District reports improved attendance, approves two‑year calendars and K–2 grading update

At its Oct. 23 meeting the Lawrence County School Board heard a school report from Etheridge Elementary, received district updates on attendance improvement and long‑range planning, and approved two academic calendars and a revision to K–2 grading.

Etheridge Elementary highlights: Miss Cruz presented results and activities for Etheridge Elementary, reporting a current enrollment of 475 students and noting the school received an A on its report card. The school reported lower chronic absenteeism than past years and several student extracurricular and academic achievements, including drone teams advancing to a national competition and robotics and knowledge bowl successes.

Attendance and district planning: Director Michael Atkins told the board chronic absenteeism across the district has declined from 5.5% at this point last year to 2.45% this year, a 55% decrease he attributed to coordinated work by teachers, counselors and parents. Atkins also described a completed MGT growth and capacity study and said the district has invested TISA dollars in tutoring and interventionists.

Calendars and grading policy: the board approved academic calendars for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 school years after staff said the calendars were developed with faculty input and advisory committees; the board also approved Policy 4.6001 updating grading systems for kindergarten through second grade to support standards‑based reporting. Board members noted the district will continue offering two‑year calendars to aid family planning.

What’s next: staff will implement the approved calendars and grading updates and continue efforts to address speech‑language caseloads and other staffing needs discussed later in the meeting.