IMESD looks at report card results
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The InterMountain Education Service District provides its services to 17 school districts in Eastern Oregon. Superintendent Mark Mulvihill says he found plenty to be pleased with in the report cards released for its member schools in the region.
Mulvihill said the biggest reflection of how schools are doing is high school graduation rates – both those who finish in four years and those who take five years to earn their diplomas. Those rates increased into the 80th percentile on average.
His biggest concern is third grade reading levels. He added that it’s hard to know exactly what the rate is at that level, but it needs work. What stymies educators is the fact that the state assessment tests aren’t mandatory.
“There’s a law that allows students to opt out and this is really a frustrating thing for educators,” he said. “Students can choose from the third grade on. If you get a note from mom, you don’t have to take the test.”
He said many educators believe that many of the students that would bring the percentage up have been opted out of testing by their parents. He called the state assessment test for third-grade reading “very demanding.”
