The Oak Harbor School District should make its current Midway High School programs transparent to the community along with whatever intended or currently evolving long term plans for that second high school may exist. Such a minimally acceptable level of accountability for Midway High School currently does not exist, and it is long overdue.
Historically, Midway High School (http://midway.ohsd.net) has provided a so-called “credit retrieval” program for students who failed one or more classes at OHHS. Their direct instruction program uses the on-line Apex Learning system (http://www.apexlearning.com).
Prior to spending the bulk of our $74 million to expand/remodel Oak Harbor High School, the school district performed internal analysis of its long term educational requirements. These educational specifications were to form the basis of the remodel/renovation construction requirements at OHHS. One of the selling points the district used when asking for that remodel bond money was the premise that a remodeled OHHS would attract more students to OHHS.
In the middle of the OHHS remodel, the district quietly started expanding its Midway High School program. As reported in the News-Times, they recently added “students who were in their third or fourth year and had seven or fewer credits.” According to students with whom I have recently spoken, many more current OHHS students believe the Midway School to be a more appealing alternative to OHHS. One self-admitted school district insider recently mused to me: “I wonder if maybe OHHS is perhaps failing the needs of a larger and larger number of students, and that is why the attendance numbers are increasing at Midway?”
My hypothesis about the district’s motivation for expanding its second high school is consistent with that insider’s thoughtful question: by moving those failing students out of OHHS, the district can report OHHS on-time graduation rates and student dropout rates separately from Midway. However, such data for Midway High School, at least from the public’s vantage, is non-existent or is being fully cloaked. This is unacceptable. For both OHHS and Midway High School, such information should be quantified and freely available online using criteria that is fair, consistent, transparent, and easily understood.
The community never voted to create a second high school either before or after we voted for the $74 million OHHS remodel/expansion. Public expectations for OHHS, at the time the remodel bond was provided to the district, was that OHHS would be able to meet our grades 9-12 educational requirements for the foreseeable future. If the brand new OHHS cannot meet those needs, the district needs to tell that to the community now, and explain why. Otherwise, consolidating Midway High School programs at the brand new OHHS complex is a very reasonable community expectation. There does not appear to be any good reason as to why OHHS could not accommodate the Midway High School programs.
William Burnett
Oak Harbor
