By DAVID ROSS
Add most Valley Center schools to the list of County schools that failed to meet new federal No Child Left Behind guidelines, and face penalties (although not particularly stiff ones this year) as a result.
The district as a whole met federal requirements for academics, although four of its eight schools did not. As a whole it did not meet federal requirements for participation in state testing, although two of its schools did.
This is the second year of a federal five-year program, which is also known as AYP (Adequate Yearly Performance).
“We didn’t look too good,” conceded the district’s director of curriculum, Ken Clark. “We have three groups that are struggling: English language learners, socioeconomically disadvantaged and students with disabilities.”
No matter the subgroup, all have the same academic standards to meet.
“No” on Participation
The district earned a “no” on requirements for participation because it only tested 90.7% of students with disabilities. To be acceptable a district must test 95% of all subgroups such as students with disabilities, English learners and economically disadvantaged students.
“No” on Academics
Districtwide VC-P was required to meet the goal of 12% of students tested being proficient or above. It actually achieved 40.9% However, some of the subgroups within individual schools failed to meet these goals, so the schools where that happened did not meet federal requirements.
How it Breaks Down For One School
An example would be Valley Center Elementary Lower School, where all subgroups except students with disabilities met participation goals of 95% (only 86.1% of students with disabilities at the lower school were tested).
In math, where 12.8% testing at “proficient or above” was required, students among the various subgroups at the lower school scored from 20.1% for English learners up to 68.3% for white students.
In English Language Arts each subgroup at the lower school was required to have 12% score at “proficient or above.” One group, English learners, scored at 9.0% and so, while other subgroups met the criteria (socioeconomically disadvantaged, 16.3%; Students with Disabilities, 32.1%; Hispanics, 13.8%; American Indian, 22.6%; White, 56.1%). Because the law’s goal is that “no child be left behind,” the school as a whole does not meet the federal requirements. So if one subgroup within the school doesn’t meet the requirements, the school doesn’t either.
Who’s in the Same Boat?
Valley Center-Pauma School District thus finds itself in the same boat as Ramona, where seven out of nine schools failed to meet federal standards, as well as five out of Poway’s 31 schools, and seven of Escondido Union Elementary’s.
It doesn’t find itself in company with Rancho Santa Fe; all three of its schools met the federal standards, or Vallecitos Elementary, in Rainbow, which has a higher percentage of disadvantaged students than VC, and which “passed the test.”
VC-P failed to meet federal guidelines based on student participation in testing and performance on the California Standards Test.
Schools are judged as to whether they have made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
This was the first year that the primary school, both elementary schools and the middle school failed to meet the standards.
Third Year for Pauma
However, it was the third year Pauma Elementary School has failed to meet the standards.
That does not apply to Palomar Mountain School, which is part of Pauma School, although judged separately. Its tiny population met requirements for participation and academics.
A third year of failing to meet federal standards opens Pauma up to corrective action that could include one of the following:
• Replacing school staff.
• Implementing new curriculum.
• Decreasing management authority at the school level.
• Appointing an outside expert.
• Extending the school day or year.
• Restructuring the school.
If the situation were to continue for five years, Pauma school could be reopened as a charter school; all or most of the staff, including the principal, could be replaced; an outside entity could be contracted to run the school; the state could take over the school.
Pauma’s situation is “unique,” said Clark. “Pauma has been addressing the needs of the kids prior to unification and there are some issues there that make it unique due to high number of English learners and groups that are struggling economically.”
Pauma, however, is already in the second year of an intervention program called GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) in partnership with UCSD that is spending $3 million over five years
“At Pauma a couple of subgroups [Native American and students with disabilities] didn’t score well that we need to work on,” said Clark. “We have already met the criteria as required for program improvement schools with the UCSD program. We’ve been working with the school and staff for two years already.”
No Incentive to Participate
Participation in the testing program is difficult to deal with since parents of disabled students can opt out of the testing if they choose.
“The State allows them to do that, but the federal government doesn’t recognize the opt out. That makes it difficult,” said Clark. “To just make us look good may not be reason enough for some parents to have their child take the test.”
Why do some parents of children with disabilities resist taking the test?
According to Clark, “In a lot of cases they feel like the testing experience is a negative for the students. One reason why kids are in Special Ed is because they are struggling to meet academic standards.”
Some of the lack of participation by some students may have do with “communication with parents,” said Clark, who said he plans to meet with principals this week to start to try to reverse the situation.
“One thing we may need to focus on is how we do our make-ups and how we connect with kids who miss testing,” he said. “Academically we are on the right track, we just need to work harder with our subgroups.”
Supt. Karen Jobe agrees with that assessment.
“Participation is an issue. Most of the areas that we did not qualify in were participation.”
On ways to increase test scores at the lower grades, Mrs. Jobe said, “We are brain-storming. Teachers are going to know what every child did last year and what that child should be doing this year. Are we looking at specifics? You bet!”
As to the situation in Pauma, this may require going to the parents and community and listening to their ideas for what needs to be done.
On the table for discussion is something that Pauma’s parents have long resisted: breaking up the school’s population and spreading it to other schools so that the facility has students attending from the entire district.
This would be tough, admits Mrs. Jobe, “because people love having a local school.”
The tests in question are the California Standards tests and the CAT6, which used to be SAT9.
In years to come the AYP program will review high schools to see how their students scored on exit exams and how many students dropped out along the way.
By DAVID ROSS
The Mexican fruit fly quarantine that has had most of Valley Center in its grip since December could be lifted by the California Dept. of Food & Agriculture as soon as the end of September or the beginning of October.
Jay Van Rein, spokesman for the CDFA, told The Roadrunner, “They haven’t set a date, but they’ve set a window. Assuming we have no fly finds in the next few weeks, the quarantine will be lifted by the last week of September or the first week of October.”
