School district highlights assessment improvements | Journal … – The Messenger

Webster County School officials provided a detailed update Monday on where the district stands according to state benchmarks, and they say they are making the improvements they want.

“We are headed in the right direction,” said Superintendent Aaron Harrell.

Assistant Superintendent Dawn Forker highlighted a number of areas in which each school in the district improved.

Overall, the school system made strides in reading proficiency at all grade levels. At the same time, there was a reduction in novice scores in math across the board. English learners made “significant progress.”

The four elementary schools saw an increase in the percentage of proficient and distinguished scores in all subject areas. The 12.8 point change leaves them within six points of green, the second-best rating by state standards.

Dixon Elementary jumped 30 points over last year’s index, making them one of the top 100 schools in the state, according to Harrell.

“Dixon being in the blue is a big deal,” he said.

The middle school is 8.4 points away from being in the green after increasing the number of proficient and distinguished scores in reading, science, and writing. There was also a decrease in novice scores in math, science, and writing.

The high school also finds itself near the green rating, falling just 8.1 points short after a 10.7 improvement took them from orange to yellow. The school improved its number of proficient and distinguished scores in reading and math, while decreasing the number of novices in the same subjects.

The big move was made in the graduation index, where the high school reached the blue status.

Harrell pointed out that the improvements occurred prior to the implementation of the new district-wide curriculum.

The board is expected to take action on a number of items presented during Monday’s meeting.

One of those is the proposed calendar for the 2024-25 school year. While there are few changes, they do affect when students are in class. The district expects to eliminate early dismissal days, if the calendar becomes official at the Nov. 28 meeting.

Also, since Sebree Elementary will no longer be a polling place for elections, the district will not dismiss for most of those days. The exception is presidential elections, which is a federally mandated holiday.

The board will also vote to amend sections of special education policy regarding hearing and visual impairments. While a formality, the vote will align local definitions of both with state policy. The change has significantly simplified the language regarding those impairments and how districts are to address accommodations.

Finally, Harrell announced the hiring of Cory Patmore as the School Resource Officer for Sebree Elementary. The longtime police officer for several area departments started earlier this month after the district and the City of Sebree finalized the contract to hire the SRO.