Savannah‑Chatham County rolls out new district and school profiles to centralize academic data

Savannah‑Chatham County Board Accountability Committee members reviewed the district’s new school and district profiles on March 25, a web tool designed to centralize academic performance, demographics and personnel information and make that data accessible to families and the public.

The profiles, presented by Miss Taylor and Christie Rylander, are an updated, more interactive version of the district’s earlier “Chevron” reports. “The profiles are tools that play a critical role in helping us monitor progress and maintain accountability around our KPIs that we’ve outlined in our strategic plan,” Miss Taylor said. Christie Rylander added: “Everything in here is based on data that we either report to the Georgia Department of Education or they report back out to us and so that is why it is that annual snapshot.”

Committee members said the profiles improve transparency and usability but raised several requests for additional information. Board member Dr. Watts praised the explanation of technical terms, saying the project helps “explain the acronym soup” parents encounter. Board members asked staff to consider adding or linking to school‑climate details (attendance and discipline data), community and business partners, school improvement plans and standardized links to each school’s website so parents can see more qualitative information about school programs and culture.

Rylander demonstrated features committee members will see once the profiles go live: a year selector, “slicers” to view district or individual school data, a map with school locations and tool tips that explain metrics such as FTE enrollment, subgroup reporting and the Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS) performance levels. She said the tool is an annual snapshot (not live data) and that the site suppresses data when student counts fall below 15 to protect student privacy.

The presenters said federally identified schools flagged for additional support (TSI/CSI) are linked to explanatory pages and Georgia Department of Education resources. Rylander noted the profiles include both FTE and student‑record counts so the numbers in different sections reconcile. She also walked committee members through how proficiency and “distinguished” achievement are displayed and how viewers may toggle subjects (ELA, math, science, social studies).

Staff told the committee the next steps are to preview the profiles with school leadership and then publish them under the district section of the public website. Rylander said the district is also building a separate, internally focused district scoreboard that will be updated more frequently for leadership use; the public profiles are intended as an annually updated, public‑facing tool.

Several committee members urged that the first public iteration include a user guide or short help videos, and requested standardization across school websites so information such as board member assignment, extracurricular offerings and recognitions can be found consistently. Members also said school leaders will likely ask to add items that show progress or context (for example, school improvement plans and recognition badges) and asked staff to synthesize school‑leader feedback after the leadership preview.

The presentation prompted wider discussion about how profiles may be used by families making school choices and by the district for continuous improvement. Rylander and Miss Taylor said the current release is a first step and that the tool is intended to evolve as the district designs the internal dashboard and gathers feedback.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved the meeting agenda and the minutes from Nov. 12 by voice vote earlier in the session; both motions passed without recorded roll‑call tallies. The meeting also adjourned by unanimous consent at the end of the session.