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District outlines spring testing, retesting options and rising chronic absenteeism
Summary
Granville County Public Schools provided its spring testing calendar and described expanded retesting opportunities, proctoring rules and volunteer requirements. The district reported April behavior incident totals and a districtwide attendance rate of 91.6% with chronic absenteeism between about 25%–30%.
Granville County Public Schools staff on Wednesday detailed the district’s spring testing calendar, new retesting options and volunteer proctoring rules, and reported April disciplinary and attendance data that highlight chronic absenteeism as a continuing concern.
Miss Rice explained testing logistics: the state allows year‑long courses to test within the last 10 days of school, placing the district window opening May 11 for most schools and May 18 for traditional high‑school semester windows. She emphasized a change this year that allows retesting and counts the higher score for both students and school accountability records. “Our window opens May 11,” she said, adding that retesting is also now available for third‑grade reading under Read‑to‑Achieve if parents opt in.
Rice invited community volunteers to serve as proctors but explained requirements: a completed volunteer form and an approved background check (72 hours for processing) and a short on‑site training video and briefing on the day of testing. She said proctor training takes about 15 minutes and that proctors are asked to monitor environment and test security.
On discipline, Rice reported 704 total incidents in April (205 elementary, 328 middle, 171 high). The month produced 485 full‑day in‑school suspensions and 493 out‑of‑school suspension days; top offense categories were disruptive behavior (152 incidents), inappropriate behavior (85) and aggressive behavior (78). Rice explained that “aggressive behavior” can include posturing or shoving that does not rise to a fight, and noted administrators use a code of conduct that allows discretionary range of consequences.
Attendance for the month was 91.6% districtwide (elementary 92.62%, middle 91.18%, high 90.28%). Rice said chronic absenteeism is currently estimated between roughly 25% and 30% across the district and clarified that the federal measure counts a student as chronically absent once they miss 10% of enrolled days — a metric that fluctuates during the school year.
Board members asked for more trend charts and requested an update on staff development for counselors and social workers. Rice said the district identifies families experiencing housing instability (McKinney‑Vento) and tries to wrap services around them, including bus transportation to keep students linked to their base schools when possible.
The testing, attendance and discipline updates were presented as part of the district’s regular academic monitoring; staff encouraged volunteer proctoring and said more details on testing schedules are posted on school websites.
