Parents and high school administrators discussed quick fixes and long term solutions to deal with the low number of students passing algebra during a Sept. 24 meeting.

It was the second meeting since Lebanon High School principal Mark Finch revealed in August that nearly half of Algebra 1 students received failing grades in Algebra 1 classes during the spring trimester.

Most of the audience walked out in anger during a Sept. 15 meeting after Finch did not have answers prepared to a list of questions submitted several days prior to the meeting and refused to alter the meeting's agenda to allow direct questioning of school administrators.

Attendance at last week's meeting was lower, with about two-dozen parents and six students present, but the tone was less argumentative. Finch answered most of the questions not addressed at the previous meeting. However, he did refuse to provide data on grade distribution for the past four years as a group of parents had requested.

"I'm not inclined to pull that information," Finch said. "It's like looking backwards in a mirror and trying to drive the car forward."

In response to parents concerned over not knowing how their children are doing, LHS academy administrators Kim Masog and Tami Volz said that since the second week of school they have been instructing teachers to communicate with parents through both written communication and phone calls.

Starting next trimester, the Electronic Student Information System (ESIS) will allow parents online access to see the number of assignments students have turned in and their scores, Masog said.

Mark Martens, LHS math teacher, told the audience that he often has trouble getting parents to respond to notices informing them their children are not passing a class.

Fifty-six of his 57 students were not passing Algebra 1 after the second week of school. Martens said he sent 57 progress reports home with students and received 20 back. He then mailed 31 progress reports and only received about a dozen responses from parents.

"There's a lot of trouble with apathy," Martens said.

The availability of math labs was an issue with some parents. Math labs give students additional help. The number of labs is based on how many students said they would take them during forecasting the previous trimester.

"If they're trying, we'll get them in a math lab," Finch promised.

To meet the immediate needs of students, the high school plans to hire a three-quarter time employee who will identify struggling students and organize an after-school study program staffed by parents and community volunteers. Finch said five applications have been received and he hopes to fill the position by the first week in October.

Long term changes to math instruction could include modeling after Forest Grove High School and Oregon City High School, two of the top performing high schools in the state.

In 2004, about 32 percent of Forest Grove and Lebanon 10th-graders met state math standards. Last year, more than 70 percent of Forest Grove 10th graders met the standards, compared to 37 percent at LHS. Forest Grove High School incoming freshmen who scored low on the 8th grade state assessment test are required to take a math workshop every trimester until they can pass the 10th grade assessment test. The workshop is counted as an elective.

Oregon City instituted a similar program in the 2005-06 and saw the percentage of students meeting state standards rise from the low 30s to almost 70 percent last year.

After the Sept. 15, several parents and administrators toured Oregon City and Forest Grove high schools.

John "Tre" Kennedy," president of the Lebanon Citizens Alliance for a Responsible Education System (CARES), was one of the parents who toured Forest Grove High School. During last week's meeting, he suggested Lebanon consider modeling its academy system after Forest Grove, which places only juniors and seniors in academies.

"Nothing is off the table," said Finch, "but the issue is instruction not structure. We need to stay focused on instruction."