The Mississippi Department of Education has released its district and individual school letter grades for the 2017-18 school year.
These grades are based on testing that was conducted in the spring of 2017.
The Sunflower County Consolidated School District was rated an F district, according to MDE.
MDE’s scoring did change for the spring tests, but SCCSD Superintendent Miskia Davis said the district would have been an F under the old scoring as well.
Out of 12 schools ranked by the department of education, only four in Sunflower County received an F rating, but two of those schools’ scores dropped so drastically, it affected the district’s chance at maintaining its D grade, a level it had been at for spring 2015 and 2016.
“Those huge drops brought our average down,” Davis said during an interview with The Enterprise-Tocsin this week.
According to data obtained from the district, Merritt Junior High’s overall score, which is numeric, was 302 in 2016, but dropped to 238 this year.
Ruleville Middle School saw the sharpest decrease from 297 to 192.
“We’re focusing on data at those schools,” Davis said, while having what she termed “courageous conversations” with the leadership at those particular facilities.
The other two schools to receive an F rating were Drew Hunter Middle School and Moorhead Middle School.
Moorhead Middle School is currently closed and undergoing a multimillion dollar renovation and will reopen next fall. Those students will be tested in Inverness this year.
Davis said the school will not receive a letter grade when it initially reopens in 2018.
One of the areas the district continues to struggle in is college and workforce readiness.
This is based largely on ACT scores, and the number of students scoring at least an 18 in all tested areas was low for students at Gentry High School and Ruleville Central, Davis said.
“Based on the ACT scores, our students are not ready,” said Davis, who took over officially as superintendent eight months ago.
One of the areas Davis said the district is focusing on this year is growth, which is an area that saw improvement, according to MDE data.
“If we keep growing, we will get to our proficiency mark,” Davis said.
The lower 25 percent of the student body in Sunflower County grew 94 percent when it came to reading scores and 83.3 percent when it came to math.
Other Good News
As mentioned, eight of the 12 schools in the district either stayed the same letter grade or improved when tested in the spring.
AW James Elementary saw the most drastic improvement, jumping from a D grade to a B grade year-over-year.
The numeric score jumped from 325 to 420. Under the new scoring, the school was just 42 points from being rated an A school, and it made the cut as a B school under the old and new scoring method.
Davis said the administration at this school is highly experienced and also had the benefit of a School Improvement Grant that totaled $3 million over a three-year period.
“Mrs. (Barbara) Akon was able to build her a solid team of teachers and provide unlimited support to those teachers with those funds,” Davis said. “She’s a veteran established leader. She’s a proven leader.”
How Did Each School Perform?
Carver Elementary remained a D school under the new scoring system. It would have dropped to an F rating under the previous scoring system.
East Sunflower Elementary jumped from a D to a C school.
Gentry High School jumped from a D to a C school.
Inverness remained a D under the new scoring system.
JC Rosser Elementary jumped a letter grade from an F to a D school.
Ruleville Central Elementary remained a D school.
Ruleville Central High School jumped a letter grade from an F to a D school.
As mentioned, Drew Hunter dipped from a D level to an F grade, while Merritt Junior High dropped from a D to an F. Moorhead Middle dropped from a D to an F, and Ruleville Middle School dropped from a D to an F.
It is worth noting that Moorhead Middle was a B school in 2015, and Ruleville Middle School was an A-level school the same year.
