Students opting out of tests was once again a sticking point for the Albert Lea Area Schools board Monday night as it reviewed various academic benchmarks set up by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Student proficiency in the district dropped in math, reading and science compared to last year’s proficiency results, data from the North Star accountability report shows. Math dropped over 3% to 45% of third through 11th graders meeting or exceeding expectations. Proficiency for the same ages dropped over 4% to 48.5% of students meeting or exceeding expectations in reading. Finally, in science, proficiency dropped to 39.9% of students meeting or exceeding expectations, a 1.9% decline.

The indicator tests are the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, which Albert Lea Area Schools Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Mary Jo Dorman said also show another decline — in the amount of students eligible to be tested who actually take the test.

This is the challenge for the district, Dorman said: that Albert Lea has many 11th graders opting out of the MCA tests. The students who opt out are counted as not proficient, Dorman said.

With fewer children taking the test, “it’s just becoming a less reliable indicator,” Dorman said.

The highest opt-out was in the science tests, with 76.3% of eligible students sitting for the test. Statewide, 90.1% of eligible students took the science MCA.

English learners stood out among the numbers as a group improving their scores on ACCESS tests, an assessment the Minnesota Department of Education said is used to measure progress toward the state’s standards for English language development.

The district is above the state average in progress made toward individual students’ targets, Dorman reported, with 64.2% of English learners making progress toward the target. These students were consistent with the state average in the percent — 40.8% — that made their targets.

Dorman said the results show the work English language teachers did, and that the district is focusing on, and aligning best practices for, English learners.

“I think we will see more growth in this area,” she said.

The district also surpassed the state in the portion of its student body partaking in rigorous coursework — Post-Secondary Enrollment Options, College in the Schools and Advanced Placement courses. Albert Lea Area Schools had 45% of its high schoolers participated in concurrent enrollment — taking college courses offered at the high school — while statewide, that figure was 33%. In the district, 38% participated in AP courses compared to 32% statewide.

Superintendent Mike Funk said he believes some of the high school students who are opting out of MCA tests are the ones preparing for other exams, such as the ACT.

“Our kids are flowing to take the more rigorous coursework, which is a great thing, but then they are not taking the MCAs, which they don’t see much value in,” he said.

School board member Kim Nelson said she believed this was relevant to the conversation on opting out. As a parent, she said it was difficult to sell her student on taking the MCAs, knowing the emphasis on the ACT and College in the School classes.

North Star also evaluates districts’ graduation rates and consistent attendance. The statewide average for high school students who graduate in four years hit an all-time high at 83.2%, according to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Education. Albert Lea’s rate was 77.9%.

In other action:

• The district saved $764,170 last school year thanks to an energy conservation program implemented in 2004. The district used less electricity, natural gas and water/sewer than last year, despite rising unit costs for each. The district’s highest cost per square foot occurs at Halverson Elementary School, at $1.09 per square foot. Albert Lea Area Schools Energy Manager Steve Lund said the national average is closer to $1.25.

“Comparing other schools nationally to our school, we’re well below electricity and even natural gas,” Lund said. “… We do very well by comparison.”

• The school board entered two closed sessions: one for labor negotiations with the custodial and executive administrative assistant units and another to discuss superintendent evaluation. The latter was a continuation discussion on different methods to evaluate the superintendent from the closed session the school board entered Aug. 19, school board chairman Ken Petersen said. Executive Director of Administrative Services Kathy Niebuhr said Monday’s closed session was to look at how the school board’s superintendent evaluation process aligned with district policy. The school board reviewed the superintendent’s job description and aligned the evaluation accordingly.

“By policy, the job description drives the evaluation,” Niebuhr said.