Nash County Public Schools reports preliminary test gains, safety upgrades and staffing wins at board retreat

NASH COUNTY, N.C. — Nash County Public Schools leaders on Monday summarized academic gains, school-safety work and staffing progress during a board retreat, while cautioning that some student-assessment data remain preliminary and embargoed by the state.

Superintendent-level staff presented district-calculated results showing year-over-year increases across most grades and subjects, highlighted improvements in early-reading measures, and noted that science and final, state-certified school performance grades are pending the state’s application of business rules.

District staff said preliminary measures indicate an increase in overall proficiency equal to about four percentage points districtwide compared with 2023–24, excluding science scores that are still under review. Early-grade foundational-reading screening (DIBELS) results showed reductions in the number of K–3 students at risk of reading failure — the district reported 705 fewer students at risk from the beginning to the end of the year in K–3 foundational reading measures.

Officials emphasized the provisional nature of the results. Presenters repeatedly said the district has not yet received state-applied business rules or finalized EOG/EOC releases; final school performance grades and growth calculations will follow state approvals and the release of science and EOC data.

On English-learners, district staff reported a change in federal exit criteria that the U.S. Department of Education approved in late July: the exit threshold for the ACCESS test moved from 4.8 to 4.5. Under the new 4.5 criterion the district said 97 students exited the ML (multilingual learner) program this year compared with 46 under the prior 4.8 threshold.

Career and technical education leaders described increases in industry-recognized credentialing and work-based learning. The district reported credentialing rates moving from roughly 20% several years ago to about 60% of CTE students this year and said it provided 255 work-based learning opportunities (internships, job shadows, pre-apprenticeships and similar placements).

College-access work also rose: the district said FAFSA completions among seniors increased 13.4%, from 469 to 532 completions, after parent-night events, partnerships with Nash Community College and outreach efforts.

Student-support presentations covered attendance, dropouts and disciplinary trends. The district reported a modest rise in overall attendance rates compared with earlier years, and that out-of-school suspension days decreased from 17,816 in 2023–24 to 16,068 this year, a 9.74% drop after removing data for schools affected by earlier reorganization. Long-term suspensions rose from 10 to 16, and office-discipline referrals fell 26.6%, to 14,665 districtwide.

School-safety and emergency-preparedness initiatives included installation of ‘‘safe-bolt’’ locks and Evolve screening machines at elementary schools, full staffing claims for school resource officers, renewed federal CFS safety grant funding used for SROs and equipment, and a multi-agency reunification drill that district speakers said drew law enforcement, fire and emergency-management partners.

Technology leaders said the district completed a device-refresh cycle that will provide new student devices in grade 2, grade 5 and grade 9 under the district plan, shifted funding away from staff devices to prioritize student access, and began deploying CrowdStrike endpoint protection, which the district said will save about $58,000. Officials noted Nash County Public Schools has used more than $5 million in E-rate funding over the last five years to build infrastructure.

Transportation and safety details included staffing numbers for the bus fleet (96 full-time drivers on AM/PM routes and 16 drivers on single shifts as of the presentation), training updates and a plan to carry naloxone (Narcan) on district buses, following a 30-minute training session for drivers and monitors.

Operational and facilities work highlighted a range of maintenance and construction projects completed or underway: playground-rotation scheduling, reroofing and HVAC work, the reopening and occupancy of the Northern Nash house, renovations to Tar River Academy to bring middle school programming back (the district said it will place 40 middle-school students next year), and in-house installations such as playgrounds and a lighted entrance display at Red Oak Middle School.

Finance, HR and communications updates included a closed fiscal year with all funds ‘‘in the black,’’ completion of a financial-system conversion, high retention of beginning teachers (90% retained for 2024–25), only two contract nonrenewals, continued use of visiting international faculty and H‑1B teachers, and awards for the district communications team’s rebranding work.

District leaders repeatedly cautioned that several test components — notably science and some EOC results — remain pending at the state level and that final performance grades and growth calculations will be released after state review. The retreat closed with board members and leaders thanking staff for what they described as broad operational and instructional progress.

The retreat program included presentations from senior staff across academic, student-support, technology, CTE, transportation, nutrition, maintenance, communications, HR and finance departments.