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Parents press Rockdale BOE after five schools flagged by GOSA; superintendent offers data context
Summary
Two parents raised concerns that Sims Elementary and other Rockdale schools appeared on a state 'eligible' list; Superintendent Oates described the Governor's Office of Student Achievement methodology and disputed labeling the schools 'low performing.'
Parents told the Rockdale County Board of Education they want a clear plan after five Rockdale schools appeared on a state eligibility list tied to a voucher program.
At the work session, a parent identified as Miss Fountain said she had recently received information naming several Rockdale County schools “on the so called failing list” and asked the board for “some purview into what is the plan to help our schools get back on track.” Katie Ann LePay, a parent of three students at Sims Elementary, told the board she was “embarrassed” by the school’s placement on the list and asked for benchmarks and explanations for the rating methodology.
Superintendent Doctor Oates responded that the list was produced by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement using a rank-order method based on two years of CCRPI component scores. Oates said the office averaged component scores for the 2022–23 and 2023–24 accountability cycles and then placed schools by quartile; schools in the lowest quartile were designated as eligible for the voucher program. She noted the state had not publicly released the 2024 CCRPI scores at the time the governor’s office performed its internal calculations.
Oates disputed the shorthand label “low performing” for the five schools and provided context for some of the entries. She said two high schools on the list have four‑year graduation rates that exceed the state’s rate and that one middle school on the list received recognition from the Georgia Department of Education as a math leader for high performance by 8th‑grade students on a high‑school algebra end‑of‑course test. “I respectfully reject the characterization that those 5 schools are low performing schools,” she said, and offered to follow up with parents individually.
Why it matters: The superintendent said the list was tied to a voucher law passed during the most recent legislative session and that the state’s methodology produced a rank ordering in which a set number of schools fall into each quartile by definition. Oates urged the board and parents to review the data and asked staff to provide further explanation to concerned families.
Board follow-up: Oates said staff would email data to public commenters and offered to meet with parents who requested further explanation. The superintendent’s office said it would provide more detailed information about CCRPI component scores and how the list was constructed.
Ending: The board invited administration to provide further written and in‑person follow up to the parents who raised the issue.
