Last year, Amanda Neborsky, the principal at Hoover Elementary in Redwood City, promised the school’s 880 students that if the school met its goals on the state’s standardized tests all teachers would come to school with blue hair.

This Friday, she will join teachers in fulfilling their end of the bargain by donning blue wigs for the day.

Hoover Elementary, however, is an exception. The number of Peninsula schools facing federal sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act for failing to make “Adequate Yearly Progress” increased by 50 percent — from 30 schools to 45 — according to reports released by state education officials Tuesday. There are about 155 public schools in the county.

Under the federal law passed in 2001, all students are expected to become proficient in math and English by the year 2014. To that end, the state sets annual targets for a set percentage of students who must reach the grade level goal.

If a school does not meet the proficiency goals for two years in a row, it is designated as a “Program Improvement” school.

Each year a school is in Program Improvement, it faces increasingly severe changes. Schools that remain on the list for five consecutive years contend with having their staff replaced, receiving new governance and possible school restructuring.

Schools must show progress for two years in a row to be removed from the list. No school in San Mateo County exited the list this year.
San Mateo was not alone in struggling to meet federal standards. Statewide, 675 schools entered Program Improvement, while only 54 schools exited.

Ironically, test scores in San Mateo County are ahead of overall proficiency levels for students statewide.

At the same time that schools are required to increase proficiency levels, they have also been subject to massive budget cuts from the state.

The San Mateo-Foster City School District has been hit with $18 million in cuts over the past two years, district spokeswoman Joan Rosas said. This year, the district saw test score improvement, but not enough to meet federal standards.

Rosas said the district will consider options such as turning more of its campuses into magnet schools, which will make them eligible for more federal funding.

Gary Waddell, associate superintendent for instruction at the San Mateo County Office of Education, said the office will be stretched to provide help to the 15 new schools on the list, but will try to be creative with the funding it has.

“Certainly this is a difficult fiscal year all around, but it doesn’t remove us from the obligation to help students receive the education they need and deserve,” he said.

As for Hoover Elementary, where 88 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch and 75 percent are English learners, the staff may glow with pride under blue wigs on Friday — but it’s back to the books on Monday. The school needs to make its test score goals for a second year to get off the Program Improvement list.

“We’ve been working so hard and we’re so close to being off Program Improvement,” Neborsky said. “It’s going to be challenging, but we know we can do it.”

San Mateo County ranks higher than state scores

The Accountability Progress Index, or API, is a number between 200 and 1,000 assigned to California schools that reflects student performances on English and math tests. The state goal is an 800 score; below is the percentage of Peninsula schools that beat that score in each of the last four years.

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