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Hancock County updates benchmarks and test results; district reports highest-ever state ACT score and reviews personnel and consent items
Summary
At its April 14 meeting, the Hancock County School District Board of Education received its third benchmark update of the year and a district assessment briefing, and staff reported a district ACT average of 20.1 and a graduation rate of 88.7 percent.
At its April 14 meeting, the Hancock County School District Board of Education received its third benchmark update of the year and a district assessment briefing. Staff presented school-by-school proficiency and growth projections based on fall, winter and spring benchmark data and previewed final testing procedures scheduled for May.
Staff reported several district-wide measures: a district ACT average of 20.1 (described in the presentation as the highest state ACT score the district has ever had), a graduation rate of 88.7%, and a college-and-career-readiness (CCR) percentage of 65, compared with 64.2 last year. Presenters said the district paid for sophomores to take a district ACT, while the state funds the junior ACT; juniors also take WorkKeys as part of CCR tracking.
Presenters highlighted school-level concerns: South Hancock and West Hancock were described as below target and requiring focused intervention; middle-school lower-performing subgroups were also identified as a challenge. Staff emphasized that benchmarks are interim measures and that a four-week instructional window before formal state testing could change final results.
The board considered and approved several routine business items during the meeting. Items added to the agenda and approved included hiring recommendations and personnel changes (the transcript lists several personnel items added to the agenda, including a long-term substitute teacher at the high school at a daily rate of $120, a special-education hire at East Hancock Elementary, creation of a chief financial officer job description, termination of an employee identified by a redacted Social Security number, and a custodian hire effective May 1, 2025). The transcript shows a motion to approve the agenda with those additions; the motion was moved by "Mister Laffer" and carried.
The board also reviewed a land-lease bid for 59 acres. One bid from Lawrence Stockstill and Michael Stockstill was recorded at $12.50 per acre (total $737.50) for a term described as nine and a half years and identified in the transcript as the incumbent lessee. The board discussed awarding the lease to Lawrence and Michael Stockstill and proceeded with a motion to approve leasing matters; the transcript records no further appeals and indicates the motion carried.
Additional routine actions recorded or referenced in the transcript include approval of the March 24, 2025 regular meeting minutes and motion to adjourn to May 19, 2025. The executive session recorded in the minutes produced "no action," and the meeting adjournment date was set by motion.
A presenter told the board the district will propose removing the uniform policy from the student handbook and instead present a new dress-code proposal at the next business meeting; the presenter said roughly 70% of parents and educators had asked for that change.
What the board did not do: The transcript does not show the board taking a formal, recorded vote on donor-funded programs (such as the Hope Squad funding) or on further purchases of the CTE equipment; procurement and donations were described but not formalized in the meeting record supplied.
