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District reports test-score gains but flags chronic absenteeism
Summary
District staff told the Jefferson County School Board that student proficiency rose on state tests in 2024–25, but officials and board members said chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 18 or more days — remains a major concern and a target for ongoing interventions.
Trevor, a district staff member who presented assessment data to the Jefferson County School Board, said the district saw the largest overall proficiency rate in several years but cautioned that outcomes vary by grade.
"We set a 5-year target of 75%," Trevor said, describing the district's goals for students scoring on grade level on I-Ready and state assessments. He told the board the district increased third-grade proficiency from about 29.6% years earlier to 45.6% on last year’s state assessment and that the districtwide proficiency rate reached roughly 44% — the highest in six to seven years.
The presentation looked across kindergarten through 12th-grade measures and highlighted areas of progress and continuing need. Trevor pointed out gains in several transition grades (third, sixth and ninth) and said the district outpaced the state average in multiple tested subjects. "Last year our growth is good," he said, adding that some state growth measures were still embargoed at the time of the meeting and would be released in the coming days.
Board members pressed for explanation of some patterns. When asked why the state’s tenth-grade ELA results jumped more than the district’s between years, Trevor said the English II cut score is lower, which explains a larger apparent statewide increase, and noted that "it is a cut score issue there." Board members also asked about algebra 1 proficiency; Trevor and other staff said algebra 1 historically is a difficult assessment and remains a focus for intervention.
Attendance surfaced as a prominent concern. Trevor defined chronic absenteeism for the board: "Chronic absenteeism is missing 18 or more days out of the school year." He said the rate had risen since COVID — from about 7% pre-pandemic to substantially higher levels — and that the district set a local goal to lower chronic absenteeism to 18% overall. The presenter described district initiatives — attendance incentives, school-level strategies and targeted principal actions — that produced modest reductions in some elementary grades but noted high-school chronic absence required continued work.
Board members and staff discussed next steps for instruction and attendance interventions, including professional development, targeted supports at transition grades and continued communication campaigns to shift community expectations about staying home for minor illnesses. Trevor said two of the four district plan measures — college-and-career-readiness and ACT results — were still embargoed by the state and could not be released at that time.
The presentation prompted requests for additional context and follow-up: board members asked for more detail on sixth-grade performance and on algebra 1 interventions; staff said they would bring additional data and narratives to future meetings.
Less critical items in the presentation included a note that the district's monthly financial report would begin in September and that a small missing sheet had been added to prior packets to reflect credit-exam information for Jefferson High School.
The board did not take a formal vote on any instructional measure at the session; staff said embargoed state measures would be shared with the superintendent and board when released.
