Ravalli Republic from Hamilton, Montana • 1

prr sdZwi-Hwn mr? Letters to the editor Page 7 75 cents Tuesday, August 9, 2011 www.ravallirepubhc.com II II Six Ravalli County school districts dont meet AYP goals DAVID ERICKSON Ravaui RepubiC Lone Rock Elementary School was the only school district out of the seven in Ravalli County to meet the federal requirements for annual progress last year under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. On Friday, the Montana Office of Public Instruction released the ninth annual Adequate Yearly Progress report to comply with the federal law. The report showed that Corvallis K-12 schools, Stevensville Elementary, Victor K-12 schools, Darby K-12 schools and Florence-Carlton K-12 schools are now in their first year on a watch list for not meeting the rigorous standards. The Darby K-12 schools are in their first year of being identified for corrective action. Stevensville High School is in its second year of being identified for improvement.

Hamilton School District K-12 schools did not make AYP and is in the third year of being identified for corrective action byOPI. When a school district is listed as not making AYP, often it is because only a small portion of the student population in one school didnt meet the standards. For example, Hamilton School District Superintendent Duby Santee said that four out of the five schools in his district made the AYP goals: Hamilton High, Daly Elementary, Grantsdale Elementary and Washington Elementary. It was only Hamilton Middle School that didnt meet the standards, and even within that school it was only the economically disadvantaged math students and students with disabilities who didnt test high enough. Its pretty harsh, Santee said.

We had four out of five schools make AYP, but one didnt, so the whole district suffers. Every year, weve had something like this come up. The problem is its all over the place. One year, it may be a subgroup at the middle school, and the next year its some- where else. We are just trying to improve everything, but deviously we are trying to bring up See SCHOOLS, Page A5 KMVMCKW Dustin Nielson of Darbys Big Bear Taxidermy examines a wolf pelt from Alaska.

Nielson hopes that this years wolf hunting season will mean more work for the Darby shop where local business has dropped with the recent decline in elk numbers. needed information. I was a falconer for 15 years and I kind of like predators, but not wolves. They really need to get some fear of man instilled in them. Inside this building filled to the rafters with hundreds of full-sized trophy mounts and hides, there is no shortage on opinions about wolves.

It would be hard to find one thats favorable. Last month, state wildlife commissioners approved a plan to shoot up to 220 gray wolves in See W01YES, Page A6 PERRY BACKUS Ravaui Repubuc DARBY Licenses for Montanas second wolf hunting season went on sale Monday morning, and the counter at Mr. Ts Mercantile in Darby was doing a steady business. Packing a handful of arrows, Michael Connolly of Darby was one of the first to step up and pay his $19 for a chance to shoot a wolf in this years hunt. There are a lot of them out there, Connolly said in between offering the clerk some A bulletin board in a Darby mercantile is filled with photographs documenting animals killed by wolves.

Fire flares east of Stevensville PERRY BACKUS Ravaui Repubuc STEVENSVILLE -A holdover lightning strike burst into flames Monday afternoon just north of Ambrose Saddle, about 12 miles east of Stevensville. 1 It was putting up a lot of blade smoke, said Bitterroot National Forest fire man- agement officer Rick Flock. summer, he said. Its incredibly green up in the high country, but the dead fuels are starting to dry out pretty well." While firefighters have been able to catch everything that has started so far this season, Flock said fires in lower elevations have been getting harder to control. Many places on national forest lands that have been See FIRE, Page A5 ters and additional resources were being ordered.

We have a bunch of stuff headed up there, Flock said. Well probably provide all we can for them since it is easier to access that area from this side. An hour before the fire was reported, Flock said he expected something to flare up soon in the "Its been kind of a strange Reports are that it was spotting and torching and running little bit. Smoke from the fire was visible from Hamilton. The five-acre fire was burning on top of the ridgeline and just inside the Lolo National Forest Crews from both the Bitterroot and Lolo national forests were dispatched to the fire including two helicop Today's forecast Tuesday, Aug.

9 High 7 Low Thunderstorms Woathor Pago 12 Good morning to Anna ARHoy 63 companies seek to metre big leads in lUosh. Hiker recovers from grizzly attack in Glacier They visited Stevensville during the Creamery Picnic. by truck across eastern Washington for eventual shipment to Canada. The companies say they an setting the new route because cygftMopixttiuon lusSkwed their original phms to ship the equipment to the Port ofLewiatoninldaho and then truck it over NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS 5 Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash.

-Exxon Mobil and Imperial Oil art seeking permission from the state of Washington to ship giant oil sands pro-- cessing equipment to the Port of Pasco, and then mcn the loads scenic U.S. Highway 12 into Montana and finally up to the Kearl oil sands in Canada. The ofl companies say the equipment to bemovea through Washington would be cut down to a smaller size than the megalo- ads planned for move- ment across Highway See CU, Page A5 TRISTAN SCOTT Fc the Ravaui Re pubic WHITEFISH-A Minnesota man who was attacked by a grizzly bear while hiking on a back-country trail in Glacier National Park was able to continue with his travel itinerary the same day. 1 Park officials say the 50-year-okl hiker from St. Paul, received medical attention and was released from Blackfeet Community Hospital in Browning after the attack, which occurred Friday.

The man was hiking atone on the trail from Many Glacier to Piegan Pass when he rounded a SICEXftwA2 Index Opinion Comics. 1 Classifieds A7 A8 A9 1 i Mil -V i.