RAEFORD – Hoke County Schools got to see where its schools currently stand as the 2023-24 School Accountability Grades were released last week by the State Board of Education.
At its Sept. 10 meeting, the Hoke County Schools Board of Education was presented with the School Accountability Grades for the district.
“The school performance grade is based on 80% achievement and 20% growth and the final grade is based on a 15-point scale,” said Director of Testing and Accountability Melissa Bryant-Ward.
Tested subjects include reading, math, science and EL progress at the elementary and middle school levels and English, math, biology, graduation rates, ACT scores and EL progress at the high school level.
In total, one school received an A-grade, seven received a C-grade, four received a D-grade and one received an F-grade.
The lone A-rated school was SandHoke Early College which scored a 93 overall, five points higher than last year.
The F-rated school was Hawk Eye Elementary School which saw its score drop from 42, a D, to 35.
Four schools saw an improvement in letter grade from last year’s rating with an average increase in score of 5.75 points, however just as many saw a drop in letter grade from last year with an average decrease in score of 5.5 points.
Also, six schools met the growth standard, four did not meet it and three exceeded it and five schools received a low-performing designation from the state, although the district was not designated as a low-performing district.
The school scores are as follows with last year’s score and grade coming before the current score and grade: Don Steed Elementary (59-64, C-C); East Hoke Middle (44-43, D-D); Hawk Eye Elementary (42-35, D-F); Hoke County High (71-65, B-C); McLauchlin Elementary (51-50, D-D); Rockfish Hoke Elementary (66-59, C-C); Sandhoke Early College (88-93, A-A); Sandy Grove Elementary (53-61, D-C); Sandy Grove Middle (53-56, D-C); Scurlock Elementary (52-55, D-C); Upchurch Elementary (51-60, D-C); West Hoke Elementary (55-50, C-D); West Hoke Middle (56-52, C-D).
Overall, HCS saw a very slight increase in total overall grade.
“I’m very happy that Scurlock, Upchurch, Sandy Grove Elementary and Sandy Grove Middle came off the low-performing list,” said Superintendent Kenneth Spells. “I’m also very happy about the fact that both high schools exceed growth. There’s a lot of positives – still some stuff we can work on, no question – but I am very happy any time a school comes off that list.”
The board was also provided with an update on an agreement between Hoke County Schools and the National Center for Families Learning on the implementation of family-based literacy engagement activities using Family Education Center grant funds.
“This is an initiative that is designed to enhance family engagement and student achievement together by working with families and creating those strong partnerships between home and school,” said Executive Director of Digital Teaching and Learning Dawn Ramseur. “The grant will provide targeted support to both students and their families in our school district.”
According to Ramseur, the district will leverage school data and hold conversations with principals to target the schools where the program will be most beneficial with a minimum of 20 families needing to be recruited.
“They didn’t give us a maximum, so we’re going to try to see how much is possible,” Ramseur said.
The grant provides $30,000 annually for three years and according to Ramseur, there are additional monetary incentives for families who participate and successfully complete the program which raises the total funding to potentially over $100,000.
“The core of this program is to empower parents and caregivers to become actively involved in their child’s education through workshops, resources and ongoing support so that families will be better equipped to help their children succeed academically,” Ramseur said.
In addition, the board also approved an update to its nurses salary schedule to more align with the state’s schedule, a two-year renewal of the legal services contract with Poyner Spruill and the submission of its 2024-25 Needs Based Public School Capital Fund grant application requesting up to $42 million in funding for the construction of East Hoke Elementary School.
The Hoke County Schools Board of Education will next meet Oct. 8.
