The state report cards are in and for the Greene County School District, two of the three buildings were categorized as a priority.

Superintendent Brett Abbotts says the School Performance Profile, that is based off of the state assessment, marked middle and high schools priority. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the state looks at several metrics and that both buildings did not have a high enough score with the sub-category of “students with disabilities” or Individual Education Plans (IEPS). Abbotts points out this means that of the students that were tested, they did not meet the growth benchmarks or academic achievement compared to other peers who do not have an IEP. He states the middle school got an additional mark against them, dropping from what would’ve been considered an acceptable to a priority rating with one student group that did not meet the 95 percent threshold of students who took the state assessment. 

Abbotts notes that the district will receive additional funding and resources from the state to specifically help address those areas of need, and through a process will make systemic changes within special education instructions.

“I don’t want to say, ‘It’s nothing new for us,’ but it’s something that we need to get under control, and we will. And so it’s not something that I would say is out of control when we’re only missing the mark by I think it’s like 0.2 of a percent, so we’re right there. So we make just some small leaps and it’s not a drastic shift by any means.”      

As for the elementary building, Abbotts says they were marked as acceptable, but are continuing to improve academic achievement all of the time. Abbotts shares that the School Performance Profile, while it might be a good piece of data, and it does not tell the full story of how students learn on a day to day basis.

“State report card shows a small window into what our schools are doing. It is what it is. We focus on a bigger picture as opposed to just a moment in time. We focus on the small wins and successes that we have everyday with our students and then across the full school year with our kids.”  

Click here to search any school building in the state to see their scores.