No adult Mexican fruit flies have been found since May 20. Before that date 297 fruit flies had been trapped. Late summer and early fall are traditionally the busiest time for fruit flies. “So that’s a very good sign considering how heavy the original infestation was,” said Van Rein. “Around the holidays we were finding a lot of larvae.”
Van Rein credited the (so far) successful eradication of the pest to the use of a new substance, Naturalyte [whose active ingredient is spinosad], to fight the flies. It was sprayed over the quarantine area by low-flying aircraft every two weeks for several months until the middle of June.
This was followed by the release of millions of sterile male fruit flies.
A Success Story
“That was the first time that had been used,” said Van Rein. It was a very effective product, considering it was new and untested. It was quite a success story.”
He credited the State’s experience in fighting fruit fly infestations in other parts of California.
The infestation was confined largely to the original “core area” where the first adult Mexflies were found. All were within about 2.5 miles of each other in the northwest part of Valley Center and parts of Pauma Valley.
VC is known for the wide variety of its fruits and vegetables. This was actually a two-edge sword in terms of fighting the fruit fly, said Van Rein.
“Variety complicates things because a program must take in all those variables. But it also serves as a very comfortable place for them to stay, because there was so much host materials.”
In other words, the flies had no incentive to wander far from the original infestation because there was so much for them to eat.
“In the long run that worked in our favor,” said Van Rein. “They really never moved beyond where we originally found them, except for a few in the southeastern end.”
The economic costs of the quarantine have yet to be calculated, especially since the quarantine may be with us for another month.
Monetary Damages
However, County Agriculture Commissioner Kathleen Thunder has released some figures on fruit that had to be stripped and buried or which could not be picked.
Grapefruit that were never picked: $276,000.
Grapefruit that were stripped and buried: $429,000.
Oranges not picked: $442,000.
Oranges stripped and buried: $182,000.
Persimmons not picked: $38,000.
Persimmons stripped and buried, $9,000.
Sweet limes stripped and buried, $18,000.
The big numbers were in avocados lost. The California Avocado Commission estimates that 5-8 million pounds were lost in early January when winds dropped much of the harvest. Under normal circumstances those fruit could have been sold. Under the quarantine they had to be destroyed.
“Certainly some fruit was lost at the very beginning when we had to bury fruit because of the larval finds,” said Van Rein. “But it wouldn’t have been marketable anyway.”
A fair recent development was when the CDFA determined that Hass avocados were not a host for the Mexfly, based on a study published by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Hass grove owners were then permitted to sell their fruit, although inspectors destroyed a small percentage of them checking for infestations.
Assessing the Quarantine
Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County FArm Bureau told The Roadrunner. “I’d have to call the quarantine a success at this point because it’s ending a lot earlier than it was thought.
“At first, there was the thought that it would end next March because they found so many flies. It was a rough start to get the permission to use spinosad. There was a risk to have used it but in the end it turned out to be a good decision,” he said.
Larson is hopeful that an early end to the quarantine will help specialty crop growers such as persimmons, guava, sepote, cherimoya, even apple growers.
“If it ends by early October that will be before their harvest windows. They won’t have to go through the big process of spraying their groves,” he said.
In addition to the losses of avocados felled by the winds that had to be destroyed, Larson says avo growers were also hurt by the extraordinary costs of treatment of the fruit they could market.
“However, in the end the avocado growers were given the opportunity to harvest,” said Larson. “The real damage was to citrus, mainly grapefruit growers in the core. They had no options and literally lost last season’s crop.”
Rose Polito, a grower of specialty fruits, commented, “I think in the beginning it was a question of nobody really having a handle on how big the problem was. That and the fact that our farmers had never had this problem before. The ag people working with the three departments had to mesh together. When they finally got a handle on it, after a few months, they seemed to get it all together and I think they have proceeded in good shape.”
Patsy Fritz, a Pauma grower who lost three quarters of her Hass avocado crop, said, “Very early in the quarantine I questioned whether Hass avocados could really be a Mexfly host. Lo and behold! After avocado growers had lost most of their crop, the authorities decided ‘Nope! the Mexfly doesn’t care for them.’ So, avocado growers lost close to a year’s revenue based on bad science.
“This means, of course, that Mexican Hass avocados will be pressing for entry to much of our market, although their maturity window does not match ours. Just another example of where you find the ‘ag’ in aggravation.’ ”
Mexfly Always With Us?
An article published in Sierra Pacific Farm’s newsletter Sierra Views suggests that the struggle against the Mexfly may not be over.
“The Mexican fruit fly is going to be with Southern California probably for the rest of our lives. The amount of produce coming across the border on a daily basis in people’s lunch boxes and grocery bags is phenomenal. The fruit is not inspected and I am certain some of it brings in larvae.”
Valerie Rizzotto of VC is planning to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day event from Oceanside to San Diego.
The Breast Cancer 3-Day will take part in November.
But she needs to raise $5,000 in sponsorships by October to be able to take part in the 60-mile walk, whose goal is to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer.
Donations to the Susan G. Breast Cancer Foundation are tax-deductible.
If you’d like to donate, mail a check directly to Breast Cancer 3-Day, 135 S. LaSalle, Dept. 7415, Chicago, IL, 60674-7415 or go online to www.breastcancer3day.org.
“I would request your readers to use my name Valerie Rizzotto and participant number 8020706 to direct their donation to my goal,” she told The Roadrunner.
This year, according to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, more than 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer. About 40,000 will die from the disease.
“That’s why I’ve decided to take part in the very worthy cause in hopes of saving the lives of our future grandmothers, mothers and daughters,” she said.
The Valley Roadrunner
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