Winnacunnet Has 'Significant' Communication, Tech Issues

Winnacunnet High School has received some high marks in its accreditation review, although few praises came in regard to two areas the New England Association of Schools and Colleges found had "serious" problems: communication, and technology.

A newly-released 65-page report outlines numerous examples of a systemic communication problem at Winnacunnet, particularly in terms of communication between the Winnacunnet School Board, administrators, staff, students and the community.

Some issues were so serious that the NEASC review committee is recommending that WHS — which hasn't yet been granted or denied accreditation — hire "an outside consultant" to help improve the relationship between the school board and principal in order "to provide the principal with sufficient decision-making authority to lead the school."

The report claims a "collaborative, reflective, and constructive relationship" doesn't exist between the school board, superintendent and principal. Instead, the review committee found that many view interactions between those individuals as "defensive," "contentious" and "tense," and the committee claims this has created an atmosphere that is "severely and negatively" impacting the school as it works to achieve its "21st century learning expectations."

NEASC officials visited the school for three days in March, spending hours observing and interacting with staff, administrators and students while compiling their comprehensive report.

The report is also critical of the school's technology and the availability of that technology to students and staff. This lack of availability, according to the report, is causing sizable delays in effectively teaching and implementing the school's curriculum.

Technology has been among the many contentious subjects during school board meetings over the past few years, and the report recommends the district improve its technology — something that will be done through the long-put-off wireless project, which will be addressed by a multi-year technology plan that starts in the 2015-16 school year — in order to fully support new curriculum changes like the yearlong core courses model.

"Although many students and teachers reported weaknesses in technology, they are clearly using the limited technical tools available to them and other creative measures to overcome technology shortcomings," stated the review committee. "However, those serious issues should not be trivialized or discounted as not significant as they do negatively impact the design and delivery of instruction."

A total of 33 recommendations are being taken into careful consideration by the district. Chris Muns, chairman of the school board, said it is also "important to also note" that the number of things the review committee feels WHS is doing "right," as he said the number of commendations exceeded the total number of recommendations "by nearly 2 to 1."

"The total number of commendations was 61 and the total number of recommendations are 33," said Muns. "We need to focus on the positives as well as those areas where improvement is recommended."

Among the commendations are strong praises for WHS' wide array of course offerings and electives, an average dropout rate of only 1.5 percent for the past two years, "significant progress" toward meeting adequate yearly progress despite the fact that WHS is a "School In Need of Improvement," and effective curriculum coordination between departments and "most" sending schools.

A full copy of the NEASC review committee's report is available here.

The next regular Winnacunnet School Board meeting is on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The board is expected to reference the report in that session.