COVINGTON — Latonia Elementary School seems to have taken one for the team.

        While Covington Independent Schools has shown significant gains under new statewide testing standards since an administrative turnover two years ago, Latonia Elementary's CATS scores put it in the bottom third of Kentucky's schools.

        Scores released Thursday showed that Latonia Elementary has dropped from a school that was “progressing” toward meeting its statewide goal to one requiring special state assistance.

        Now designated as “assistance level 3,” Latonia Elementary educates 468 pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade.

        One reason for the decline could be the school board's decision in June 2001 to phase out the advanced placement program at Latonia Elementary and put those 120 advanced students in each Covington elementary school, Superintendent Jack Moreland said.

        With an improvement goal of 68, Latonia Elementary saw its accountability index drop from 64.7 in 2000-2001 to 55.3 in 2001-2002, for a combined two-year index of 60.

        “We knew when we (moved the advanced placement students) that there would be a penalty at some point in the process,” Mr. Moreland said.

        He added that the district petitioned the Kentucky Department of Education to reduce Latonia Elementary's baseline score. However, the district succeeded in reducing the baseline score by only one point.

        As an Assistance Level 3 school, Latonia Elementary will qualify for financial assistance from the Kentucky Department of Education, a scholastic audit by the state and the placement of a highly skilled educator for the next two years, said Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education.

        Other possible reasons for Latonia Elementary's poor showing could be the 35 percent turnover in the school's faculty, as well as changes in its principal and assistant principal in the 2000-2001 school year, Mr. Moreland said.

        Mr. Moreland said he will not fault Latonia Elementary's faculty or administration for the decline. Rather, he described individual schools' success or failure as a districtwide effort.

        “The central office has been extremely supportive through everything,” said Latonia Elementary Principal Pat Berry.

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