a tale. Full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing.

Why would the idea be floated? Because certain members of the school board are grumpy. They voted on realignment a long time ago and it hasn’t happened. This has been “hampered” by the public process, the bond failure, and a lack of clear direction. So, to combat this, they are going to find a way to get it done. One way to get it started is to force the issue…. or at least pretend like it.

Don’t forget, the school board were the ones that said they may raise a capital levy, if the bond fails. That turned out to be all bluster (so far).

This seems like the same M.O. and it would likely be met with the same disdain as the threats made during the bond.

So, which guess in the Park Rag going with? We think it’s the bluster (Guess 6). We believe that some school board members are tired of the process and are intent on pushing what they think is best, in the hopes that somehow it kick starts the realignment.

Regardless of whether we are right on that, we also think this has already backfired on them.

At best, trying to realign the grades that quickly seems foolish. At worst, it seems manipulative. On Tuesday there is a meeting where this will apparently be discussed. Hopefully the board members will be able to provide further clarification on their intentions.

After all, it may just be nothing. However, if it turns out to be nothing… nothing wasn’t executed very well.

Have other thoughts? Think we are crazy? Let us know in the comments.