The state’s letter grade for Wiscasset Middle School has dropped from last year’s C to a D, based on student test results. The grade dropped because the school fell short in one area, the level of  growth that students in special education showed in their learning, Wiscasset Middle School Principal Linda Bleile said.

“I’m very disappointed, but I’m not surprised,” Bleile said in her office on May 15.

The school has a high percentage of students in special education, 22 percent, compared to the state average of about 15.6 percent, but that’s not new. What has changed in recent years is the number of special education staff members, Bleile said.

The school’s count of four special education teachers three years ago is down to two full-time teachers and one half-time. Regional School Unit 12 was under financial constraints and needed to make cuts, Bleile said. The school has also not had enough funding for an active, project-based learning model known as expeditionary learning, for all students, including those in special education, Bleile said.

“But we’re not making excuses. We accept that our primary responsibility is to increase student achievement, and we expect to be held accountable.”

The school will be doing what Walmart does when sales fall off, Bleile said: Look for ways to improve. That will include continuing to take demographics into account. In 2002, about 14 percent of WMS students got hot lunch free or at a reduced price; now 52 percent do.

 Bleile, who’s retiring this year, said she was cautiously optimistic that the school’s grade with the state would improve.