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Preston County Schools outlines policy changes to comply with Third Grade Success Act
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Summary
At a Title I advisory workshop, district staff reviewed revisions to promotion/retention policy 3-24 to align with the state Third Grade Success Act, explaining SAT review, retest and summer-school options and a superintendent-level appeal process; staff estimated roughly 12% of third graders could be candidates for retention under current scores.
Katie Rush, the district K–8 curriculum director and Title I coordinator, told the Preston County Board of Education’s special work session that the district is rewriting its promotion and retention policy to comply with the state Third Grade Success Act.
"So the reason we are, reviewing this policy and making big changes to the policy is so that we are in compliance with the third grade success act," Rush said, opening the policy review and walking the group through proposed procedures for third graders who "do not meet" on the state GSA.
The district presentation laid out a multi-step process for third-grade students who fail to meet the state standard on the West Virginia General Summative Assessment (GSA). First, those students enter the SAT (Student Assistance Team) review, where teachers and the SAT team examine test scores and supports provided during the year. Students who do not meet the standard can retake the test and are typically recommended for summer school and summer intervention. If a student still does not pass, parents may request a "good cause" exemption; Rush noted parents would have five days after receiving retest results to request that exemption, and the superintendent or designee would have 20 days to respond in writing.
Rush said the proposed local policy adds required intervention plans for any student who is retained, or who fails math or ELA in later grades, to make sure students "make up the skills that they missed from the previous year." The draft also allows parents to submit appeals to the superintendent beyond the state-defined exemptions; the district removed a separate automatic board appeal step from the policy text but staff said parents may still bring delegations to the board if they wish.
On local impact, Rush gave a district-level ballpark: "Roughly, like, 12%" of third-grade students could be candidates for retention under current scores, acknowledging the estimate was done at the school level and would vary by school. Staff and board members repeatedly emphasized that the district will continue interim screening with I-Ready and other benchmarks to identify students early so many can qualify for exemptions through earlier interventions.
The presentation also broadened the policy to address promotion criteria in other grades: for K–2, teachers are asked to consider partial mastery of grade-level priority standards plus maturity and readiness; for grades 4–8, the draft sets a trigger that students who score below 65% in two core classes (ELA, math, science, social studies) or who do not meet the GSA standard may be considered for retention. Rush said retention is not automatic for those cases but that these are the triggers for SAT review and possible retention consideration.
Board members asked procedural questions about timelines, appeals and the district’s role in reporting to the state. Rush said the district must report retention decisions to the state and described forthcoming implementation materials — updated parent letters, an appeal form, administrative guidance and a first-grade readiness checklist — intended to make the process transparent and consistent.
No formal vote on the policy occurred at the workshop; staff said the draft will return for a first read, a second read and then a final board vote at future meetings.
What’s next: the district will finalize implementation forms, update parent communications, and schedule the policy for formal board consideration with first and second readings before a final vote.
