Preliminary results of districtwide testing in the Leflore County School District this week show significant improvement in core subjects, Superintendent of Education Jean Hall said Thursday.
“There was significant growth made at Amanda Elzy High School in math during the third nine-week period,” Hall told the Leflore County School Board.
Hall circulated highlights among members of the board but said the information wasn’t ready to be released publicly.
She said significant improvement was made at Amanda Elzy High School in seventh- and eighth-grade math as well as Algebra I.
The results came from the third nine-week period of instruction and were notably better than test scores during the second nine-week period.
Hall also reported that there was improvement in fifth-grade math scores at Amanda Elzy Elementary School.
She said district administrators will analyze the results from this week’s testing and use them to develop individualized lesson plans for students.
Hall reported that student behavior at Amanda Elzy High School has also improved.
She said the principal, staff and students had “initiated several measures to foster positive behavior on the campus.”One such change includes adding “student ambassadors” to the school’s Teacher Advisory Committee.
Hall reported that student truancy at Leflore County High School has also declined recently.
Following an incident in November in which a student was accidentally struck by a bus at Leflore County Elementary School, new procedures have been implemented.
Under the new plan, students boarding buses are dismissed first, and those awaiting being picked up by their parents and guardians are dismissed after the buses depart.
Hall said the procedures would stay in place, although some parents were upset by the changes. “For students’ safety, this is what we do,” she said.
The district also has chosen to retain Georgia attorney Jerry Wilson to redraw the school district boundaries. Wilson, who specializes in redistricting, has been retained by other school districts in the Delta. He will meet with each of the board’s five members and then propose a redistricting plan.
The next school board races aren’t until 2012, but the redistricting had to be completed this year, Hall said. The plan will be subject to a public hearing prior to adoption.
• Contact Bob Darden at bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
