By Traci Chapman

El Reno’s graduating seniors held steady in ACT scores in 2008, with upswings in math and science marks negating downturns in English and reading.

District students achieved a composite score of 19.6, same as 2007 tallies. Math scores increased from 18.6 last year to 19.2 this year, and science scores inched up from 19.4 to 19.5. English scores dipped one-tenth of a point, from 19 in 2007 to 18.9 in 2008.

The biggest decrease was noted in reading scores, which dipped four-tenths of a point, from 20.7 in 2007 to 19.5 in 2008.

El Reno Superintendent Ranet Tippens said financial issues and budget cuts continue to plague the local district. She said while she understands residents want their students to perform as well as other county students, the district needs more equitable funding to meet that goal.

“It’s tough to meet the needs we have when it’s not funded well,” she said. “Losing state and federal funding hurts us much harder than many other districts because of our lack of property tax to subsidize our needs.”

Tippens said the small property tax base is due to the location of property in the district, much of it removed from tax rolls. Large sections of land contained within the district are federally owned, including the Federal Correctional Institution and Fort Reno. Another large chunk is taken out by land held by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

School board president Robert Lee said last year that more than 30 percent of the district’s boundaries are on federal or American Indian land. What that means for the district is that bonding capacities are limited. Lee said in 2007, El Reno had an assessed property value of $17,004 per student, nearly half the $31,000-per-student statewide average.

“Funding cuts are painful, especially in a school that doesn’t benefit from ad valorem taxes,” Tippens said. “We don’t have the building fund and bond capacity other schools do.”

Tippens said educators are working to improve not just ACT scores, but other test scores across the district and the “general education” offered to students.

“We have a great bunch of students, and our staff wants to make sure they have every opportunity available to them,” she said.

Of the six school districts across Canadian County, El Reno dropped from its fourth-place position in 2007 to fifth in 2008. Calumet students increased their composite scores from 19.5 in 2007 to 20.3 in 2008, moving past El Reno in the countywide tally.

Mustang students topped out districts across the county, with a score of 21.7, although that district’s numbers dropped from 22.3 in 2007. Yukon students’ scores also dropped, from 21.9 in 2007 to 21.5 in 2008, but that district remained second overall in scores. Piedmont’s scores increased to 21.1 from 20.5 in 2007, ensuring its third-place ranking among county districts. Union City students also improved their composite scores, moving from 18.7 in 2007 to 19.4 in 2008.

The county tied with Tulsa County for seventh place overall among schools statewide. Payne County students led the pack with 22.7 average scores, followed by Kay County averaging 22.2. Students in Major and Oklahoma counties had composite scores of 21.9, and Washington County students achieved 21.8 marks.

Statewide, Oklahoma students ranked ahead of students in only 10 others states and the District of Columbia in composite scores. The national average score was 21.1; Oklahoma students averaged a composite of 20.7.

State Department of Education spokeswoman Shelly Hickman said there is a silver lining to test scores statewide – more Oklahoma students are taking the test than ever before. Oklahoma ranked 15th in the nation in total students taking the test, Hickman said. In 2008, 70 percent of graduating seniors took the ACT, compared to a 43 percent national average, she said.

“We have lots of room for improvement, but we are moving in the right direction,” she said.