LEWISTON — School Committee members and one retired teacher asked a battery of questions Monday night about the new, tougher diploma requirements for incoming freshmen.

The proficiency-based diploma will take effect with the Class of 2018.

“For sophomores, juniors and seniors, it will be business as usual,” Lewiston High School Principal Linda MacKenzie said.

The big difference is that students won’t pass classes until they’ve demonstrated they’ve mastered the material. Report cards will contain A’s, B’s, C’s and “not yet.” If they don’t know what they need, they will have to keep working at it.

“Learning is now the constant; the variable is the time and support kids need to get there,” Assistant Principal Elizabeth Bradley said.

The new proficiency-based diploma is the result of a state law; all Maine high schools will have to offer the new diploma. It’s considered tougher but will ensure students receive a better education.

With Lewiston High School having the second-lowest graduation rate in the state for the number of students who complete high school in four years, committee members worry that without extra student support, even more won’t graduate on time.

MacKenzie shared plans for how the school will meet the needs of all students through three tiers of support.

In the first tier, all freshmen will receive support time with core teachers, plus ed techs will be available to help students. In a beefed-up team approach, where the same students are grouped with the same teachers, teachers will keep an eye on how students progress with after-school help offered.

In the second tier, students who need more help can get it from teachers in small after-school groups.

A more intense third tier of support would provide one-on-one help for students.

School Committee members asked if the extra help would come from extra staff, considering that the budget that just passed eliminated several teaching positions.

No, the existing faculty would provide the extra help, school officials said.

That prompted questions of what happens when the freshmen become sophomores. Typically, upperclassmen would not need as much support, Bradley said.

As she spoke, retired high school teacher Crystal Ward shook her head in disagreement.

Ward complained that the freshmen teachers are given time to meet and plan ways to help students. That time is less in the sophomore year, “forget it in the junior year and there’s nothing in the senior year,” she said.

If Lewiston is going to have proficiency-based diplomas, “it’s going to take a lot of money,” Ward predicted.

Bradley said team teaching is being built for all. “We’re going to have sophomore teams, junior teams and senior teams.”

School Committee members Paul St. Pierre and Linda Scott asked what support would be in place once the freshmen became sophomores and juniors. 

“We can’t be cutting back as they progress,” St. Pierre said.

Bradley said help would include the alternative program, Lewiston Academy, summer school, and other programs. “We need to push that,” she said

That didn’t satisfy St. Pierre.

“Sending them off to alternative school is not how to address the needs of those students,” he said. Lewiston needs to guarantee opportunity “for every single one of those kids. We can’t pull the rug out of X number of students after they get through their freshman year.”

Superintendent Bill Webster said next year’s budget will look at the needs of the incoming sophomores to ensure success.

High school teachers David Therriault and Michelle Crowley also spoke for the program. Test data next year will show what support is needed, Therriault said. Because proficiency-based learning will allow students to work at their own pace, more will become engaged, Crowley predicted.

While committee members had questions, several praised the new diploma.

Committee member Tom Shannon said he hopes proficiency-based diploma “bears fruit. I support this.”

Unlike dumping another test on students, “this is going to have impact on a child’s education,” Chairman Jim Handy said. “We’ve got to work on how we’re going to do that, and we will. We’ve got great educational leaders working on this. This is just amazing stuff.”

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

New diploma for Class of 2018

June 23 — Grade nine parent-student meeting, 6 p.m., Lewiston Middle School Auditorium. Lewiston High School Principal Linda MacKenzie will explain the new diploma and answer questions.

June 30 — School committee workshop, 6 p.m., The Green Ladle.

July 21 — Update at School Committee meeting.

Aug. 18 — Updates, including more specifics on grading, athletic eligibility.