Sumner Elementary School in Austin was identified Monday as an underperforming school under the new federal No Child Left Behind law.

In five areas covering both performance and participation, the school failed to reach the mark set by the state.

Free and reduced lunch students had the most trouble, falling below the 95 percent standard for participation in both math and reading. That group also fell below the proficiency standard for math. The other two areas below the standard were participation for the whole school and participation among white students.

Free and reduced lunch students make up 45 percent of the student body at Sumner, the highest of any Austin elementary school. District officials have said this group needs to be a focus for efforts to raise the level of reading and math skills among Austin students.

Sheila Berger, the director of educational services, said the district has not received word from the Department of Education explaining the identification and officials from that office were unavailable, so she does not know how to interpret the results.

Sumner fell below the mark two years ago, but those tests were tailored for a different system. The 2001-02 tests do not count because it was a trial year for the new tests.

Berger said she wants to look at the four participation areas in particular. They have until Aug. 7 to review the results and contact the state with any discrepancies. After Aug. 7, the status of schools is final.

In the past, participation has been a problem, but Berger thought they had dealt with that problem through make-up test for students.

However, she did know that math proficiency would be a danger area.

"I knew if we were going to be identified, it would be in math," she said.

School officials had an early indication that Sumner would be flagged when results from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments were released in June.

"Am I shocked?" Berger said. "Based on the results I saw a couple weeks ago, no."

She said she will not know the repercussions of the identification until officials from the Department of Education contact the district.

If this does turn out to be the second underperforming year for Sumner, parents will have the option of choosing a higher performing school to send their children to. The district would have to use some of its Title I funding to pay for transportation to the schools selected by parents.

Berger said the district is preparing for that. It would mean some changes in the budget for next year.

"As soon as they let us know, we'll have to go back and revise that," she said.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com