George County Middle School reports steady benchmark results, rising referrals and enrollment losses

A school presenter told the George County School District board that George County Middle School has completed its third benchmark assessment cycle and that proficiency and growth figures are largely similar to earlier results, even as the school is addressing a drop in enrollment and a recent spike in disciplinary referrals.

The presenter, identified in the meeting as School administrator (Presenter), said the school’s benchmark outcomes track with prior measures and that staff have launched a short-term review of standards to push more students toward proficiency before the upcoming state test. "We have students who are withdrawing from school right now. They're withdrawing to get home. We have 28," the School administrator said when discussing student departures.

The nut graf: the update matters because district leaders are weighing how to use Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) funds and other resources to support student learning and to manage absenteeism and discipline ahead of state testing.

According to the presenter, the school has arranged targeted interventions funded by CSI allocations and last year’s carryover. Those funds are being used primarily for staffing to monitor and support students and to provide extra intervention days tied to the district’s NTSS (multi-tiered supports) program. The presenter summarized the district’s assessment and testing practice: the school uses ELS-based common assessments to model state test formats, and the EPT/EQT benchmarks are run periodically as mock test days with students assigned to testing rooms and proctors who are not their regular teachers.

Board members asked how the CSI funds are being applied. A Board member asked, "So with the funding that you have, what what is the plan? How do you use the funding?" The presenter replied that the CSI allocation primarily funds a staff position devoted to monitoring progress and paying for extra intervention days tied to the NTSS structure.

The presenter also gave operational and attendance metrics: teacher attendance was reported at about 96 percent; the school reported a spike in discipline referrals in a recent month with 95 students receiving referrals; and staff are seeing more cell-phone violations recorded as referrals. The presenter said the school will review incidents and continue to implement behavioral supports and the newly installed bathroom sensors intended to reduce incidents.

On enrollment, the presenter said overall enrollment has fallen since October but the precise change recorded in the meeting transcript was not clear. The presenter emphasized that a leading reason for withdrawals is a move to homeschool and confirmed the specific count of 28 students withdrawing to homeschooling during the period discussed.

What happens next: the presenter said staff will continue the standards-focused review in the weeks before the state assessment and will use CSI-funded staffing and intervention days to monitor student movement through tiers of support. No formal vote or policy change on funding was taken during the report.

Ending: board discussion moved on after questions; the district’s testing schedule and intervention monitoring were presented as near-term operational tasks for administrators leading into the state testing window.