Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Performance Attendance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Principals outline plans to raise reading and math and to cut chronic absenteeism
Summary
At a McDowell County Schools board meeting, principals from Bradshaw Elementary and Southside K‑8 reported low statewide test rankings, described academic and behavior interventions, and said attendance initiatives have reduced chronic absenteeism in both schools.
At the McDowell County Schools board meeting, the principals of Bradshaw Elementary and Southside K‑8 presented school data and outlined strategies intended to increase reading and mathematics proficiency and to reduce chronic absenteeism.
Bradshaw Elementary’s principal said the school’s three strategic priorities are academics, climate and culture, and attendance. She reported 46.85% ELA proficiency and 43.78% math proficiency and described several interventions under way, including implementation of the Ready Math curriculum, use of I‑Ready diagnostics, explicit phonics instruction and periodic small‑group “math win” blocks supported by Title staff. "We are nowhere near what we want to be, but we are also very aware of the things we need to do to step up our academic game," the principal said.
The Bradshaw principal highlighted behavior efforts through a PBIS program and ClassDojo incentives and said suspensions have fallen (4 last year to 1 so far this year). On attendance she described an outreach campaign that includes social‑media videos, community events such as a trunk‑or‑treat, home visits and weekly classroom incentives. Using August–December snapshots, she reported chronic absenteeism at 48% in 2022, 44% in 2023 and 34.9% in 2024, and said the school is seeing steady, if gradual, improvement.
At Southside K‑8, the principal framed the school’s challenges and gains around demographics and staffing. She said 84.53% of students are labeled economically disadvantaged and that foster‑care and homeless rates are far above the state average. Staffing remains a constraint: she reported 22 professional teachers, with about 31% uncertified or long‑term substitutes overall and roughly 71% uncertified/long‑term substitutes on the middle‑school side.
Despite that profile, the Southside principal said the school has improved since being last ranked at the bottom of statewide performance in 2018. She pointed to year‑to‑year gains on balanced scorecard indicators and on I‑Ready diagnostics and credited staff and family engagement for attendance and achievement improvements. "Southside to me is not just about a staff or students, they are my family. We are the best school in McDowell County," she said.
Board members praised the presentations, asked clarifying questions about tardy and attendance counts, and encouraged sharing the attendance videos systemwide. Both principals said they will continue to monitor I‑Ready diagnostic cycles and return to the board with updated mid‑year results and next steps.
The meeting then moved to routine agenda business.
