One year ago, Randy Weseman wagered his job as superintendent of Lawrence public schools.

He said the school board should sack him if he couldn’t transform East Heights School within three years.

Gary Johnson, principal of East Heights School, 1430 Haskell Ave., is pleased with the improvement of students' standardized test scores. In the 18 months since he was appointed to the school, East Heights has also shown fewer discipline reports and increased parent involvement.

There’s evidence the turnaround has begun.

Gary Johnson, named principal of East Heights about 18 months ago, said the elementary school’s students have shown improvement on state math, reading and writing assessments.

“If some other school (official) saw our scores, they’d be crying,” Johnson said. “But we’re moving in the right direction. That’s the point we’re trying to make.”

Two examples of improvement at East Heights on exams, with testing in 2000-2001 compared with 1998-1999:

Fifth-grade math On a five-level scale of student performance, 11.8 percent were rated advanced, or highest. Three years earlier no student was rated advanced.

Sixth-grade reading No students were rated unsatisfactory, or lowest, on the most recent exam, compared to 14.3 percent three years ago.

On the 2001-2002 Kansas Writing Assessment, the school’s fifth-graders made “statistically relevant” improvement in all six measures of writing skill.

Johnson said other indicators at East Heights also were headed in the right direction. Parent involvement is blossoming. Teacher morale is improving.

Student behavior a major issue prior to Johnson’s arrival is better. Absences, tardies, referrals to the principal’s office and suspensions were reduced in the past school year, Johnson said.

“We knew if we got a handle on the social piece (of the puzzle), the academics would come along,” Johnson said.

The school’s revived student council dealt with a graffiti problem.

“If I had said something about it, nothing would have happened,” Johnson said. “They went around to the rooms and talked to peers, saying, ‘Hey, this is our school.'”

The school building on Haskell Avenue has been updated courtesy of $250,000 in renovations approved by the school board. A computer laboratory and playground equipment will be added this summer.

But Weseman and Johnson want it known that work at East Heights is far from over. The school’s scores still don’t compare favorably with the majority of elementary schools in the district.

“We’re going to raise the bar,” Johnson said.