Mercer County Schools outlines CSI designations, budgets and attendance push

The Mercer County Board of Education heard a detailed briefing on Dec. 8 about schools identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and how federal funds will be used to target struggling student subgroups.

A district presenter said Mercer’s CSI budget is $20,752.64 and that Straley’s allocation is $16,407.59; two newly-identified schools, Bluefoot Intermediate and Mountain Valley, each were shown in board materials with budgets “$85,000 and some change.” The presenter said CSI budgets are federal funds that must be entered in the state GPS system and used according to needs assessments created by school leadership teams. (Presenter, SEG 103–141)

The board was walked through the state’s identification methodology: indicators for 2022 are compared with 2025 to determine whether a subgroup’s average declines enough to trigger CSI status. The presenter highlighted Mountain Valley’s subgroup average (31.5% in 2022 vs. 30% in 2025) as an example of how relatively small percentage shifts can result in designation. The presenter said training and data notebooks will be provided so principals and leadership teams can write plans tied to measurable priorities. (Presenter, SEG 194–266)

Why it matters: CSI designation brings targeted federal resources but also requires school-level planning, monitoring and state reporting. The board heard that a new school improvement coach assigned to the county, Michelle Moore Leftwich, will be part of that support. (Presenter, SEG 352)

Board members pressed staff on how growth and proficiency are calculated and how color-coded indicators on the state charts should be read. The presenter said growth is measured in intervals and that staff will run January trainings to ensure administrators understand how to interpret and act on the data. (Board members, Presenter, SEG 271–306)

Staff also reported progress on a districtwide attendance campaign. A staff member described a decline in chronic absenteeism from prior-year months and credited the 'Strive for 5' messaging, school-level incentive programs (for example, 12 Days of Attendance giveaways), community signage and business partnerships for recent improvements. Staff said the district is also piloting software and incentive models from other jurisdictions to support attendance. (Staff member, SEG 482–586)

District leaders noted secondary schools will receive follow-up work: mastery-prep midyear testing is complete and will inform improvement plans for Bluefield Middle and Montcalm High. The board was told potential business partnerships with companies such as Hitachi and Nike are being explored to support local initiatives beginning in January. (Administrator, SEG 371–408)

Next steps: Staff said they will work with principals and the assigned state coach to complete budgets and improvement plans, run training in January for data interpretation, and return to the board with more detailed action plans as the schools finalize need-based proposals. (Presenter, SEG 146–166; SEG 320–360)